Following is a short summary of recent polls after passage of the Main Street USA Health Care Rights Bill (taken from reports published by the Christian Science Monitor) and, of course, some commentary.
Washington Post poll: Some 55 percent of Americans expect their own costs for healthcare to be higher because of the reforms, and 60 percent say the nation's overall health tab will rise.
Rasmussen Reports: 49 percent said they think the quality of care will be adversely affected.
Washington Post Poll: Nearly half of Americans say the law "creates too much government involvement in the nation's health care system."
USA Today/Gallup Poll: 65 percent said the law "will expand government's role in health care too much."
Rasmussen Reports: Americans favor repeal of the Health Care reform by a 54-to-42 margin.
So, on the whole, this action by Congress and the White House is not what is needed and wanted by Main Street USA.
However, it is interesting to note that Main Street USA seems to feel that erosion of our rights by the government is okay with them.
In a Newsweek Poll a strong 59 percent surveyed felt that they were "open to a mandate on individuals to buy coverage" (with government subsidies available) if they are currently uninsured. In a similar poll by CNN/Opinion Research, 45 percent favored this action.
A Mandate to Buy Coverage?
Certainly no one I know falls into the above category. Allowing our elected representatives on Capitol Hill the power to fine someone for not exercising a supposed right to have something, while they have everything they need served to them on a silver platter (courtesy of the taxpayer), is frightening. (Please read previous post, March 23, 2010, The Concept of Rights.)
Main Street One warned that allowing our government the authority to fine taxpayers via the IRS for not exercising what is being defined as our Health Care Right will surely open the door to fines being levied for not exercising other rights, perhaps even those guaranteed in the Bill of Rights.
This is dangerous territory, America!
Attesting to how rhetoric can skew polls (for either side), a USA Today/Gallup showed 51 percent of Americans saying the law doesn't go far enough in regulating health insurers.
This may be true.
Unfortunately, the legislation is so cumbersome that it may take some time to see how far anything and everything reaches in this bill.
Needless to say, Democrats made the insurance company out to be the bad guy and succeeeded to a remarkable degree.
Many folks, however, feel that ambulance chasing attorneys (and their cousins in the field) earning millions upon millions upon millions by being allowed to extract outrageous amounts in punitive damages and, thus, increasing all forms of insurance, as some of the truly basic culprits.
Yet, those voting in the majority on this colossal package turn a deaf ear when Tort Reform is mentioned, brushing it aside as if it were merely a petty annoyance.
And those same members decided, as part of Health Care Reform, that the government should take over student loans and not allow banks and financial institutions to partake in this activity.
Excuse me. What on Earth do student loans have to do with Health Care?
Wake up Main Street USA.
The amount of pork and the number of earmarks on this one piece of legislation is probably unfathomable.
Why is it that people that WE elect think that they know what is best for all of us despite the fact that the majority of us did not want, do not want, our Health Care Right in the manner and in the form in which it was signed.
We do want and need reform.
We do not want and do not need THIS reform.
Especially at this cost, both in dollars and the further erosion of our civil liberties.
Over For Now.
Main Street One
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Monday, March 29, 2010
The Getty Center & The Getty Villa
While in Southern California time was made to visit both the Getty Center and the Getty Villa. Both are quite remarkable. Quite.
The scope of the works of art (paintings, sculpture, artifacts, etc.) housed at both locations should be on everyone's list to visit.
Timing was such that the Leonardo da Vinci exhibit had just opened at the Getty Center. Unfortunately, photography was not allowed with Da Vinci, while in other areas of the Center one can take photos without flash.
Needless to say both locations are spectacular.
Over For Now.
Main Street One
I hate watching my friends get everything their hearts desire.
Recently in Sunday school at Providence Church, I posed the following question about the nature of the human will: How can Martin Luther write a book entitled The Bondage of the Will and Jonathan Edwards write The Freedom of the Will and both essentially saying the same thing?
In other words, is the human will free or in bondage (i.e., not free)?
I summarize it like this: The will is free to do what it wants, but it is not free to do what it ought.
We might also talk about natural vs. moral ability, having the former, but lacking the latter.
Another way to say it is that human beings are free to do what they want, but they are also bound to do what they want. They must choose according to their strongest desire at the point of decision.
The question becomes, what motivates those decisions? Of what substance are those desires? One dead in sins (Eph 2:1), who loves the darkness (John 3:19-20), and cannot see the kingdom (John 3:3) must have a heart opened (Acts 16:14) and mercifully made alive (Eph 2:4-5) in order to desire Christ so as to choose Him.
In other words, is the human will free or in bondage (i.e., not free)?
I summarize it like this: The will is free to do what it wants, but it is not free to do what it ought.
We might also talk about natural vs. moral ability, having the former, but lacking the latter.
Another way to say it is that human beings are free to do what they want, but they are also bound to do what they want. They must choose according to their strongest desire at the point of decision.
The question becomes, what motivates those decisions? Of what substance are those desires? One dead in sins (Eph 2:1), who loves the darkness (John 3:19-20), and cannot see the kingdom (John 3:3) must have a heart opened (Acts 16:14) and mercifully made alive (Eph 2:4-5) in order to desire Christ so as to choose Him.
Dr. D. James Kennedy: "Are Total Depravity and free will compatible? Yes and no. As we said to an earlier question, free will can mean one of two things. If we are talking about the sense in which free will exists in every human being, whether regenerate or unregenerate, then we can say “Yes”, obviously they are compatible because unregenerate people do make choices. That is the sense in which man is free to choose whatever he wants to choose. All men are free to do that. The unregenerate man makes choices every day: what tie he will wear, what he will eat for dinner; whatever it may be. But in the significant sense in which its used in the Bible, which is man is free to do what he ought to do, (which is repent of his sins, turn from his wickedness, surrender his life to Christ and follow Him in godliness), unregenerate man is not free to do that. The more he hears of it, the more he dislikes it. And his will and heart and mind must be changed for him to do that." (in DVD series "Amazing Grace: The History & Theology of Calvinism")
Friday, March 26, 2010
Robert Frost wrote it. I always remembered it because I never quite knew what he meant.
In honor of his birthday (1874-1963), a Robert Frost poem.
Nature's first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf's a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.
Nature's first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf's a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
How Polls Can Be Skewed
A recent poll released just prior to the House of Representatives' vote on Main Street USA's Health Care Right bill shows what can be accomplished when enough rhetoric is thrown at a topic.
According to HealthDay News, "Nearly half of Americans are 'extremely' or 'very worried' about rising costs for health care and health insurance, and a majority place the blame on drug and insurance company profits, a new Harris Interactive/HealthDay poll finds."
Unfortunately, many on Capitol Hill assailed the insurance companies, in particular, and their profits for rising costs, making them the "bad guy."
The article in HealthDay News continued by saying, "Some health economists say insurance and pharmaceutical company profits amount to only about 2 percent of total health care spending.
"Instead, fees charged by doctors and hospitals, as well as expanding use of increasingly sophisticated and expensive health-care technologies, are the primary cause of escalating health-care costs, these experts contend."
The article, interestingly enough, does not elaborate on the fact that 44% of those surveyed felt that higher costs were due to "more tests, treatments and procedures ordered by doctors due to malpractice worries."
Aside from the possibility of more tests, there is clear and present evidence that escalating malpractice insurance premiums are caused by astronomical punitive damages awarded.
Tort Reform should definitely play a major role in health care reform.
Nowhere in the poll does it mention fraud within the medical industry as contributing to higher costs.
Another form of inflated costs borders on fraudulent practices. More than likely many Americans know that medical offices have two sets of charges. A lower price if someone is paying their own way and a higher price if the care is billed to an insurance company.
The reasons given often have to do with payments not being made in a timely manner or even that payments for those services do not ever arrive.
Regardless of the reason for the disparity, that is another in the many causes for higher costs of medical care.
In this fairly balanced article, there is the point made by Humphrey Taylor, chairman of The Harris Poll, a service of Harris Interactive. He said, "These findings show how little most people understand the economics of health care. Increased profits of insurers and drug companies (if they have increased at all) cannot possibly account for the increases in premiums. Many health-care economists attribute the increased cost of care to increased demand and utilization, increased prices and the increased use of expensive tests and treatments. Most people, as shown here, do not think of these as the main drivers of increased health-care spending."
The poll results do show that if enough high-profile people speak out against something often enough that polls can, indeed, be skewed by incorrect information disseminated.
Over For Now.
Main Street One
According to HealthDay News, "Nearly half of Americans are 'extremely' or 'very worried' about rising costs for health care and health insurance, and a majority place the blame on drug and insurance company profits, a new Harris Interactive/HealthDay poll finds."
Unfortunately, many on Capitol Hill assailed the insurance companies, in particular, and their profits for rising costs, making them the "bad guy."
The article in HealthDay News continued by saying, "Some health economists say insurance and pharmaceutical company profits amount to only about 2 percent of total health care spending.
"Instead, fees charged by doctors and hospitals, as well as expanding use of increasingly sophisticated and expensive health-care technologies, are the primary cause of escalating health-care costs, these experts contend."
The article, interestingly enough, does not elaborate on the fact that 44% of those surveyed felt that higher costs were due to "more tests, treatments and procedures ordered by doctors due to malpractice worries."
Aside from the possibility of more tests, there is clear and present evidence that escalating malpractice insurance premiums are caused by astronomical punitive damages awarded.
Tort Reform should definitely play a major role in health care reform.
Nowhere in the poll does it mention fraud within the medical industry as contributing to higher costs.
Another form of inflated costs borders on fraudulent practices. More than likely many Americans know that medical offices have two sets of charges. A lower price if someone is paying their own way and a higher price if the care is billed to an insurance company.
The reasons given often have to do with payments not being made in a timely manner or even that payments for those services do not ever arrive.
Regardless of the reason for the disparity, that is another in the many causes for higher costs of medical care.
In this fairly balanced article, there is the point made by Humphrey Taylor, chairman of The Harris Poll, a service of Harris Interactive. He said, "These findings show how little most people understand the economics of health care. Increased profits of insurers and drug companies (if they have increased at all) cannot possibly account for the increases in premiums. Many health-care economists attribute the increased cost of care to increased demand and utilization, increased prices and the increased use of expensive tests and treatments. Most people, as shown here, do not think of these as the main drivers of increased health-care spending."
The poll results do show that if enough high-profile people speak out against something often enough that polls can, indeed, be skewed by incorrect information disseminated.
Over For Now.
Main Street One
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
The Concept of Rights
In this case, the concept of the Rights of Main Street USA.
Following is the lead paragraph in an Associated Press article published after the ONE TRILLION DOLLAR* health care reform was signed:
"Claiming a historic triumph that could define his presidency, a jubilant Barack Obama signed a massive, nearly $1 trillion health care overhaul on Tuesday that will for the first time cement insurance coverage as the right of every U.S. citizen and begin to reshape the way virtually all Americans receive and pay for treatment."
Let us take a close look at a critical portion of this paragraph.
"...cement insurance coverage as the right of every U.S. citizen..."
According to the dictionary, right, as used here, is defined as: "a just claim or title, whether legal, prescriptive, or moral."
The interesting fact about the so-called Health Care Right is that if one does not exercise said right the IRS will come calling to collect a fine for not passing go (i.e., obtaining insurance coverage whether you desire to have it or not, such as the ten million Americans right now who can afford it but have elected not to purchase it).
So, yes, that does reshape how we will pay for treatment, as mentioned in the paragraph above.
The question all Americans should be asking is: How is that a "right?"
According to the Bill of Rights, Americans have the right to/of:
-Freedom of speech. Our Founding Fathers, however, did not see fit to fine anyone if they did not exercise their right to talk.
-Freedom of Religion. Have never read about a person being fined for not exercising their right of practicing a religion.
-To petition. When was the last time someone was fined for not submitting a petition?
-To keep and bear arms. We know darn well that no one is fining us for not having firearms in our possession. Fact is, there are those trying to destroy this right.
You get the idea, I am sure.
Politicians cannot have it both ways.
They cannot, sanely and logically, promote to the populace that something is a right if a person will be fined for not exercising that right.
That is an interesting encroachment upon the rights of Main Street USA.
A reversal of the norm.
What comes next?
As it is every citizen's right to vote, will there be legislation (or better yet, a simple earmark to a larger bill) allowing the IRS to fine people who do not exercise their right to vote.
What a concept.
Great fundraiser for the IRS.
Actually it is a double-barrelled fine...you would also pay for not registering to vote.
Food For Thought.
Over For Now.
Main Street One
* to spend One Trillion Dollars you need to buy a million dollar house each and very day for One Million Days.
Following is the lead paragraph in an Associated Press article published after the ONE TRILLION DOLLAR* health care reform was signed:
"Claiming a historic triumph that could define his presidency, a jubilant Barack Obama signed a massive, nearly $1 trillion health care overhaul on Tuesday that will for the first time cement insurance coverage as the right of every U.S. citizen and begin to reshape the way virtually all Americans receive and pay for treatment."
Let us take a close look at a critical portion of this paragraph.
"...cement insurance coverage as the right of every U.S. citizen..."
According to the dictionary, right, as used here, is defined as: "a just claim or title, whether legal, prescriptive, or moral."
The interesting fact about the so-called Health Care Right is that if one does not exercise said right the IRS will come calling to collect a fine for not passing go (i.e., obtaining insurance coverage whether you desire to have it or not, such as the ten million Americans right now who can afford it but have elected not to purchase it).
So, yes, that does reshape how we will pay for treatment, as mentioned in the paragraph above.
The question all Americans should be asking is: How is that a "right?"
According to the Bill of Rights, Americans have the right to/of:
-Freedom of speech. Our Founding Fathers, however, did not see fit to fine anyone if they did not exercise their right to talk.
-Freedom of Religion. Have never read about a person being fined for not exercising their right of practicing a religion.
-To petition. When was the last time someone was fined for not submitting a petition?
-To keep and bear arms. We know darn well that no one is fining us for not having firearms in our possession. Fact is, there are those trying to destroy this right.
You get the idea, I am sure.
Politicians cannot have it both ways.
They cannot, sanely and logically, promote to the populace that something is a right if a person will be fined for not exercising that right.
That is an interesting encroachment upon the rights of Main Street USA.
A reversal of the norm.
What comes next?
As it is every citizen's right to vote, will there be legislation (or better yet, a simple earmark to a larger bill) allowing the IRS to fine people who do not exercise their right to vote.
What a concept.
Great fundraiser for the IRS.
Actually it is a double-barrelled fine...you would also pay for not registering to vote.
Food For Thought.
Over For Now.
Main Street One
* to spend One Trillion Dollars you need to buy a million dollar house each and very day for One Million Days.
These are not the droids you're looking for.
Today I saw a comment on 1 Timothy 3:2 "Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife ..." (ESV)
I've heard this before, but is it true?
Well, no, not really, especially not in the way it's implied. The implication is that "man" & "woman" are more "literal" translations than "husband" & "wife."
But, "woman" & "wife" and "man" & "husband" are the same Greek words* (gynē & anēr respectively). So, the context would have to guide the use of woman or wife and man or husband.
Literally, it's anēr (man/husband) of one gynē (woman/wife), but the context in this instance would pretty soundly give you "husband" of one "wife."
I think the "man of one woman" bit is an unfounded way to try to say that a man really needs to be into his woman. I agree with that sentiment, but one cannot appeal to the original language to get there as a superior translation.*My apologies for using the sloogey transliterated bit, but my blog doesn't seem to like the Greek font. But, if yours can read it, the Greek words are γυνή & ἀνήρ for woman/wife & man/husband respectively.
He wrote: "In the Greek it literaly [sic] means 'one woman man.'"
I've heard this before, but is it true?
Well, no, not really, especially not in the way it's implied. The implication is that "man" & "woman" are more "literal" translations than "husband" & "wife."
But, "woman" & "wife" and "man" & "husband" are the same Greek words* (gynē & anēr respectively). So, the context would have to guide the use of woman or wife and man or husband.
Literally, it's anēr (man/husband) of one gynē (woman/wife), but the context in this instance would pretty soundly give you "husband" of one "wife."
I think the "man of one woman" bit is an unfounded way to try to say that a man really needs to be into his woman. I agree with that sentiment, but one cannot appeal to the original language to get there as a superior translation.*My apologies for using the sloogey transliterated bit, but my blog doesn't seem to like the Greek font. But, if yours can read it, the Greek words are γυνή & ἀνήρ for woman/wife & man/husband respectively.
Monday, March 22, 2010
Quotes That Will Make History
For posterity, these quotes are being saved for future reference:
"We proved that this government — a government of the people and by the people — still works for the people." President Barack Obama
"We will be joining those who established Social Security, Medicare and now, tonight, health care for all Americans." Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi
"This is the civil rights act of the 21st century." Representative Jim Clyburn
"The president was and the Congress were sent here to address the problems that people face in this country, and that's what voters want us to see." WH Press Secretary Robert Gibbs
"We have failed to listen to America and we have failed to reflect the will of our constituents." Representative John Boehner
"It's very unusual that you have a major policy that doesn't have a majority of support in the public." George Edwards, Texas A&M University presidential historian
For the record (from the Associated Press):
A Gallup poll showed more Americans believe the measure will make things worse rather than better for the country as a whole and for them personally.
And most polls show most people don't like the plan although some surveys showed Americans giving high marks to individual elements.
Over For Now.
Main Street One
"We proved that this government — a government of the people and by the people — still works for the people." President Barack Obama
"We will be joining those who established Social Security, Medicare and now, tonight, health care for all Americans." Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi
"This is the civil rights act of the 21st century." Representative Jim Clyburn
"The president was and the Congress were sent here to address the problems that people face in this country, and that's what voters want us to see." WH Press Secretary Robert Gibbs
"We have failed to listen to America and we have failed to reflect the will of our constituents." Representative John Boehner
"It's very unusual that you have a major policy that doesn't have a majority of support in the public." George Edwards, Texas A&M University presidential historian
For the record (from the Associated Press):
A Gallup poll showed more Americans believe the measure will make things worse rather than better for the country as a whole and for them personally.
And most polls show most people don't like the plan although some surveys showed Americans giving high marks to individual elements.
Over For Now.
Main Street One
Any Bets ? ? ?
While campaigning for the Oval Office, President Obama made this promise to all of Main Street USA:
"When there is a bill that ends up on my desk as president, you the public will have five days to look online and find out what's in it before I sign it, so that you know what your government's doing."
Any bets on whether or not the massive pork and earmark-filled healthcare reform bill will even make it to the WH website, let alone be on it for five full days prior to his signature?
Within the first two months of his presidency, of 11 major bills that the president signed, only six of them (55%) made it online for review prior to his signing them and none of them (0%) were posted a full five days.
And it has not gotten any better.
With the number of votes that had to be purchased to push this legislation through the House it is this taxpayer's opinion that most of us will not see the full bill for quite some time.
As has been stated, the Congressional Special Interest Group (the buying of Senate and House votes through legislation earmarks especially for them) is much more dangerous than any single SIG in existence.
This bill proves it.
The government will now be responsible for over 50% of our gross domestic product.
Certain civil rights, such as the right to choose if one wants healthcare coverage or not, are gone.
That all members of Main Street USA must pay for walking parks in some town in a state many have never even visited is not what this country should be doing.
Ad infinitum.
At a time when unemployment is over 10% nationwide, when state officials are unable to raise enough funds to cover bare necessities of what government should be doing, when city municipalities are not able to honor bonds issued and where our own federal government has been "borrowing" from the social security trust fund (to the tune of over three trillion dollars), our elected representatives should be focused on making effective financial cuts, not spending yet another trillion dollars we do not have.
Our Founding Fathers may have had it right placing "In God We Trust" everywhere.
Because politicians continue to prove they cannot be trusted.
Over For Now.
Main Street One
"When there is a bill that ends up on my desk as president, you the public will have five days to look online and find out what's in it before I sign it, so that you know what your government's doing."
Any bets on whether or not the massive pork and earmark-filled healthcare reform bill will even make it to the WH website, let alone be on it for five full days prior to his signature?
Within the first two months of his presidency, of 11 major bills that the president signed, only six of them (55%) made it online for review prior to his signing them and none of them (0%) were posted a full five days.
And it has not gotten any better.
With the number of votes that had to be purchased to push this legislation through the House it is this taxpayer's opinion that most of us will not see the full bill for quite some time.
As has been stated, the Congressional Special Interest Group (the buying of Senate and House votes through legislation earmarks especially for them) is much more dangerous than any single SIG in existence.
This bill proves it.
The government will now be responsible for over 50% of our gross domestic product.
Certain civil rights, such as the right to choose if one wants healthcare coverage or not, are gone.
That all members of Main Street USA must pay for walking parks in some town in a state many have never even visited is not what this country should be doing.
Ad infinitum.
At a time when unemployment is over 10% nationwide, when state officials are unable to raise enough funds to cover bare necessities of what government should be doing, when city municipalities are not able to honor bonds issued and where our own federal government has been "borrowing" from the social security trust fund (to the tune of over three trillion dollars), our elected representatives should be focused on making effective financial cuts, not spending yet another trillion dollars we do not have.
Our Founding Fathers may have had it right placing "In God We Trust" everywhere.
Because politicians continue to prove they cannot be trusted.
Over For Now.
Main Street One
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Representing Whom ? ? ?
Those elected representatives who have had secret meetings with the powers-that-be regarding their vote on the proposed Trillion Dollar-plus healthcare reform legislation are NOT representing those who voted for them.
Polls show that Main Street USA does, indeed, desire reform in the health industry.
Polls also show, however, that those tax-paying citizens DO NOT want the reform currently presented.
So, who are those people in the House of Representatives representing?
Certainly not those persons who placed them on Captiol Hill.
At least, as reported by the Associated Press, there are 36 states working on legislation to block many of the extreme, liberty-eroding policies that would be enacted under this "reform."
The worst may be that ALL Americans would be required to purchase health insurance.
At present, it is estimated that some ten million people, who can afford insurance, have elected not to purchase it at this point in their lives. If this law passes, these same individuals must get insurance, or be penalized through fines and/or special fees.
Hopefully, better sense will prevail in the House than what Nancy Pelosi envisions.
Whatever the outcome, those members of Congress who are voting for such sweeping legislation that does far more than is stated, and is chock full of earmarks and pork in an attempt to sway votes, should be voted out in November or impeached.
Their crime is treason.
They are blatantly going against what tax-paying citizens of this country want.
That is betrayal after trust.
That is treason, by definition.
Over For Now.
Main Street One
Polls show that Main Street USA does, indeed, desire reform in the health industry.
Polls also show, however, that those tax-paying citizens DO NOT want the reform currently presented.
So, who are those people in the House of Representatives representing?
Certainly not those persons who placed them on Captiol Hill.
At least, as reported by the Associated Press, there are 36 states working on legislation to block many of the extreme, liberty-eroding policies that would be enacted under this "reform."
The worst may be that ALL Americans would be required to purchase health insurance.
At present, it is estimated that some ten million people, who can afford insurance, have elected not to purchase it at this point in their lives. If this law passes, these same individuals must get insurance, or be penalized through fines and/or special fees.
Hopefully, better sense will prevail in the House than what Nancy Pelosi envisions.
Whatever the outcome, those members of Congress who are voting for such sweeping legislation that does far more than is stated, and is chock full of earmarks and pork in an attempt to sway votes, should be voted out in November or impeached.
Their crime is treason.
They are blatantly going against what tax-paying citizens of this country want.
That is betrayal after trust.
That is treason, by definition.
Over For Now.
Main Street One
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Very clever dinner. Appetizing food fit neatly into interesting round pie.
Just so you know, today is "Pi Day." You know ... March 14 ... 3/14 ... uh ... 3.14, ergo Pi Day.Pi or π is the ratio of any circle's circumference to its diameter, the ratio of a circle's area to the square of its radius.
- Circumference=2πr or (πd)
- Area=πr²
So, for your Pi Day pleasure, find your birthday within the decimals of Pi. Or check out other Pi Day activities.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Response to Harry Reid's Comment
The more one thinks about the below comment by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, the more one's blood boils:
"I think what we need are people on that bench who have been legislators, people who are lawyers, people who are academics. You look at our Supreme Court and all these people, all they know is working with people in black robes. We have got to change that."
Imagine if you will Main Street USA coming back with this statement:
"I think what we need are people in that Congress who have been successful business executives, people who know you have to bring in more income than you have expenses, those who take responsibilty and will not vote, nor allow others to vote, "Present" on legislation. You look at Congress and all these people all they know is working with others who like to spend, spend, spend. We have got to change that."
Think about it, folks.
February 2010 posted nearly $220 Billion in deficit.
The fiscal year looks as if it may end with a $.16 Trillion shortfall.
And, let us not allow anyone on Captiol Hill keep blaming others for overspending.
Let us demand that they take responsibility in the here and now.
There are solutions to problems that do not demand massive expenditures with no revenue in sight with which to cover these.
We pay those in Congress to handle such problems.
If they cannot, they should leave (without retirement benefits, because they would have failed their job).
Over For Now.
Main Street USA
"I think what we need are people on that bench who have been legislators, people who are lawyers, people who are academics. You look at our Supreme Court and all these people, all they know is working with people in black robes. We have got to change that."
Imagine if you will Main Street USA coming back with this statement:
"I think what we need are people in that Congress who have been successful business executives, people who know you have to bring in more income than you have expenses, those who take responsibilty and will not vote, nor allow others to vote, "Present" on legislation. You look at Congress and all these people all they know is working with others who like to spend, spend, spend. We have got to change that."
Think about it, folks.
February 2010 posted nearly $220 Billion in deficit.
The fiscal year looks as if it may end with a $.16 Trillion shortfall.
And, let us not allow anyone on Captiol Hill keep blaming others for overspending.
Let us demand that they take responsibility in the here and now.
There are solutions to problems that do not demand massive expenditures with no revenue in sight with which to cover these.
We pay those in Congress to handle such problems.
If they cannot, they should leave (without retirement benefits, because they would have failed their job).
Over For Now.
Main Street USA
Harry Reid Speaks Out - Unfortunately
Chief Justice Roberts responded to a question by a student regarding remarks made about a US Supreme Court decision at the 2010 State of the Union address.
This activity fueled remarks by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.
Unfortunately.
Harry Reid has no call to make such statements about Justice Roberts.
Can any American actually believe that the Senate majority leader made the following comment: "Do you think John Roberts knows or cares how people get elected?"
Reid continued by stating: "I think what we need are people on that bench who have been legislators, people who are lawyers, people who are academics. You look at our Supreme Court and all these people, all they know is working with people in black robes. We have got to change that."
Factually, Justice Roberts is a lawyer. He spent 14 years in privtae law practice and argued 39 cases before the Supreme Court.
It would be nice if Mr. Reid got his facts right before mouthing off to national media. His actions lower even further the status of politicians.
Get to work, Mr. Reid. Do what Main Street USA pays you to do. We do NOT pay you to make inaccurate - and malicious - statements about members of our top court.
Over For Now.
Main Street One
This activity fueled remarks by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.
Unfortunately.
Harry Reid has no call to make such statements about Justice Roberts.
Can any American actually believe that the Senate majority leader made the following comment: "Do you think John Roberts knows or cares how people get elected?"
Reid continued by stating: "I think what we need are people on that bench who have been legislators, people who are lawyers, people who are academics. You look at our Supreme Court and all these people, all they know is working with people in black robes. We have got to change that."
Factually, Justice Roberts is a lawyer. He spent 14 years in privtae law practice and argued 39 cases before the Supreme Court.
It would be nice if Mr. Reid got his facts right before mouthing off to national media. His actions lower even further the status of politicians.
Get to work, Mr. Reid. Do what Main Street USA pays you to do. We do NOT pay you to make inaccurate - and malicious - statements about members of our top court.
Over For Now.
Main Street One
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Any man don't keep order spends a night in ... the box.
Chris Arnold use to say that, "Movie watching is a sport."Perhaps he's right. If so, we owe it to each other to recommend worthwhile sporting events, not watching someone fishing on ESPN2 in the wee hours of the morning.
To that end, I submit to you my favorite incarceration movies:
- Cool Hand Luke
- Shawshank Redemption
- My Cousin Vinny
- Blues Brothers
- Stir Crazy
- Raising Arizona
- The Green Mile
- (Escape to) Victory
- The Longest Yard (1974)
- The Great Escape
Did I miss any?
UPDATE: Apparently, I did miss some! Thanks for those who squared me away in the comments.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Now, I have a whole bag of "Shh!" with your name on it.
I was speaking to a class at the middle school yesterday and saw this sign on the wall. I thought was neat and rather profound.
"LISTEN and SILENT are spelled with the same letters."
Monday, March 1, 2010
House Speaker Speaks Up, Defies Polls
Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, on ABC television's "This Week," stated, without any doubt, that if President Obama decides to use the reconciliation method of political maneuvering she will deliver the votes without the support of any Republicans.
Make no mistake, polls also show reform is needed and wanted.
However, poll after poll bring into the open that the majority of Americans do not approve of either of the bills that passed the House of Representatives and the Senate.
The strong-arm tactic that will apparently be used on these earmarked pieces of legislation that will affect 17% of the U.S. economy is not representative of what Americans need or want.
Why won't our elected representatives listen?
It has been voiced by some Democrats that objections regarding the healthcare reform bills are due to mis-information delivered by Republicans.
There probably does exist some of that.
However, Democrats are guilty of the same activity.
Consider that the bills are supposedly going to provide coverage for some 30 million Americans who do not currently have any form of healthcare insurance.
Yet, one third of that total, ten million people, have elected not to carry insurance, despite the fact that they can afford it. These people are exercising their own free will and making their own decisions about what they need and want.
Not if this legislation passes.
They will be forced into obtaining and paying for insurance, or be fined.
This type of political activity, economic ramifications aside, erodes our Bill of Rights.
This type of political activity drastically increases the role of government in the lives of all Americans.
It used to be that when the People speak those who have been elected to follow the will of the People respond to that will.
Evidently, no longer.
As Pelosi stated on ABC TV, "We're here to do the job for the American people -- to get them results that gives them not only health security, but economic security, because the health issue is an economic issue for America's families."
If she truly believed those words, then the Speaker would respond to, and support, the People, Main Street USA. She would champion their cause and scrap the thousands of pages of pork-filled legislation that currently exist and start anew with something meaningful and truly helpful.
Instead of ducking their responsibility on Tort Reform by passing it off to the individual states (which, as previously discussed, would become a national matter in the U.S. Supreme Court), the House and Senate should pass legislation immediately in this area.
Taxpayers do not need to pay for frivolous lawsuits that clog the Court system and, in the end, raise insurance rates each and every time they succeed. That is a double-whammy to the pocketbook of Main Street USA.
One last note.
Most of the articles that appear regarding passage of healthcare reform state that "Obama has the votes to pass reform" the way it is currently written.
Since when did the White House become more important than the collective voice, opinion and will of Main Street USA?
Yes, President Obama, we do need healthcare reform.
But not in the current state as presented.
Eliminate Medicare and Medicaid fraud-NOW.
Stop frivolous lawsuits with Tort Reform-AT ONCE.
Then, and only then, should we move forward with legislation that is significant and does not trample on the Rights of Americans to choose what they need and want.
Over For Now.
Main Street One
Make no mistake, polls also show reform is needed and wanted.
However, poll after poll bring into the open that the majority of Americans do not approve of either of the bills that passed the House of Representatives and the Senate.
The strong-arm tactic that will apparently be used on these earmarked pieces of legislation that will affect 17% of the U.S. economy is not representative of what Americans need or want.
Why won't our elected representatives listen?
It has been voiced by some Democrats that objections regarding the healthcare reform bills are due to mis-information delivered by Republicans.
There probably does exist some of that.
However, Democrats are guilty of the same activity.
Consider that the bills are supposedly going to provide coverage for some 30 million Americans who do not currently have any form of healthcare insurance.
Yet, one third of that total, ten million people, have elected not to carry insurance, despite the fact that they can afford it. These people are exercising their own free will and making their own decisions about what they need and want.
Not if this legislation passes.
They will be forced into obtaining and paying for insurance, or be fined.
This type of political activity, economic ramifications aside, erodes our Bill of Rights.
This type of political activity drastically increases the role of government in the lives of all Americans.
It used to be that when the People speak those who have been elected to follow the will of the People respond to that will.
Evidently, no longer.
As Pelosi stated on ABC TV, "We're here to do the job for the American people -- to get them results that gives them not only health security, but economic security, because the health issue is an economic issue for America's families."
If she truly believed those words, then the Speaker would respond to, and support, the People, Main Street USA. She would champion their cause and scrap the thousands of pages of pork-filled legislation that currently exist and start anew with something meaningful and truly helpful.
Instead of ducking their responsibility on Tort Reform by passing it off to the individual states (which, as previously discussed, would become a national matter in the U.S. Supreme Court), the House and Senate should pass legislation immediately in this area.
Taxpayers do not need to pay for frivolous lawsuits that clog the Court system and, in the end, raise insurance rates each and every time they succeed. That is a double-whammy to the pocketbook of Main Street USA.
One last note.
Most of the articles that appear regarding passage of healthcare reform state that "Obama has the votes to pass reform" the way it is currently written.
Since when did the White House become more important than the collective voice, opinion and will of Main Street USA?
Yes, President Obama, we do need healthcare reform.
But not in the current state as presented.
Eliminate Medicare and Medicaid fraud-NOW.
Stop frivolous lawsuits with Tort Reform-AT ONCE.
Then, and only then, should we move forward with legislation that is significant and does not trample on the Rights of Americans to choose what they need and want.
Over For Now.
Main Street One
I don't care about losing all the money. It's losing all the stuff.
Yesterday at Providence Church we completed a Sunday school series on The Treasure Principle, by Randy Alcorn. (buy it from Amazon.com)Let me just say, I HIGHLY recommend the book. It does an outstanding job of stacking the biblical teachings regarding money, generosity, sacrificial giving, and living for eternity in such a way that you're overwhelmed by the stark reality of it all.
In other words, I found myself ingesting truths of which I was generally aware, but in such a way that they collectively challenged my thinking & practice where God's money is concerned.
To whet your appetite to buy, read, and apply the book ...
- The Treasure Principle: You can’t take it with you, but you can send it on ahead.
- Key 1: God owns everything. I’m His money manager.
- Key 2: My heart always goes where I put God’s money.
- Key 3: Heaven, not earth, is my home.
- Key 4: I should live not for the dot but for the line.
- Key 5: Giving is the only antidote to materialism.
- Key 6: God prospers me not to raise my standard of living, but to raise my standard of giving.
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