Curious…

Tax Cuts:

Why is it the only time democratic politicians get exercised and concerned about costs is “the “costs” of tax cuts”! Tax cuts don’t cost the government a thing. It is the people that earn the money who should determine how much they are willing to be taxed to pay for government services. Every time we cut taxes on the earners in this nation revenues to the government go up. This is a fact so if the government wants more money to operate it makes sense to cut more taxes for the people that work and pay them (EIC need not apply)…

Bi-partisanship:

It is interesting for the past two years there was no talk of bi-partisanship while democrats dominated all three branches of government. They shoved their agenda down the throats of America and were punished accordingly at the ballot box. The republicans have been mandated to reverse and repeal the past two years of policy. Even in the lame duck session there is little effort to engage the republicans. Now that the house will be in full control of the republicans there is a loud outcry to “work together”, “get things done for the American people”. The republicans would be well served if they heed the call to get things done for Americans but that does not have to include their democratic colleagues in the house. Elections have consequences and sometimes working for the American people means ignoring the democratic politicians…

Shopping for a Soul…

I find it interesting and disturbing how some people are obsessed with shopping for stuff. Don’t get me wrong, I like stuff but what is the real joy of the Christmas season that starts Thanksgiving weekend? It is a question I keep asking myself and I keep coming back to counting my blessings for my health, the health of my family, and my circumstances that I have spent a lifetime creating.

Over the past couple of years, Americans have paid down $150 billion in debt. This is a really good thing for individuals but problematic for an economy driven by retail sales. I believe we are in a re-adjustment period regarding spending habits. I don’t believe we are going to see the next generation with a closet full of shoes. I believe the next generation has all the stuff they need and more. Most of that stuff has been given to them by well intentioned parents. Even though as parents we may feel good about being able to give our kids a “comfortable” life, the kids are finding stuff “empty.”

Again, don’t get me wrong, they appreciate the stuff and the comforts of life but just like us, the next generation will find their own way to define themselves. I am not sure the trend is apparent yet, but I believe they will be more likely to want a simpler life, whatever that means. They see their parents working their tails off and living a very hectic life. I think they are going to search for more rewarding careers and be more community focused. Just look at all of the communities they already subscribe to on the internet.

I only hope they get off the internet and get into live forums where they can engage in real human activity. I think they are doing some of that but I think the internet and texting is stealing some of the childhood memories that normally come from exploring a park, hiking, or playing games on the streets of our cities and towns.

If you ask teens what they want for Christmas many of them are not sure because they already have too much. It seems to me the best gift we can give them is a family vacation, a personal note of why we love them, or simply our time. I am not sure that waiting in a “Black Friday” line to buy more stuff is going to be an activity future generations will be taking part in. We can only hope that the “stuff” life is made of will again take precedence in our next generation. Hugs anyone?

“Whatever it takes”…

I have been watching the news and cringe at the interviews where a reporter is standing in a terminal interviewing a traveler regarding security procedures. These words have become all too common and frankly scare me, “whatever it takes” to keep us safe. OK, let’s explore that sentiment.

The government creates a new security force that is assigned to do “whatever it takes” to keep us safe. A knock comes on your door and it is one of these agents that want to search your home just to make sure you are not a terrorist. You have nothing to hide so you let them in because they are doing “whatever it takes” to keep you safe.

The same government agents stop you as your walking into your favorite restaurant and ask you to empty your pockets and put your hands on the wall so they can frisk you. You have nothing to hide so you submit to the intrusion because we need to do “whatever it takes” to be safe.

Random searches, invasion of privacy into our homes, the right to assemble when we choose, and the right to travel without being harassed are basic constitutional rights. Plane travel is no different from entering any place of residence, commercial establishment, car, bus, or train. Terrorists can attack anywhere there are people, and when we surrender our rights the terrorists have won. “Whatever it takes” to keep us safe is something we cannot allow to happen.

The next step is the confiscation of our right to bear arms under the guise of “whatever it takes”. Instead of encouraging gun ownership, the people currently serving in this government believe gun ownership is a safety problem. And I would agree if they thought it was a safety problem for the criminals and terrorists. You see, an armed citizenry is the best protection of our rights as individuals. “Whatever it takes” is a very dangerous position to take.

Americans have become very easy to intimidate and scare into giving up basic rights. The left wing radicals know this and that is why they thrive on chaos. They leverage a “post 9/11 world” to justify trampling our constitutional rights. Americans need to start thinking in terms of the “slippery slope”. Once you allow invasions based on airline travel, what happens when a terrorist attacks another form of transportation or restaurant?

We need to be diligent in knowing the people around us and be prepared to inform police in local communities of these suspicious behaviors. If you go to any local community you will find that the people in those communities often know who the problem is. Law enforcement needs to start profiling and monitoring activity that is suspicious and utilize it to keep us safe.

Most of the people going through the airports are not a threat but they are the ones being investigated. The last few terrorists all had a few things in common, their sex, religion, and travel that included terrorist nations. The Christmas and Time Square bombers both fit the MO. We need to look at people that fit that MO and do “whatever it takes” to investigate their intentions and behavior.

But instead we harass our grandparents, kids, and wives while we ignore the fundamental problem of terrorism. It is fueled by a religion that is bent on dominating the world. We should do “whatever it takes” to get the facts out about the real threat to our safety…

Why Government and Insurance Companies are Bad for our Health…

Health Insurers need to make profits and the Government has been proven to be inefficient, unqualified, and subject to corruption through the political process. It is that simple.

Health Insurance companies that are either for profit or non profit at the end of the day have to ration care based on how much revenue they collect through premiums. The system of health insurance breaks down when the outlays for medical payments exceeds the amount of premiums brought in. So in order to survive, the insurance company must limit the amount they pay out. The only way to do that is to ration what services they will pay with the insurance premiums collected by their customers.

What health insurance premiums cover is a major part of the problem and fixing this is one of the keys to the solution of making healthcare more affordable and accessible. Insurance is for things that are unexpected and can’t be planned for like a house fire, hurricane, car accident, heart attack or appendix bursting. Insurance is not for paying to change the oil in your car, water your lawn, paint the family room or get a check up for your kids to join the High School swim team. Those expenses can be planned for, shopped around, and do not warrant a need for insurance.

The “market” for healthcare is so regulated it actually doesn’t exist in any real sense of the definition of market. Insurance companies and government welfare plans determine where, when, what, and how much they will pay for medical care. Shoppers and competitive principles need not apply. If consumers were paying for basic medical services, quality would rise, prices would fall, demand would stabilize, and the real market value would become apparent for the American consumer. It would also increase the ability for insurance companies to issue policies to cover catastrophic or highly cost intensive procedures (what they are best at doing). If all people carried a reasonable catastrophic policy, the true reason for insurance could be realized without impacting basic care. Large pools of people paying and less payouts based on the actuarial tables for the most costly and specialized procedures. (Two other side notes; tort reform, and clinics designed to handle basic and repeatable services removing the need for a doctor. These basic, common and repeatable services would be handled by certified healthcare professionals.)

The federal government has no authority to be in the healthcare business. That being said, the current Medicare and Medicaid systems are littered with fraud, inefficiency, and political and corporate corruption. To believe the government is a better administrator of any program is delusional. Those that believe corporations and insurance companies are corrupt often place their confidence in government bureaucracies they believe “protect” the people. I will not go deep here but the corruption of bureaucrats is so far greater than corporate corruption and the facts don’t support their misplaced trust. Government healthcare is already proven to be all of the things above, inefficient and corrupt. It will get worse as private insurance options are reduced due to the new regulations in the Obama healthcare bill and even more reliance falls to the government. Medicare and Medicaid are bankrupt and Medicaid is a disgrace. To invest more trust in these bankrupt systems is again delusional.

The answer is to get both insurance companies and the government out of basic decisions on healthcare and put them back into the hands of doctors and patients. After all, who cares about your health, you and your doctor or some bureaucrat or insurance adjuster? I think the answer is obvious.

Governments only role here is to provide for the truly needy, not the needy they create through dependence. But we have seen what the outcome is of placing welfare in the hands of government; more welfare and dependency. This dependency has come at a cost of tens of trillions of dollars and dashed dreams of generations of Americans. It is also destroying the market of healthcare. The waste and inefficiency of government is undermining the ability of a real health market to exist. The result of government care will be less access, poorer quality, shortages of doctors and nurses, and a revival of two types of healthcare; one for the people that can pay and one where people are dying while they wait in lines to see a doctor.

The way we currently pay for healthcare is the real problem. As consumers we shop for a car, a house, clothes, etc…, and based on quality, price, and our income we buy the things we can afford. I buy a Camry, my neighbor buys a Mercedes and we both buy based on our wants, needs, and abilities. We weigh the costs and benefits and buy what we can afford. When is the last time you asked a doctor how much it will cost you for a physical? When is the last time you “shopped” directly for any medical service? Exactly, you don’t. People are paying in excess of $300 a month for cell phone and cable but we can’t pay for a doctor visit? People are buying the NFL cable package but they can’t pay for a checkup? People are paying to go out to dinner three nights a week but they can’t pay for blood work? You get the idea. If you want the best healthcare system in the world you need to apply the best market practices in the world; competition.

There was a time not long ago when people had a direct customer to doctor relationship. That changed when wage freezes were introduced and companies that wanted to get better employees (competition) offered health plans to supplement the wage caps that were forced down by government to adhere to (law of unintended consequences). That and the government’s move into Medicare, Medicaid, and Social welfare expansions that have undermined the doctor patient relationship ever since. Some good was done for the poor in the beginning but as always government programs with good intentions have expanded and now is poised to destroy the best healthcare in the world.

There are many people out there that think the answer to everything is tax the rich. Well they may feel good about saying that but the reality is they have no moral ground to ask someone who works hard to pay for them just because they believe they are entitled to be healthy.

For some strange reason many Americans have come to believe they have a “right” to healthcare. It is impossible to have a right to healthcare unless you force doctors, nurses, and healthcare professionals to provide services to patients. Rights are derived from natural circumstances. For example, freedom is a right, free speech is a right, and the right to assemble; all have one thing in common; they don’t require anyone else to give up their rights. At some point these healthcare professionals will leave the profession and if we continue in the direction we are going that will come sooner rather than later.

There are people that are currently receiving the best medical care because the “rich” have put up with the current system, but that is coming to an end. These people are spending other people’s money and it is running out and running away. The wealthy always have the means to move. Just think of the Beatles and every other British rock star that fled Britain because their income was taxed at 95%. They moved to America and remained until those tax laws were changed. Now rich people are fleeing America’s tax system and setting up residence in tax friendly havens. So the people left holding the bag will not be the “rich” or those “greedy” corporations that employ people; it will be the people that feel entitled to the wealth of others that will be stuck paying the bills. And then we will get what we truly deserve.

The answer is not insurance companies or government bureaucracies. The answer is a renewed relationship between the patient and doctor; a reformed tort system that doesn’t force healthcare professionals to pay $100,000 a year out of their pocket for mal-practice insurance; a reorganization of basic healthcare services that don’t require the attention of a doctor and can be handled by certified practitioners. We need insurance policies that focus on risk as opposed to paying for basic services. The government’s role should be limited to providing for the truly needy, not the people that don’t want to pay for healthcare because it may cut into their life style. And finally a method to provide for pre-existing conditions that evenly spreads the risk amongst all insurance providers.

We need to stop looking at this in the way we currently are; government VS insurance companies. The main players should be the patient and the doctor. If we leave this debate to the insurance providers and government; we all lose…

TSA Says When We Buy an Airline Ticket we Surrender Some of Our Rights; really?

The citizen outrage over the TSA “pat downs” and use of X-ray machines that create X rated pictures is completely justified as American citizens protected by the constitution are being molested and abused by representatives of our government. This argument is not about security it is about rights, and what we are willing to accept as a “price” for security. There are better ways to keep planes safe than the ones the TSA uses. But I want to focus on a particular comment and policy of the TSA.

The recent publication of a passenger telling a TSA agent “if you touch my junk I will have you arrested” has caused me the most constitutional concern. The passenger decided he wanted neither the enhanced pat down nor the X-ray option. He wanted to go through the metal detector just like 80% of the passengers at San Diego airport were allowed to do. He was denied that option so he chose to get a refund and was escorted to the American ticket counter to do that. A discussion ensued with a TSA supervisor that he could not leave the airport without finishing the procedure he started or he would be subject to an $11,000 fine. He was also told that when you buy an airline ticket you give up certain rights. I have heard this comment from a number of TSA representatives and people not so interested in the constitution.

Let’s think about that. I fly often and I generally purchase my tickets weeks and sometimes months in advance. When I buy my ticket months in advance have I given up my fourth amendment rights? Can a TSA agent or some other government agent come to my home without a warrant and search my home and me because I have purchased an airline ticket? Is the fourth amendment null and void when I buy that ticket? I would argue that the purchase of any ticket is not an opportunity for a government agency to ignore our constitutional rights.

So why is an airport any different? If I as an American refuse to be molested or scanned, I should have the choice to leave without being accosted by the government. If the government believes I am a risk then they can go through the process of submitting evidence to secure a warrant for further investigation through due process. To suggest that this policy of forced interrogation once I enter an airport security area is to ensure terrorists don’t come to the security area to gather some kind of intelligence and then leave is ludicrous. Terrorists would most likely not risk the spotlight that kind of action would place on them.

So where does my fourth amendment constitutional right end? It doesn’t. The TSA needs to be disbanded and replaced with real law enforcement professionals trained in profiling behavior. The arrogance of the TSA leadership to stomp our constitution is unforgivable. I want to fly on safe planes but there are many better options than government agents chuckling over naked pictures, feeling up our wives and daughter’s breasts, our sons private parts, trampling our dignity and rights. We have created another gigantic, ineffective, and embarrassing agency. Let’s look at a better option in the best interest of our security, the airlines, and our constitutional rights….

America Deserves Better…

I am tired of being embarrassed by an incompetent president and administration. The G-20 summit highlighted the lack of respect other nations have toward us because they don’t have any confidence in America’s future based on the policies of this president.

We need to realize we have incompetence at the helm. It is important that our congressional leadership start to pass legislation that will at least send a message to the world that we are going to fix the fundamental flawed policies that this administration has put in motion. This will help reset the stage that America is poised for a comeback in 2012 with the right leader.
We need to ignore the latest commission reports on how to reduce deficits and go back to the only document we need to return to prosperity; our Constitution. We have unconstitutional programs that need to be eliminated and we need tax reductions at the federal level. We do not have a revenue problem; we have too many government programs that produce a spending problem. We need to put the economy back into the hands of the private sector. It will result in a return to constitutional government and a healthy return to market principles. The critics that continually malign the private wealth creators need to look at the massive corruption of government first, and when they have a solution for that, only then can we even entertain ideas that put faith in bureaucrats.

America is the best in the world because our constitution recognizes individuals and the private sector as the driving force of innovation and economic growth. This administration and its policies are stifling our growth with government largesse, and the federal government is permeating the economic landscape in even the most local decisions in our nation. There is already a lot of whining going on about government program cuts that have not even taken place yet. But we have a choice; rely on what has always made us great or watch a painful demise of the greatest nation to have ever been known to mankind. The people and corporations currently at the troth are going to have to survive without the help of the taxpayers. It is time to put taxpayers first and return faith in a private sector economy.

The Tea Party is going to hold the new representatives feet to the fire and we must be strong willed. We will hear the sob stories about the pain and suffering inflicted by the new “Draconian” cuts. The pain will be short lived in comparison to the permanent damage to our economy if nothing is done. People that want a socialist form of government have many options in Europe. The world doesn’t need another nation of ingrates and lay-abouts. We need to remain a beacon to people that actually want to work and take risks. That is what we are about.

Get ready and get involved even if getting involved is simply staying informed of what is really happening. The media will distort the truth because they will feel cornered as their power is stripped from them by reducing the good old boy club in Washington DC. The media is an ally to our demise and you will need to dig deeper into the issues and not rely on headlines.

We can be great again and we will be. But we must elect the people America deserves; constitutional protectors cut from the cloth of our founding fathers…

Thank You Veterans…

It is incumbent on us to remember our vets on Veteran’s Day, but I choose to remember them always. The history of this great nation has one common thread that has enabled this great republic to thrive; men and woman willing to fight to protect our constitution.

It wasn’t enough to create a constitution if there was no way to protect it. Our military has been the foundation of respect we have achieved throughout history. In total sum there is no greater institution around the world that has spread the opportunity for people to be free. They are an example for the world that having a strong military is not a threat to democracy; it is a foundational element of a democracy.

Too many dictators have utilized the military to dampen the fire of liberty. In America our military soldiers are grounded in liberty by their upbringing and voluntarily heed the call of service to the country. These brave men and women will never be convinced to turn their back on their fellow Americans because some lunatic politician decided to attempt a coup d’état. They would find themselves alone in any attempt to subvert the constitution.

We celebrate these men and women today, but really, we celebrate them every day we live in freedom…

God Bless our Veteran’s and Active Military…

Washington, Jefferson, and Obama’s Expense Report…

As I watch the president of the United States jet off to India and Asia I couldn’t help but be reminded of the sharp contrasts to two of our former and greatest presidents, Washington and Jefferson. The contrast is telling and it shows how far away we have drifted from the true intentions of our founding fathers and principles.

Anyone that has read about Washington and Jefferson (school books excluded) knows that these two men spent their individual fortunes on activities that were carried out for the good of our country. In some of their letters they struggle and feel guilt for submitting their “expense reports” to the US Treasury for reimbursement. These two great men loved their country and were fiscally prudent about anything related to the newly formed republic. They considered the funds they used the people’s money. They knew everything they spent was a gift of the hard labors of the American people. They would be appalled at the current trip of our current president.

Barrack Obama has an entitlement mentality and as he demagogues about corporate greed and high roller Wall Street fat cats flying around in personal jets, he is flying around on our dime with estimates at the expense of 200 million dollars a day while the people labor and 10% of us have no jobs to go to. At least the corporate executives are not using tax payer money; they are earning their money through a free market. Well, what’s left of it?

The lavish travel and spending by this president is despicable and shows the complete disconnect of a man that has no connection to our founding fathers, principles, or simple common sense. I don’t care if it’s 200 or 20 million a day, there are smarter ways to spend that money. The president’s security is important but if he can’t travel to a place like Mumbai with normal security he shouldn’t go. Find a neutral place to have a discussion. Foreign policy is an important part of a president’s job, but with all of the domestic angst in the country I think he should start sitting down and working with fiscal conservatives and implementing policies to balance the budget. Real policies that are not throw backs to the “great society.”

I would like to see the expense report for this trip. I would like to compare it to the Jefferson’s and Washington’s in today’s dollars. It has only been a few hundred years since these great men struggled with submitting any expense to the US Treasury. I miss their frugalness and patriotic obligation to serving their fellow Americans…