The NHS? Really?

I love the Olympics! The summer Olympics is my favorite because my wife and two kids are swimmers and I am a USA swimming official. As a family we have spent hundreds of hours on pool decks practicing and competing in a great sport.

I know politics is part of the Olympics although I wish it wasn’t, but the stark reality is the Olympics offers country’s the opportunity to highlight the things they are proud of. That is why I was so surprised to see a reference to Britain’s National Health Services. I really enjoyed most of the opening ceremonies up until that point where the director took the audience in a very strange direction by combining institutional type beds and nurses, basically reminding everyone why we have tried so hard to move from anything institutional, and then throwing in some children’s nightmares. I am not sure what we were supposed to feel about that part of the program but I know it was very depressing to watch. It also left us a bit baffled as to why this was part of the opening ceremony?

The reality is that the healthcare system in Britain is great unless you are sick and old. And in reality, when we are sick and old is when we need the most from our healthcare system. The stories are abundant about the elderly being denied care because they are not a “good investment” of healthcare dollars, and the waiting lists for “routine” (what we consider routine but will change under Obamacare) services are months and years long.

The British have a long history of improving the conditions throughout the world through their long list of industrial improvements, and the birthplace of our Founding Fathers. The British have a long history of educational advancements and great universities, command of the seas and the development of global trade. I wish the director would have spent more time on those areas and left the socialized medicine is great stick out of the ceremony.

We are bombarded enough about politics especially in a presidential election season. It would have been nice to have been spared the NHS is great lie on such a grand scale…

Mayor Bloomberg: Shut Up! Please...

I personally don’t care what the Mayor of NYC my hometown has to say about guns or any other matter as a matter of fact. The ego on this man is typical of every dictator of the past. Mayor Bloomberg seems to think he knows best.

The beauty of this great republic is if you don’t like what the Mayor does in his city you can move to a state or another city that you do agree with the Mayor. The credibility of the Mayor of NY is limited in the arena of gun control. Bloomberg’s city is like most inner cities that have the strictest gun control laws but still have the highest rates of crime according to every statistic available. Gun laws take guns from the law abiding citizens yielding them helpless against criminals and limited to waiting for 911 to respond.

If you look at Bloomberg’s record here is what you find: the highest poverty rates, lowest scores on aptitude tests, highest crime rates, and many undesirable neighborhoods. All this and he wants to play on the national stage? He believes more control over the people’s lives is the answer to everything. The problem is he is the problem.

If the Mayor wants to control his city then he can propose what he wants and let the people of the city of NY decide what they are willing to accept. As far as the rest of us are concerned all I can say is shut up. I would never move to NYC if I had all of the money in the world. I believe in freedom and our constitution. Something Bloomberg has no respect for as exemplified by his never ending meddling in the affairs of - we the people…

Taking Credit for America’s Engine?

The only reason we have any infrastructure in this country is because of the American business man and woman. There is no credit that can be given to the government for the creativity and ingenuity it takes to start, implement, maintain, and grow a successful business. 

How and why do roads and bridges get built? First the why. In most communities across the nation roads and bridges are supported by business people in the community that believe if we build the bridge it will add value to the community from an economic standpoint. Whether it is a local development where developers build the roads and bridges or a regional project to bring a mall to the area, businessman and woman begin the efforts. If we left infrastructure up to the people in government we would still be rowing across the Hudson and Mississippi Rivers. Bureaucrats don’t come up with the ideas, the private sector does. Bureaucrats simply slow down the process.

The how? Roads and bridges are designed in most part by private engineering businesses through contracts awarded by the government. The money used to build the bridges is tax dollars created in the private sector by the businesses that pay taxes. The government again is a middle man often slowing down or impeding the process. So without the taxpayer, ideas from the private sector and the blood sweat and tears of the private sector nothing gets done.

Teachers, firefighters, police, although important are not the reason for private business success. If  any of these services were taken away, the private sector could easily fill in and create a system that could replace the current one. That is my point, we the private citizen are responsible for creating and funding the services we need to support the communities we build. To suggest there is some central brain in the government is ludicrous. It is an oxymoron.

The “system that enables success” is the US Constitution which is designed to LIMIT the government’s role so we can prosper. Our founders knew that the government was an inherent “evil” that needed to be kept small in order to ensure freedom and prosperity for all Americans.

So as the president attempts to take credit where no credit is due, I suggest you analyze the reason he feels that way and take that conclusion right to the ballot box.

This president has no idea how America works and why it is great. It has nothing to do with the creativity of government. It has everything to do with the creativity of the private sector. Without the private sector there is no prosperity only misery. This president has never bought into the American Dream because he spent so little time getting to know it. Now he is trying to destroy the American Dream we all know and love and so many have died to protect. Maybe it’s time to show him the door so he can get a firsthand experience of living in the private sector.

Unfortunately, the government benefits he will receive when he leaves office will insulate him from the need to participate in a real economy and job. That’s good news for the president, after all it’s hard to participate and succeed at something you have no knowledge of in the first place…

Mitt Romney Tells it Like it Is at NAACP Conference

Mitt Romney reached out to the NAACP today and was honest and unwilling to pander to the audience. He told the black liberal Americans in the audience about the real solutions to the problems in their community.

The family unit, education, the private sector, and individual accountability are the ways out of poverty. It is no different for any American community, and to tell a different story would have been a lie. Mitt does not lie, he tells the truth and it is a refreshing change from typical political pandering.

Many criticized Mitt for even accepting the invitation from this notoriously liberal group, but he made the right decision. You don’t change hearts and minds by running from the difficult truths. The truth has to be told to the black community (and every community) that government is the barrier to success. Government programs suck the life out of individuals and communities which have made a lifestyle out of government programs sold as temporary solutions. The best antidote to poverty is a job not a handout. That work not welfare is the stepping stone to success.

President Obama passed off his invitation to his VP Joe Biden. Talk about a slap in the face! I think the president made a huge mistake because his message to the NAACP is you are a guaranteed vote I don’t need to covet. Maybe he’s right but Biden is such an incompetent boob he could turn open minded NAACP members to consider an alternative.

Mitt will never win the majority of Black American’s vote but they got a glimpse into the heart of a good man that will make a fine president. He does not discount the black community because they may not vote for him; he respects them because they are Americans searching for a similar dream of success. Mitt was brilliant today but more importantly he was sincere. Mitt believes every American deserves a shot at the American Dream even if they do not intend to vote for him.

Mitt is truly a uniter and refuses to divide this country as the current president is intent on doing. Mitt opened his heart today to the NAACP and I think they have met a sincerely good man…

UN Targeting Your Gun?

As the summer rolls along and people try the best they can to enjoy activities like camping, boating, and barbeques, bureaucrats at the UN and our State Department are considering a Treaty that is targeted to limit your guns. That’s right; our Constitution is under attack again by a foreign enemy with the help of this administration.

The UN has no jurisdiction in this country and you would think that any meddling in our internal sovereign affairs would generate outrage. But this is being done like everything else this administration does, with sleight of hand distractions. These people know our eyes glaze over when policy matters and foreign treaties are the subject, so they are counting on your inability to focus on the intent or outcome of this dangerous treaty.

Buy more guns and ammunition should be the response to this initiative to disarm Americans. There is one reason and one reason only that America will always be able to defend herself even if this administration tries to underfund our military and that is an armed citizenry. Think about a foreign government trying to overtake America? What do you think the biggest concern is? Armed Americans ready to blow the head off of any enemy stupid enough to place their boots on our God given rights and soil.

The treaty states that only governments can be gun owners and the NRA is on the case. Treaties must be ratified by two thirds of the senate so I expect pressure will be placed on these senators not to sign. I would hope that any American representative would be smart enough to not support this but I can’t be that confident with the infiltration that has happened in our elected bodies.

That is why this election is so important on so many levels. There are too many enemies within our own ranks and they must be purged this November. So as you enjoy your summer activities just make a mental note that this November we must defeat the enemies within and elect patriotic Americans that support our constitutional rights including the right to bear arms…

The World in Chaos

When liberal philosophy is in control of positions of “authority”, chaos ensues. The reason chaos ensues is because liberals believe in relative morality. There is no distinction between right and wrong. People that commit murder, theft, abuse, and outright lie, are often justified by liberals because of past circumstances like poverty, lack of education, lack of opportunity, and a host of other excuses.

Negotiating with criminals, dictators, or children is all similar in the sense that when you are willing to accept less than what is right and wrong, you have lost your position in the negotiations. If the people you are negotiating with don’t think they will face consequences they keep pushing the envelope.

We see it with the kids that tormented the bus monitor. They obviously believed the consequences they would face were worth the risk to do what they did to that adult. Obviously the parents of those kids were liberals. We see it with the murder rate in Chicago since Rahm Emanuel took office. As a liberal, his reaction to the increased murder rates? Negotiate with “gang bangers.” The message is that we are willing to accept the moral decline of society if these gang members will at least keep the killing in their own neighborhoods. We see it with Hillary Clinton shaking her finger at Russia as the Russian President raises his finger to her in response. He knows we have no values left that we are willing to defend so he does what he wants with little worry of any consequences.

President Obama is the most immoral president ever elected to the office. His willingness to support legislation that allows a baby that lives after an abortion goes wrong to be left for dead, leaving that life to suffer without attention or care, shows absolute evil has taken over at the highest ranks. Selling guns to drug lords, undermining our economy with out of control spending and borrowing, accepting Muslim terrorists at the White House, and the list goes on, shows our decline through liberalism.

Liberals will never admit how wrong they are or how willing they are to accept immoral behavior but it is exactly why the world is in chaos. The only way to end chaos is to instill moral leadership. That means voting against the current administration and its inability to protect what’s right, and punish what is wrong. As a moral people we need to punish the wrong by voting for what’s right…

Definitions that Deceive…

The fight for a free and prosperous nation means understanding the words and meanings used to secure your vote. It is also important to look at the results and consequences of implementing policies that are often sold using deceptive labels.

“Community” is the term often used by the left as a tool to support big government. “We are stronger together than we are separate” is one of the many variations of the mantra they use to equate a good quality with a big government fix. Communities can be a source of good but only in the sense that the community is organically created and not contrived. For example, a church community is a community made up of people voluntarily coming together to worship and support people of need through the programs they create- like donating time, food, and shelter in a crisis.

The “global community” on the other hand is a very dangerous community to accept or become a part of. This fictitious community is used to garner good feeling about friendliness and holding hands and common causes we share. The most common use of “global community” is the extreme environmentalist groups that are really a conglomerate of groups that hate capitalism and freedom. The major problem with this “community” is there are no mutual common goals any of us share. We may think the world wants clean air and water for example but all you have to do is visit China, Russia, North Korea, Cuba, and you understand this is not true. Most non capitalist countries are the most egregious polluters in the world. The governments that are the most dictorial and not democratic are the biggest polluters in the world, and we are lead to believe we all share a common future. We don’t. So when people try to sell an idea by playing to your sense of “global community” there is no such community. As a famous politician once said, “all politics is local.” This same concept should be applied to “communities” as well.

Any government supported “community’ is compulsory and is a danger to our freedom and prosperity. The healthcare debacle that was just deemed constitutional is being argued that it is good for Americans because it takes care of the poor, minority, uninsured, place the group here “community.” The problem is it destroys the individual. Government “communities” impose their will, rules and regulations on every individual, and we can’t escape the government community. So in reality it is not a community but a prison.

“Fairness” is another term often leveraged by the big government types to implement more government agencies to decide what is fair for everyone. So, what is fair for everyone? Should we all make the same amount of money no matter what our job is? What is a fair wage? Is it fair that some people live in a bigger home? Own a boat? Own a business? What is a fair? And most important who decides?

“The “rich” should be made to pay their fair share.” What is the fair share? Who decides what is rich? Is $30K, $50K, $75K, $100K, etc… rich? For someone making minimum wage $75K may seem rich but who are they to decide? You see it all becomes arbitrary and someone must decide the rules. Is that the government “community”? Is it fair to tax a man more because he works harder and becomes more successful? If we continue to tax success will we get more or less of it?

It can all seem fair as long as you are not targeted by the “fairness community.” That is why the constitution, capitalism, and the free markets are so effective. The constitution protects the individual from oppressive government. Capitalism rewards individuals who work hard and success is subject to the laws of the market. The market is colorblind, gender blind, sexuality blind, and has no interest in your title, resume, or past accomplishments. It is a mechanism that holds the individual or company accountable to their customers every day. There is no government bureaucrat picking winners and losers based on politics. Hard work, merit, reputation, and quality drive success. You can’t legislate success no matter how much you want to help others. Individuals must choose to be successful, communities can’t impose it.

Community and fairness can sound really good but they don’t work in the context of government. What is so hard to understand?     

The Signing of the Declaration of Independence…

The signing of the Declaration of Independence was the ultimate act of courage. It set in motion an ideal that many have died to protect throughout time.

“When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.”

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness…”

These words are so eloquent and describe a sentiment that the people had had enough of the imposition of government rules and regulations on their lives. Before this declaration it was common to believe in class systems where a person’s birth right was more important than their accomplishments, Kings were bowed to, and the people accepted their lot in life as set out by a ruling class. Moving up in society was almost impossible and individual rights were window dressing rather than the law of the land. The Declaration of Independence and the willingness to sacrifice everything for freedom changed the world. It is why we celebrate July 4^th with celebrations across the country.

The final sentence of the document shows the willingness to stand by their words:

“And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.”

Today we often take our freedoms for granted. There were 56 signatures on the Declaration of Independence. A few of the names you would recognize like Jefferson, Samuel and John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and Hancock, but most you would not. It is a shame we don’t spend more time in school getting to know every one of these brave men in more detail. The world should be thankful these men had the courage they did to stand up against tyranny.

None of these men were perfect. But they understood that the individual not a collective body is the greatest prospect for success. We talk a lot these days about “community” but in the context of government community is different and often stifles individual freedom. We also talk a lot about “fairness” but fairness is about opportunity not outcome. Individuals are given a fair opportunity because of our God given rights, but outcomes can never be made to be “fair.”

These men knew that and simply declared we would be the arbiters of our own destiny. No government was capable or endowed with the power to define our life. Today we celebrate being given the opportunity to be free from government rule. Government is formed with the consent of the governed and we have the power to change what we don’t like if we have the will. Happy Birthday America!

The Constitution’s Last Stand…

It may be the only way to save our constitution from the Washington DC elite. It seems the constitution is no longer the law of the land. It has been breached by the President, Legislature, and the Supreme Court. So what is the next battlefield to protect the principles that made this nation great? The Tenth Amendment is now the line in the sand that must be fortified with the state governors and the citizens of those states.

The Tenth Amendment: “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”

The federal government has over stepped its bounds and it is time to bring in the reinforcements. Governor Jindal, Governor Walker, and Governor Scott, are on the right track by stating they will not comply with the Obamacare Medicaid mandates but that is only the first step. There are 18 other Governors that are considering the same actions toward Medicaid but it is time to expand the scope of services that need to be nullified. Learn more about Nullification here at the Tenth Amendment Center.

The states need to reaffirm their role defined in the constitution as a protection against an over reaching central authority. If the citizens of the states want to fix the federal government they must participate in electing state representatives that understand the 10^th amendment and are willing to challenge every federal mandate and start nullifying them.

Governors should start opening up the medical and healthcare insurance industries by eliminating mandates for coverage. They should open up the insurance market to include plans that simply cover catastrophic care and make it easier for doctors to practice medicine instead of spending their time administering insurance plans. Doctors should post a price list for services like preventative checkups and referrals. There are so many market ideas to be unleashed if the mandates are lifted and government is moved out of the market of healthcare.

States can set up a couple of simple rules for coverage. If you are an insurer and want to operate in the state you must accept a percentage of “high risk” patients in order to operate. People with pre-existing conditions would be distributed to health insurance companies that operate within the state. The entrepreneurial spirit and markets will create downward pricing pressures and doctors will have to compete for patients. In the end the market becomes more responsive to the patient, and the doctor gets paid a fair market wage not a wage determined by an insurance company or government bureaucrat.

Healthcare would be a start but education would be next. Allowing private sector and home school operations to expand using the tax dollars that would be saved by reducing the amount of federal tax dollars sent to DC for “education.” The Governors could determine how much they would allow the federal government to tax their citizens based on the constitutional responsibilities of the federal government. That would mean that the federal government would submit a budget to the states for defense and diplomacy and the states would pay their apportioned share.

Basically what we need are state representatives and governors with the fortitude to protect and defend the constitution. Is it radical? Only if you believe holding the federal government accountable to its constitutional limits is radical. It is only common sense and may be our last stand…

Federal Government Orders Colorado Ski Resorts Closed

It is general knowledge that skiing has become a very treacherous activity including numerous deaths over the years. It can no longer be tolerated that the expenses incurred by the Federal Government and the financial pressure skiing adds to the already limited healthcare resources of the Obamacare system, that something must be done immediately to curb the financial hardship. So it is with a heavy heart HHS is closing down all ski resorts in Colorado.

There have been numerous inquiries into the recent HHS panel’s review of the boating industry. The facts are still being reviewed and the restrictions remain in place until a final order is issued. Those restrictions include all 50 states and cover recreational boating only. They cover both boats and jet skis. Commercial fishing boats for the time being are exempt. These restrictions include absolutely no water skiing, knee boarding, tubing or boating in excess of 5 MPH. Fines include the confiscation of all watercraft and up to $1000.00 fines on each individual in the watercraft.

The decision to ban off road vehicles and skidoo’s remains in effect. HHS believes they have saved numerous lives and reduced the cost of healthcare injuries by .0002%. This represents a significant reduction in real dollars. Any persons caught using a snowmobile or driving off road vehicles will be subject to 30 days in prison and fines of up to $5000.00 per person. Those fines will be used to support the recent 3% salary increases of HHS personnel. They have been forced to work overtime due to the hiring freezes put in place to allow the hiring of new doctors who must be shipped in from India since no Americans are applying to medical school. The recent decline in American students choosing medical school is being reviewed by a special panel of bureaucrats and the results will be communicated at the annual convention in the Spring of next year.

HHS wishes to thank all of its employees for all of their hard work during these difficult times. All of these new regulations have really increased the workload of this agency of over 20,000 employees.

In other news; American businesses have closed up shop and moved to Singapore and New Zealand. This has put additional pressure on the treasury that will need to print additional dollars to make up for all of the lost productivity due to the 1% leaving…

Laugh now because soon we will all be crying.

What was the Founder’s greatest fear?

I enjoy reading about the founding of our nation. I have read many books, articles, and often re-read sections of the Constitution when I have questions. When I go back and read the founding documents whether it is the Declaration of Independence, Constitution, or the Federalist Papers, the common thread throughout is the dis-trust of centralized authority.

I believe we have lost interest and the understanding of how this great nation was founded, why, and how it has become the most prosperous nation on the earth. The fact that we have stopped teaching the principles of self-governance and instead spend time learning dates and specific events as students, has resulted in the loss of the most important part of our founding; the context in which the documents were created.

Context is often overlooked but an extremely important aspect of learning history. Unless the context is clear about an event, it is hard to understand the true intentions of the people involved in the event. How can you make a judgment about someone’s actions if you don’t have all the facts about what lead to those actions? It is not only true in history but every day events. For example: if you were to learn someone killed another person by shooting them with their handgun, could you convict them on that fact? Unless you know that the murdered person was an armed robber and entered the house with the intent of killing the inhabitants and robbing them of their possessions, you would have incomplete context.

The context of our founding must be understood to apply the constitution correctly. Our founder’s greatest fear was a central authority with the power to dictate and impose on the freedom of the individual. They had just fought a revolution and risked their life, possessions, and sacred honor in the pursuit of freedom and self-governance. They saw central authority as evil and believed that men involved in the free pursuit of their dreams, engaging in economic activity between each other, were the best arbiters of happiness.

To understand the constitution is to understand the time, the reason, and the vision of why it was created. It was created to limit the central government’s power and protect the individual and state’s rights to operate and pursue happiness. Even the context of “happiness” needs to be reviewed. Happiness at the time of our founding was a much simpler concept. It was pursuing a trade, taking care of your family, and living in freedom from government rule. After all this was the first experiment in self-rule without a class structure.

The constitution is not “living or breathing” it is a solid set of laws limiting central authority (Federal Government).  What we have seen in the healthcare ruling that was ruled on by the SCOTUS is a disregard of the context and intention of the Constitution. It is no more complex than that. We have lawyers that debate over what the word is, is, but to any common soul like myself that studies human nature, the founding, and believes that individuals, not bureaucrats in some far off concrete building are better judges of their own fate, suffered  a great blow to liberty and self-rule.

The people that are cheering this decision will come to realize if it is fully implemented that they have given up their freedom and will be told how to live by some central authority bureaucrat. Healthcare is not free or a right, it is an economic pact between two individual parties. Being free to decide your own fate is a right protected by the Constitution and that right was just trampled by the Supreme Court of the United States…