A healing elixir

It’s been quite the week. After a very busy weekend I went to bed early Monday night with a sore throat. Other than a trip to the doctor’s office, an occasional visit to the rest room, and two occasions where I became so hungry the pain woke me up, I stayed in bed until Wednesday morning. Nothing like a week’s worth of sleep and some antibiotics to clear things up.

The funny thing is I tried herbal teas with honey, Advil, Tylenol, and even a special prescription mouthwash that is suppose to be great for sore throats, but none of it made my throat feel any better. Non-contagious I came into work yesterday with my throat still killing me and poured myself the first coffee I had had in three days. It worked beautifully. My throat felt better for hours. I honestly thought it was going to make it worse, but it was like a magic salve of goodness running down my throat. I’ve had strep before and coffee has never helped, but I’ve never tried French press coffee with strep. I think there must be something about the oils in it… I don’t know, but it was beautiful. Later in the afternoon it started bothering me again and I poured myself another cup and it got better with every sip. I highly recommend.

Of course, I highly recommend the press anyway, especially if you are a heavy coffee drinker and want to cut back. Huh? Oh yes, I use to drink pots, if not gallons of coffee a day. Now, just two to three cups a day and I am gooooood. If you don’t like coffee because of its bitterness, but you really like the smell of coffee, you have to try the press. It’s all the beauties of coffee and none of the draw backs. I’ve been on the press for a couple of years now and have even converted my wife. In fact… we don’t even OWN a drip coffee maker right now. The two that we had both busted and we have no desire to replace them. I am in the market for a bigger press, just in case we have guests who want an amazing cup of coffee.

I still have some drip coffee on occasion and in a pinch it gets you through, but why someone would be willing to subject themselves to that on a regular basis, knowing the rich, bold, flavorful goodness of the French press, is beyond me.

Speaking of which… I think it’s time for some right now.

Outrageous!!!

I’m a fan of the second amendment, just like I’m a fan of the first amendment, but I don’t own a gun and I certainly don’t carry a gun. Recently at an anti-Obamacare rally in AZ, one of our many gun-toting citizens decided to appear at the rally armed; a gun on the hip and an assault rifle over the shoulder - all of it perfectly LEGAL.

Do I think it was necessarily a good idea? No. It’s not something that I would do. But I am not about to tell someone else that they can’t. Especially when it’s legal and… well… they have an assault rifle. J

Now here is the interesting part that I wanted to talk about. The American Thinker has a clip of the man (obviously cropped like mad) that was played on MSNBC. The reason MSNBC played the clip is so that they could go on a long rampage about how all of this healthcare protesting has a racist tint to it. REALLY!? ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!

Here is the best part…

Are you ready?

The part that they cropped out of the video is the part that shows that the man CARRYING the assault rifle… is BLACK.

Go to American Thinker and watch the video then look at the full picture below it. Ridiculous.

Once again. This has nothing to do with race. It has everything to do with a BAD IDEA and a BAD BILL. By calling it racist or even strongly hinting that this is racist, totally diverts people from the real issue, which of course, is the goal. How dishonest of MSNBC to do that. It just goes to prove… once again… how IN THE TANK they are for this administration that they would sacrifice any shred of professional integrity that they might have one time had, in order to smear people that oppose the administrations agenda.

Shame on you MSNBC!

BTW... if you watch the video, the MSNBC egghead says "a Mark Hinckley figure", but obviously, being a moron, he messes it up. The man who tried to assassinate President Reagan was mentally deranged, JOHN Hinckley. Seriously, where do they get these people?

Poll Comparisons to Past Presidents

It’s been a rough start. Just my personal opinion. I think it’s a combination of the speed with which he is moving combined with the far left policies that he is pushing that have translated into this sudden move downward. Peter Wehner has a poll comparison between the initial approval rating of Presidents since Eisenhower to their average during August. Some of the numbers are very impressive, some for good reasons... others for bad.

Eisenhower +6 (from 68 to 74 percent)
Kennedy +4 (from 72 to 76 percent)
Nixon +3 (from 59 to 62 percent)
Carter -3 (from 66 to 63 percent)
Reagan +9 (from 51 to 60 percent)
George H. W. Bush +18 (from 51 to 69 percent)
Clinton -14 (from 58 to 44 percent)
George W. Bush -1 (from 57 to 56 percent)
Obama -14 (from 68 to 54 percent).

The numbers aren’t really that important at this point in the game. The real key is that conservatives need to keep good solid pressure on the administration and bring out the information that the media is ignoring. Read the bills. Watch what is going on. Keep the information flowing.

A letter to Congressmen Waxman and Stupak

Congress is on a witch hunt to try and embarass executives at all of the major insurance companies and gather information about their business.

This is ridiculous.

So, I drafted the following letter which I will be sending to my reps and to Congressman Waxman and Congressman Stupak.

Congressman Waxman and Congressman Stupak,


Recently the Congress sent letters requesting information from insurance companies regarding executive pay and bonus structure, bonuses and salaries paid, along with information regarding profit from different aspects of their business. As an American I am always encouraged when the government supports transparent and open policies.

It is in that vein that I would like to request documentation from the Congress regarding the following items. Please include all requested information for all years encompassing the 105th through 111th Congresses.

(1) Information regarding earmarks. Including, but not limited to
a. Which congressional member requested all earmarks whether finally approved or not.
b. Which congressional member received campaign contributions directly or indirectly tied to companies, firms, or organizations who received any earmarks or other forms of government assistance.
c. As well detail any travel, dinners, parties, or fundraisers that were hosted or sponsored by any organization, company, or firm which received tax payer funds.

(2) Information concerning Congressional travel. Include detailed and itemized information in regards to all of the following:
a. Per diems received by Congressional members. How and where those per diems were spent and a detailed list of excess funds which are required to be returned if not needed.
b. A list of congressional trips taken during the 105th – 111th Congress, including all trips that were funded through public or private means. Any travel that may have already been detailed in Section (1) should be noted again here as well.
c. Please clearly state all congressional members, family, and friends who were also present during such trips and the purpose for each attendee.
d. As well state the over all purpose for each congressional trip and provide justification for repeated trips to and from Washington D.C. in excess of one round trip per month. Please include all travel and provide dollar approximations for accommodations made to Congressional members through the Air Force and give written justification why Congressional members needed Air Force assistance, rather than taking readily available commercial transportation.
(3) A detailed accounting of all funds associated with Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid and a detailed plan for returning all of the funds that have been “borrowed” from these accounts for the last seven decades.

Being an understanding member of the electorate, I will allow you until the end of the calendar year to provide the above information. I may request further information from you on all of the included topics, after all, we are all interested in finding and eliminating wasteful spending during this financial crisis.

I would like to state that in the future all such information should be readily available and included in one of the governments myriads of web pages. As a concerned citizen I am sure that you will understand our desire for brilliant light to shine into the practices of our elected officials.

Best regards,

Keith Jones
www.keithjonesblog.com

Pre-existing Conditions

This is a hot button, I understand that, but read and keep an open mind.

I have some family members who are not employed where they get healthcare coverage. They have tried to seek private insurance, willing to pay the premiums themselves, and they have been denied because of certain chronic health factors. At the same time they don’t qualify for state assistance. This means when they go to the doctor they have to negotiate a price and pay out of their own pocket. That’s not too bad, but a trip to the ER ends up costing them huge and there just isn’t much they can do about it.

In this case it seems only right to say that insurance companies cannot deny someone coverage because of a pre-existing condition.

I hope that this exact scenario is the reason for Section 111, of HR3200, which across the board prohibits insurance companies from denying coverage because of a pre-existing condition. I hope. But sometimes things that are put in place for good reasons have ‘unintended’ bad consequences.

Now, let’s think for a minute. Say Jane is in her thirties. She’s self employed and relatively healthy and only goes to the doctor every couple of years, so when it comes to insurance she decides to pass and pocket the money. One morning, Jane finds a lump. She goes to the doctor and finds out that she has an aggressive form of breast cancer. Facing huge medical costs as well as the personal and emotional trauma of the situation she goes and applies for insurance, which they cannot deny. She gets her coverage and begins treating her cancer. She has a mastectomy, but finds a lump in the other breast resulting in another mastectomy. She goes through chemo and radiation and is in remission. Things are improving. The insurance company is also required to cover breast reconstructive surgery after a mastectomy, so she decides to have that as well. She’s finally recovered from this personal struggle and she finally hears the words from the doctor that she has been waiting for, a clean bill of health. Fantastic! But, it’s been two years of struggle and she wants to do some things to have fun, go on vacation, buy a new car, live life again. So, she looks at her expenses and decides to drop her medical insurance since she really doesn’t need it anymore.

The insurance company has just fit the bill for two years of treatments, including multiple surgeries, very expensive treatments and medications, and has collected a tiny fraction of that money back in premiums. They are literally tens of thousands of dollars in the red for just one case. They are a company, with stockholders and investors, they have to show a profit, so they increase premiums across the board. Naturally that causes other people who aren’t in the midst of a personal tragedy to drop their insurance, knowing they can pick it up again should a tragedy occur.

Realistically speaking, how can the insurance company stay in business? Insurance companies don’t really make money off of sick people, they make money off of healthy people.

So then do we start bailing out insurance companies?

Undoubtedly you suddenly have people being dropped as insurance companies go out of business. Amid the national outcry to help the average family that is suddenly without coverage, the government steps in with a plan to help those who have been hit hard by this unfortunate turn of events.

Hmmm…

Public option or no public option, this bill has some good intentions with some very negative possible consequences.

Are you serious? Predictions for 2012?! Yes! It's Entertaining!

A recent poll showed that the country is moving to the right, despite the fact, or maybe even because of the fact that we just elected a far left president. Certainly the push towards bigger government, higher taxes, and increased government intervention into EVERYTHING has spawned right wingers like a virtual conservative ideological baby boom. Conservatives and the Republican Party are now looking at the 2010 election with mouths watering. Some estimate that as many as 70 congressional democrats could be on the chopping block. Ouch.

With that in mind, I recently got an email asking about 2012. Granted in politics, three years can be a life time (the last seven months have certainly dragged by). But really over the next probably 12 to 18 months you are going to see a field of Republican leaders emerge.

This far out, these are my best guesses of who might be in it and what I think their chances are… just because it’s fun to do.

Some familiar faces:
- Mitt Romney. He’s never left the public eye with frequent appearances on talk shows, radio, and even a tour around the country. He’s got plenty of money and a solid understanding of economics, which, if things continue to circle the bottom of the toilet, may still be a major issue in 2012. He also carries a lot of baggage with the MA healthcare system sucking wind, but, I think he would be a solid candidate.
- Sarah Palin. First let me say, I like Sarah Palin. She is a very likeable person. In hindsight I think she was thrust onto the national stage too early. She needs more exposure, which she is getting VERY cheap right now, winning some body blows against the healthcare mess by posting messages on FB. Ouch. She energizes the base and I think will be a huge asset in raising funds for conservatives if she chooses to. That being said, I don’t think she would make a very good Presidential candidate yet, if ever. I do think she would be a great person to replace Michael Steele as head of the GOP, since she could really bring in the funds from the base and people trust her to back conservative principles.
- Mike Huckabee. The former governor is somebody else that I really like. I like listening to him, he is an excellent speaker and did very well in most of the large debates last time around. We’ll see if he has honed his international policy portfolio at all, which last time really hurt him.

Some newer faces:
- Tim Pawlenty: The current governor of Minnesota is poking his face out into the national scene more and more. He was rumored a possible VP candidate last time around and holds some fairly decent conservative credentials. He has also been a sane voice in state that was once run by a former professional wrestler and recently elected an SNL character to the Senate. I like Minnesota, but there is just a lot of crazy up there.
- Rick Perry: The current governor of Texas may be in a prime spot if the economy is still in the tank, considering he is leading a state with a thriving economy, a growing business environment, and a stable housing market. He has also recently been making some international house calls to Israel, promising a close relationship between the loan star state and our only real ally in the Middle East. He is actively recruiting foreign businesses from allied nations to come set up shop in Texas, rather than driving businesses away with ever increasing taxes. What a novel concept! At the same time he has said some really stupid things in the last six months, which may fly well in TX and win him another term as governor, but don’t sound too good on the national stage. He’ll need to taper his TX rhetoric a bit to win the country.
- Piyush Jindal: I know you probably said, “who?” Piyush is actually Bobby Jindal’s real first name. At 37, the LA governor is young. Very young. But if anybody could pull it off, I would be betting on him. Educated as a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford, Jindal is nothing short of brilliant. Even though he underwhelmed at his first major national speech, he is a gifted public speaker and very good off the cuff. Throw that on top of the fact that he was very easily elected governor of LA, without a typical run-off election. He enjoys an approval rating in a historically liberal state 11% above the current liberal president and he is doing amazing things to turn Louisiana around. He has already pledged to run for re-election in 2011 which I think is a great move. I really think he would be a better candidate in 2016 or even 2020. After all, he’s so young, he has plenty of time and he is on track to build up a great record. Whenever he runs, I think you are looking at the first President of east Indian immigrants.

And the wild card:
- There are a few politically entrenched people out there that have the ability to jump into the race and make an impact. People you might not think of until they actually announced and then you’d go, “oh yeah, sure!” Some random names come to mind, like Newt Gingrich and even Rick Santorum, but I think either of those would be long shots.

In any case, I think there is a great possibility that someone with some national exposure, though not widely considered could still come to the front and be a major force. Maybe even some Hollywood type like a Kelsey Grammer or Gary Sinise, should they decide to put their careers on hold to put their hat into the political ring. In any of these cases they would need to start hinting at their intentions with speeches and appearances just to get themselves as at least an option in people’s minds.

In any case, for political junkies like me the next two elections are going to be very interesting. Of course, in the meantime we’ll be enduring some very interesting… if not trying times. We should probably consider the “fasten seatbelt sign” radiantly illuminated.

God's blessings

I don’t talk about it nearly as much as I should, but I am a very blessed man. Really in too many ways to count God has just filled my cup to over flowing. One of those ways that just hits me every single week is at my church home. It’s not the sermons, although those are outstanding. It’s not the worship, although it is powerful and moving. It’s not any of the things that happen during the normal adult worship experience. It’s when I get a chance to go help teach kids in our Kidzone Large Group at Mission.

It really is an amazing experience. For an hour each week I get to come together with my truly amazing wife, Brandi, our good friend and fellow goofball, Kevin, one of the teens who doesn’t say much but keeps the whole thing rolling in the tech booth, Matt, and somehow God takes all of our talents or lack thereof and makes something really great. I hope that it makes half of the impact on the kids that it makes on me.

Seeing my wife up there praising God and getting fifty kids at a time to join her in singing and worshipping and celebrating God is just so awesome. Then to see her turn around and sit down with kids. She has this heart of gold that the kids just pick up on and… I can’t describe it, I can get the kids to give me five, but she gets them to pour out their hearts for five minutes. She hears about the hurts and fears and then prays with them and ministers to them – it is truly awesome to witness.

Then Kevin, my goofy twin separated at birth, gets up there and gets the kids totally involved with his jokes and stories and completely gets their attention, and then after it’s over he completely flips the switch and so many times will sit down and give a personal testimony to the kids and the adults, of how he has seen God work in his life. It’s powerful stuff. I know he connects with the kids, but that guy also blows me away on a regular basis.

Somewhere in there I get to get up and tell a story. Usually one that I heard a hundred times growing up, or one that I’ve read fifty times, and even some that nearly bring me to tears because they so clearly convey the love and mercy of Jesus. I have a script, but I never follow it exactly. The points all seem to come out at one time or another, but I just feel like God is taking the small gift he has given me and used it to plant some seeds, water some seedlings, and reinforce the footholds that God is making in kids’ lives. It’s moving to me. I think I get more out of it than the kids do. I love it.

10:30 on Sunday morning has become one of the highlights of my whole week. Definitely one of, if not the most, uplifting hour of my whole week.

If you don’t have a church home, you need to get one. More importantly, if you don’t know Jesus, you need to seek him out. I’d love to introduce him to you. I might have to tell you a couple of really cool stories to do it, but hey that was Jesus’ method too.  I’m KeithJonesBlog on FB.

If you have a church home, but you aren’t serving, or you aren’t serving in an area where you really feel you are using the talents that God has given you; then please find your spot. There is room for everyone to serve in God’s kingdom, and the experience and fulfillment that God can bring through that can really shed some important light on life.

An interesting development indeed…

It is true that you really can’t believe everything that you read. Some sources are saying that a public plan is ‘off the table’. While other Democratic leaders (Speaker Pelosi) are saying that the public option is alive and NEEDS to move forward. This has become the essence of a rock and a hard place.

If the Democrats abandon the public option, then their base will be livid, feeling like they’ve missed a huge opportunity considering they have a liberal president and overwhelming majorities in the House and Senate. If they move forward with the public option they anger a majority of their constituents and resign themselves to a possible landslide defeat at the polls in 2010.

What to do?

This all just adds to the fact that we have no idea what will be in the final healthcare bill, which means when it finally does come out I am anticipating a 1500+ page behemoth of a bill that will be shoved through congress as quickly as possible. If that is the route they attempt then it will be essential to bombard the capital switch board with angry calls to slow down. There have been some encouraging developments, but we don’t know what we are actually going to get until we see the legislation. It is essential that we see it for an appropriate period of time.

This whole exercise has been a testament to the power of the people’s voice. But don’t go quiet now. We don’t have a bill and we have very vague answers on what is going to be in the bill. Stay on top of it.

Jail for Prayer?

Six months in jail for saying a prayer. Is this Iran... no, wait it's Florida.

Read it here.

Kind of funny that when people read the first amendment,

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

they see the part about "respecting an establishment of religion" but they miss the part about "prohibiting the free exercise thereof".

Sarcasm and straight talk

(warning! sarcasm ahead)

What are our expectations on healthcare reform? The President tells us that his bill will give us the best care in the world, cover everyone, help us get the deficit and spending under control, get rid of waste, bring lower premiums, more coverage, outlaw denial for pre-existing condition, and eliminate huge premiums and out of pocket expenses.

Wow! Where do I sign!

He also promises that it won’t lead to government rationing, long lines, long wait times, denied care, euthanasia, or tax payer funded abortion.

Wow! Perfect! I love it. It sound almost too good to be true!

Wait a minute… didn’t my parents tell me something about things that sound too good to be true… hmmm… oh yeah - they usually are. But come on, this is a smooth talking politician that is telling me this. It’s GOT TO BE TRUE! That’s why the bill is so BIG, it has to encompass all of this GREAT stuff. Of course it needs to be passed quickly, we want that great care and reduced cost to start as soon as possible. This is going to SAVE OUR HEALTHCARE SYSTEM!!

Kind of like the stimulus saved our economy and kept us out of 8% unemployment. Wait, what is unemployment again?

But come on this isn’t like that boondoggle of a stimulus plan. I mean that bill was RUSHED through before anyone read it. It was over a thousand pages. That’s totally different than this one… oh wait.

(sarcasm stops here)

Here is what we know so far about the ‘proposed healthcare reform’.

- The bill isn’t finished. What is available now in the form of HR3200 has already changed and we don’t know what all of those changes are. Even in its current form it is over a thousand pages long and not exactly easy reading.
- We’ve had a bunch of promises and assurances made by the President and members of congress that are obviously not reflected in the current bill as written.
- We’ve heard some very scary stuff that can be seen as a logical progression or interpretation of what is in the current bill.
- Both the bill and the promises made by the administration would grow the government, cost huge amounts of money that we don’t have, and push us further and further into red ink, rather than balance the budget.
- Some changes to healthcare systems are irreversible. Look at the UK, they have a population of approximately 61 million people. Their NHS employs over 1.4 million people and they are constantly complaining that it isn’t enough. They have almost as many ‘administrators’ as they have healthcare providers. How many will the US, a country of 330 million, need? Exactly. Once you go public it’s hard, if not impossible to change course.

If you haven’t attended a town hall event, or called your congressmen, or written them an email or letter, then you need to. Tell them to stop the current reform and if nothing else, DO NO HARM to the current system. Propose changes, but make them clear and reasonable changes that get the government out of healthcare, reduce costs, and expand insurance options. Don’t shove some mammoth, government run overhaul down our throats and don’t lie to us. We’re tired of it.

Are you afraid?

Do you fear your government yet?

I know, fear tactics from a right-wing, reactionary conservative, but I submit a couple of videos for your consideration.

Here is the first. It’s an interview with the deputy White House press secretary who fails repeatedly to answer the question. Fortunately Fox seems to have a few more legitimate journalists on staff and she makes him squirm… a lot. But as you watch this think for a minute. If the purpose of all of this “fishy email” stuff was to get “misinformation” on the healthcare system and “correct the mistakes” then they could have had a dozen or so White House staffers cover twenty or thirty of the top right-wing blogs and then put together a webpage that gives the “myths” and then their side of the story. Then there would not have been any issue with retaining emails or giving the “big brother” appearance. For all of their faults, these are smart people, I’m sure that came up. So why have people send in emails?

You know I went to a class on running for political office a while back and one of the things that they really emphasized was building databases of voters. Both those that will vote for you and those that will vote against. It can be useful information. If a junior staffer hasn’t been told to list and catalog the email addresses they have received I would be SHOCKED.

But watch.



Hmmm….

This next one I really have no explanation for. I’m not a huge GB fan, although I agree with most of the stuff that he says. This, quite frankly, is just strange and at the very least, extremely disturbing. Please do not try this at home. Just think of all of the things that you have on your home computer from TurboTax records to personal emails… even fishy ones.

The 'Thinking Liberal' Chimes In

Paglia, the ‘thinking liberal’ that I have talked about before has, well, a scathing piece for President Obama, the Democratic congress and especially Speaker Pelosi. She starts off saying that she does not have buyer’s remorse over Obama, but she is obviously not happy with what is going on. She was also in favor of the Hillary-care back in the nineties, but isn’t happy about the current scheme. I really couldn’t have said much of this better myself, so grab your dictionary, here is a quote:

But who would have thought that the sober, deliberative Barack Obama would have
nothing to propose but vague and slippery promises -- or that he would so easily
cede the leadership clout of the executive branch to a chaotic, rapacious, solipsistic Congress? House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, whom I used to admire for her smooth aplomb under pressure, has clearly gone off the deep end with her bizarre rants about legitimate town-hall protests by American citizens. She is doing grievous damage to the party and should immediately step down.

There is plenty of blame to go around. Obama's aggressive endorsement of a healthcare plan that does not even exist yet, except in five competing, fluctuating drafts, makes Washington seem like Cloud Cuckoo Land. The president is promoting the most colossal, brazen bait-and-switch operation since the Bush administration snookered the country into invading Iraq with apocalyptic visions of mushroom clouds over American cities.

You can keep your doctor; you can keep your insurance, if you're happy with it,
Obama keeps assuring us in soothing, lullaby tones. Oh, really? And what if my doctor is not the one appointed by the new government medical boards for ruling
on my access to tests and specialists? And what if my insurance company goes
belly up because of undercutting by its government-bankrolled competitor? Face
it: Virtually all nationalized health systems, neither nourished nor updated by
profit-driven private investment, eventually lead to rationing.

I just don't get it. Why the insane rush to pass a bill, any bill, in three weeks?
And why such an abject failure by the Obama administration to present the issues
to the public in a rational, detailed, informational way? The U.S. is gigantic;
many of our states are bigger than whole European nations. The bureaucracy
required to institute and manage a nationalized health system here would be
Byzantine beyond belief and would vampirically absorb whatever savings Obama
thinks could be made. And the transition period would be a nightmare of red tape
and mammoth screw-ups, which we can ill afford with a faltering
economy.

As with the massive boondoggle of the stimulus package, which Obama foolishly let Congress turn into a pork rut, too much has been attempted all at once; focused, targeted initiatives would, instead, have won wide public support. How is it possible that Democrats, through their own clumsiness and arrogance, have sabotaged healthcare reform yet again? Blaming obstructionist Republicans is nonsensical because Democrats control all three branches of government. It isn't conservative rumors or lies that are stopping healthcare legislation; it's the justifiable alarm of an electorate that has been cut out of the loop and is watching its representatives construct a tangled labyrinth for others but not for themselves. No, the airheads of Congress will keep their own plush healthcare plan -- it's the rest of us guinea pigs who will be thrown to the wolves.

She also was not real pleased with the ‘fishy email’ business.

But somehow liberals have drifted into a strange servility toward big government, which they revere as a godlike foster father-mother who can dispense all bounty and magically heal all ills. The ethical collapse of the left was nowhere more evident than in the near total silence of liberal media and Web sites at the Obama administration's outrageous solicitation to private citizens to report unacceptable "casual conversations" to the White House. If Republicans had done this, there would have been an angry explosion by Democrats from coast to coast. I was stunned at the failure of liberals to see the blatant totalitarianism in this incident, which the president should have immediately denounced. His failure to do so implicates him in it.

Ouch.

So what SHOULD we be asking our Reps for?

I have asked repeatedly for anyone reading this blog to call their representatives and tell them that we DON’T want this massive government overhaul of the healthcare system, but I have been very limited in chiming in on what we SHOULD be requesting. Our healthcare system works for a majority of the people right now. But it isn’t perfect and it probably never will be. Any system encompassing one sixth of the US economy and affecting the lives of every single citizen is going to have some flaws here and there and some things to complain about. There are some very easy, straight forward, and extremely effective things that we can do to improve the system and drive down the cost for EVERYBODY.

The first thing is competition. Competition is our friend and a huge, untapped gold mine in driving down healthcare costs. Right now federal and state laws limit competition in the insurance market. They do this in a number of ways, primarily by limiting the players in the game. Break open the gates and allow every market in the country to be open to any insurance company willing to compete in it. When you have more companies competing for business you have lower costs and you get improved service because companies try and set themselves apart from their competitors. With a more competitive market companies are forced to control their costs more and they become more efficient as a matter of necessity. It’s a beautiful thing.

The next step is to kill mandates. Mandates are required coverage on any insurance plan. They sound really good; like requiring insurance companies to cover mammograms for all of their clients. The problem is that half of their clients will never need a mammogram. Why should plans that only cover men have mammogram coverage? Leave certain things as an option that people can add to their plans for certain members.

Another one is cost limits, which are also included in HR3200. This means that insurance for someone that is going to use it extensively can only cost ‘x’ (usually x = 2) times as much as someone who will need very little coverage. For instance you have a college that is near a retirement community. There are laws in some areas that say that the cost for the college student, who may never even use his insurance, has to cost no less than half the price of the insurance for the person in the retirement community who may use their insurance every week. This may drive down the price of insurance in the retirement community (to a very small degree), but it sends the cost of insurance for college students through the roof.

Change the tax laws to disconnect health insurance from the employer. This is a HUGE one, because it allows people to be directly responsible for their healthcare choices and allows them to choose the plan that is best going to suit their family. This is also huge in opening up the market and encouraging companies to offer more reasonable packages for different situations.

Start early. Young people should be able to start early with healthcare savings accounts, which are like ultra low risk investment accounts; small yield, no principle risk, completely portable, and need to be federally insured. The money going in should be tax free and employers should get a tax break for contributing to it. Hand in hand with this is catastrophic coverage, which only covers that scenario. You go to the doctor, you pay directly from your HSA. Most doctors will give a discounted rate for people who pay immediately and directly without having to file insurance claims - lower cost. Plus, because you are managing it yourself you are only going to go to the doctor for things that are significant. You think you have strep, you go to the doctor and pay for it out of your HSA. You fall and brake your arm - it comes out of your HSA. You are diagnosed with lymphoma - your catastrophic coverage kicks in. For younger, healthy people, this is really the best type of care; lowest cost, you get to use whatever doctor you want, you are covered for the unexpected, and you have control over your healthcare.

True mutual plans. Mutual plans are basically insurance companies owned by the members of the plan. These are NOT the government subsidized, government regulated plans that some congress members are talking about. They are truly independent bodies of people that all get together and share healthcare costs like any type of traditional co-op.

Pooling plans. This could be a great option for small businesses who can pool with other small businesses to get the best deal on insurance plans for their employees. The more people covered, the best deal possible. It gives small businesses the same leverage that big businesses have.

For me these are the best options going. Some of these things are available in some markets and some are not. They need to be available EVERYWHERE. When we open up competition, extend the number of options for patients, and get government regulations and bureaucracies OUT of the way, costs go down and coverage improves.

The next thing to tackle after these changes is tort reform. None of the bills proposed so far even touch this issue because too many congressman receive too much backing from ambulance chasing trial lawyers (sorry, I was doing so good at not ranting in this post too..). Quite frankly both parties, but primarily the Democratic party receives HUGE donations from tort lawyers NOT to fix the system. This has to be addressed to deal with costs.

Medicare and Medicaid HAVE to be reformed. I’ve mentioned it before but I’ll say it again, because they limit fees to the doctors, that are BELOW costs in some cases, they drive up the costs for the rest of us. These are CRUSHING plans. The good thing is that if we make the changes I’ve already suggested then the overall cost of insurance coverage will go down and you will have fewer people on either Medicare or Medicaid. Just imagine a couple who have not had to deal with significant health problems in their family, but they and their employers have been contributing to an HSA for thirty or forty years- that’s huge. If they pass away without using up the funds, let them pass that on to their children tax free.

These are the things that we need to be pushing for. They don’t all have to go into one MASSIVE, unreadable bill. They can be individual and they can be over months or even a couple of years. Don’t crush the system and reform it, just make improvements that are REALLY going to make a difference in the positive direction for EVERYBODY.

Capitation

Capitation.

I know it sounds like a horrible term, and it is, but not in the way it sounds. Capitation is mentioned numerous times in HR3200, the current and only published bill on healthcare reform. It is mentioned on page 125, 333, 451, 452, and 778 as one scenario that they will be exploring to drive down costs.

Capitation is where each doctor has a certain number of patients, given out in a number of ways, either by geographic area, patient preference, whatever. The doctor is paid based on how many patients he has. Not how many he sees, but how many he has.

See any problem with that?

Sound familiar to anyone?

This is a very similar program to the way that HMOs use to operate. Doctors are not rewarded by how many patients they actually help, in fact the fewer they help the more attention they can give them and quite frankly the less stressful it is. The rest of the patients are simply told to wait. Doctors are encouraged to handle the patient issues as much as possible on their own; if they refer a patient out to a specialist then the normal payment that they receive is actually reduced; repeating a lot of the issues that made HMOs so infamous.

Some refer to this as the “Walmart” method of healthcare. Not only do the doctors not have any incentive to actually see patients but the more patients that they see the more money it will cost them and hence LESS money that they receive. That means there is actually an INCENTIVE for them to see fewer patients, perform fewer tests, less lab work, and refer patients to specialists less often.

That doesn’t mean that doctors are suddenly going to turn into these money hungry people that deny patients healthcare, but they would basically be punished for doing a better job and rewarded for being lazy. That’s a recipe for horrible healthcare.

IT'S NOT ABOUT RACISM!!!!!!

I am so tired... let me say that again, SO TIRED, of being labeled racist because I don't agree with someone's policies or agenda.

It has nothing to do with race!

It has everything to do with economics, liberty, small government principles, concern for family and future generations, and what's that other thing... oh yeah COMMON SENSE!!

The race card has been played and over-played. No body's buying it any more. Give it up and move on to a real debate about ISSUES, IDEAS, and POLICY.

People Are Mad

Well, despite the push by the White House to tamp down on the “disinformation” that comes from people actually reading the current healthcare legislation, the word is getting out and getting out big. At townhall events around the country (which you can find a list of here) representatives are hearing from their constituents, both for and against these sweeping reforms.

And people are mad.

I don’t advocate violence at any of these meetings. I really don’t think that this is the most effective of way of being heard. Debate passionately, but act gently. I can’t say that the President has helped in this regard considering that he has been advocating for the ‘in your face’ approach since before the election.


Quite frankly, I understand why people are passionate about this and I understand why people are so mad. I’m mad. Not just at the legislation but at the treatment of voters who are opposed to the legislation. I thought under President Bush dissent was patriotic. Why has it suddenly become racist? People are mad at healthcare reform and the President is pushing it – and hard. Why wouldn’t he and his staff EXPECT that people would be mad at him for doing this?

Unless there is going to be new legislation suddenly sprung on us after the July recess that is DRASTICALLY different than the 1000+ page HR3200 that is already out there, then the President is being very deceptive in what he is telling the people. That upsets me.

Where do all of the new, breakthrough drugs in the world come from?

Where do all of the new procedures, technologies, and therapies in the world come from?

So… where will they come from when the incentive is gone and the government is driving the bus?

Find your reps. Find their townhalls. Call their offices. Make your voices heard.


*****Update: Great column by Peggy Noonan today along these same lines.

Welcome to the AARP 'Listening' Session

Nancy Pelosi says that all of these concerned people at town hall meetings are paid stooges from insurance companies. Actually her exact words were that they are "astroturf". Nice, eh?

Big Brother Wants to Know...

The White House recently asked that if you see a “fishy” email about healthcare that you should forward this email to them at a specified email address(flag@whitehouse.gov). Hmmm… you know the more I think about that one, the more it REALLY bothers me, and I’m not the only one. It makes me ask myself several questions.

What are they going to do with the email addresses? Really. I mean, are they going to make up some form letter to try and dissuade the person from forwarding more “fishy” emails? Are they going to answer the issues brought up in the “fishy” email? If they take ANY action on this how can that not be viewed as some type of intimidation tactic? Not that you expect Rahm and Robert to show up at your front door and brake your thumbs or anything, but… getting an email from the White House saying that you don’t seem to understand what they are trying to do… that’s kind of a big deal. It’s very much, hey we’re watching what you are doing and we know that you don’t understand this, so we are going to… set you straight here. Can you imagine if you had gotten an email from George W. Bush’s White House for sending out ‘truther’ emails about the 9-11 attacks? Or dissenting emails about the Iraq war? Can you imagine how fast the ACLU would be suing the White House for that? Of course, crazy, small government conservatives like myself would take such an email and plaster it all over blogs, facebook, forward it to news sources, and basically blow the whistle long and loud, which in the end would be bad PR for the White House. So… I really don’t think they will be sending out emails on this.

Are they going to research the email addresses and see where it originated? Are they looking for information that this all comes from the insurance industry and they are trying to tie it back to a common source? Even if they could do that, which, they just can’t because all of this doesn’t come from one source, it comes from educated people reading bills that Congressman can’t seem to find time to read, what would it prove? If a company comes out, really any company for that matter, and says “hey, the government is trying to put me out of business” I’m going to look into it and if I think they have a valid point I’m going to talk about it, blog about it, email about it, and maybe even talk to my representatives about it because that is over stepping the bounds of the government. That’s a good thing to get upset about. The government doesn’t need to be putting any businesses out of business. We need more jobs, not less. Insurance companies making profits is a good thing. When industries are profitable it attracts other people to the market, which means more competition and lower prices. Not to mention that they grow and employ more people. What’s not good about that?


Quite frankly, I really don’t know what the government hopes to do with this. I can’t think of any scenarios where this really turns out good for them. If anything it will only spur on the conspiracy theorists and has already gotten them a letter from at least one member of congress. Talk radio is going to get even more crazy about this… and I think some weird people might even be blogging about it.

Of course, if any of you think this is “fishy”, or if any of my other dozen or so blog posts on this messed up, government nationalization of healthcare are “fishy” then you should probably do your civic duty and turn me in by sending a link to my blog to flag@whitehouse.gov. No, really… the curiosity about what they are going to do with this information is just killing me! I want to know! I’ve got to know! I may turn MYSELF in!

Of course, maybe that is what they are trying to do… take any attention possible away from healthcare legislation with a distraction… hmmm….

*****Update: Greate video from NC about how the administration has been handling dissent about healthcare.

A little mid-week humor

The White House Attacks Drudge over the President's Statements

The White House is fighting back against the DrudgeReport because Matt Drudge and some bloggers had the NERVE to pull up video of the President describing his plan before he was elected. Watch and listen



Here is the video she was referencing. It is a combination of videos where the President very clearly describes wanting a single payer system and the process that will help him get it. Eliminating private health insurance. Your insurance.



Now the White House video shows the President making the same promise that he has made over and over and over during this healthcare “campaign” that he is on.

If you look at the bill, you can see why some, including myself, claim that the president is not telling the whole truth, and that the goal is in fact that the bill would cause more and more people to go towards the public option and away from their private insurance.

The President says that if you like your insurance and you like your doctor then you will get to keep them. Unfortunately he leaves out the rest of the information contained in HR3200, which says that you can keep them if you want to. Of course after five years (at the MOST) YOUR insurance plan is required to change to be just like the public option, only more expensive of course because your insurance company has taxes that don’t apply to the government, they have to show a profit (unlike the government), and they can’t fix prices paid to doctors like the government can, in fact they end up eating the loss that doctors endure from accepting the public plan. If the president was honest he would say that “you can keep your insurance… for up to five years.”

Like the bill says…

The Commissioner shall establish a grace period whereby, for plan years beginning after the end of the 5-year period beginning with Y1, an employment-based health plan in operation as of the day before the first day of Y1 must meet the same requirements as apply to a qualified health benefits plan under section 101, including the essential benefit package requirement under section 121.

Sorry, that’s not twisting the president’s words. That’s reading the bill. After all, the President’s speeches don’t become law, bills do.

Which reminds me… have you called your representatives about this? I’m just telling mine very simply that this plan is no good. We don’t need more government in healthcare, we need less. If you vote for this reform, or for ANY MAJOR overhaul of the healthcare system, I will not be voting for you. Let’s make small improvements and see if they work.

A short break from healthcare

I needed some light reading to detract from the insanity of this healthcare debackle, so...

I am currently reading Beirut to Jerusalem by Thomas Friedman. It’s an older book, but from a historical perspective, that’s fine. Friedman is an interesting character. An American Jew, he became fascinated with the holy land during his teenage years and studied Jewish and Arab culture during high school and college. He became a reporter and went to Beirut to live during the late seventies and stayed there for five years before being reassigned to Jerusalem. Imagine a Jewish reporter, living in the middle of a civil war between the Druse, Shiites, Sunnis, Christians, Maronites, Palestinians, and half a dozen other sects or ethnic backgrounds, who are at times battling each other and at times battling the Israeli army. Throw in international peacekeeping forces from the US, France and a hand full of others and you can see the dangerous world of chaos that Thomas Friedman found himself in.

Although he is Jewish, he lived extensively in Muslim dominated areas (of course not really advertising that he was Jewish), and gained some interesting perspective on the conflict inside Lebanon and throughout the Middle East as a whole. While he has some fascination with the Zionist movement that resettled Jews in their ancient homeland, he is critical at times of Israeli action and takes a fairly even handed approach. If nothing else the stories are fascinating although obviously on the macabre side considering he is constantly surrounded by car bombs, shootings, kidnappings, random checkpoints from forty different militias, ethnic cleansing, and people generally overwhelmed with the situation that they are in.

One story he relates is a dinner party where machine gun fire opens up in the street right outside the home, which obviously is not in the plans of the hostess. As she feels her guests becoming more and more uncomfortable she finally asks, “should we eat now or wait for the cease fire?”

I still have about half of the book to read, but Friedman’s observations are extremely insightful and give you a very interesting picture of what military forces are up against when you go into a country occupied by several contingents of rival ethnic and religious groups. This is the first book of his that I have read, but have had others recommend his writings numerous times. If you want to get at least a decent understanding of the Middle East mindset I highly recommend it. Unlike many books on the subject it is an easy read.

This is what we have to look forward to?

Imagine this letter came to you? Or your mom? Maybe your spouse?

This is government run medicine.

Is this the "right to healthcare" that everyone is touting.

Now imagine this across the country in a single payer system, where you have no alternatives... welcome to Obamacare.

20/20 Health Care Story

Stossel is right on the money. Must see.