It goes both ways so Suck it Up

It's a funny thing when the shoe is on the other foot! Now that the Dems hold unvetted power over the Senate and Congress they seem to believe descent from the public is disruptive and unproductive. This was not the case in their unrelenting war to speak out against the war in Iraq or any of Bushes policies. Even if some of the current protests at town halls are spurred by "right wing" radicals, the left needs to remember they have their fringe as well and the dems used their fringe to gain support for an agenda different from Bush.

To the Dems I say - Suck it up!!! Your anger and rage is mis-placed and the frustration and arogance you display to the electorate may come back to get you at election time.

At the very least it's encouraging to see that the people of the US still hold the power and when motivated to affect the out comes in Washington the end result will be better for the country.

Obamatron:

Definition 1:

A blind follower of Barack O'bama because of his charismatic style of speaking, without actually paying attention to the issues. An Obamatron will go on over and over, like a robot, about O'bama healing the nation with his charismatic ability regardless of what legislative issues he stands for.

Source: http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=obamatron


My input: Obamatrons include individuals, groups, companies etc...

Some notable Obamatrons: NBC (incl cable networks), ABC, CBS, NY Times, Congress, Acorn, GM, Chrysler, LA Times...ok enough media outlets....

You may be an Obamatron if:
You are happy "America" has come clean and asked for forgiveness (not sure what for, but atleast america is sorry.
You can't wait to not have access to a family doctor or CT when you really need it.
You think the gov't should dictate the kind of cars that need to be engineered.

more to come in the future!!!

Good-bye American Jobs

for clarity, I'm not a Republican, Democrat or independent. I actually can't vote in US elections. I'm not a fan of the previous president as I believe he made some significant errors in leadership. I'm also not a fan of the current president as he is bound to make even more terrific errors.

I am just a common sense person that looks at everything going on and have some concerns.

If you are someone that depends on income to make house payments, car payments or buy groceries you need to be concerned. I was reading an article at www.thestreet.com regarding the governments push to tax earnings on revenues outside of the US. The article focused on the impact to GE but the general application is relevant to everyone. And just because it's GE doesn't mean your not affected. Actually you will be more affected than GE and here is why.

Per the article if the law was passed GE would see a "$4.31 billion hit to earnings". Read that again - BILLION!!! Sure the gov't could use all this money to cover more stimulous, or pay for more social welfare programs. But the real impact could be tragic to the American worker and to the US economy.

When a business takes a hit to earnings that means they have less money to re-invest in the business. Re-investment like hiring or securing jobs, product development, philanthropy, production all get cut. They come to a halt in in some cases like jobs - they get cut.

So if you cheer that finally the big "fat cats' will get hit. Don't cheer too loud, because it's small town america that will suffer. Those cities and towns that have the first and second tier suppliers, the support businesses, hair stylists and butchers. Everyone will feel the negative effects of decisions like this.

Beware of the smooth talk, think critically regardless of your political bend. Demand explanations. Demand your leaders to lead and not push their selfish desires upon you.

US Healthcare doesn't need fixing....

Healthcare in America .... why does it need to be fixed???

Sure if it's all you've known or experienced you'll see the grass on the other side looking greener, but the reality is - sometimes what you have is better than what you perceive it could be.

I've had the privilege of living under the Canadian and US systems and find the US Healthcare system by far superior.

First of all my healthcare in Canada was expensive, about 45% income tax, 15% GST & Provincial sales tax expensive. That's right each paycheck had federal tax deductions of 45%, plus every time I made a purchase (lunch, shoes, shampoo) an additional 15% tax was added. On top of this I still needed to purchase private insurance just to make sure I needed to see a specialist.

Back to the pay - upon moving to the US 7 years ago, I took a 15% cut in pay, but my total take home, including healthcare costs increased dramatically and so did my standard of living.

On the need to have private insurance - my first child was born in Canada, without private insurance my wife would have had her recovery in a room shared with 5 other women. Fortunately we had private insurance to supplement a private room. I've had 2 kids born in the US and the experience has be exceptional compared to the one in Canada.

Right now I'm very greatful to be in the US. My wife is experiencing some medical issues and within days has been scheduled for an MR. In Canada she would be on a waiting list for min. 6 months. When we first moved to Denver there were more MR's in that one city than in most of Canada!!! When people in Canada revert to visiting vet clinics to get CT's or MR's fast you know there is something wrong.

I also learned the universal healthcare in Canada isn't really universal. Moving from one province to another can delay coverage by up to 3 months while the beauracracy tries to catch-up. And try finding a Dr. that is taking new patients, there are people dependant on the ER just because there are no Dr's in their city accepting patients. There is something wrong with that!!!

So, before you accept that the US Gov't can run healthcare better than it is now. Consider what others say, some of us have experienced a social system and have experienced the difference. The rhetoric makes it sound great - the Gov't will take care of you .... but be sure you really know what your giving up before giving them the keys to your health.

One final note, what makes anyone think the Gov't could do a good job at Healthcare, maybe they should fix an insolvent social security before bankrupting healthcare too.

Another Step Backwards

Today it was learned that the President will not be hosting a national day of prayer. I was saddened by this announcement as it is evidence of a country in decline. Turning away from God has always proven disastrous and when leaders of nations lead the charge the decline is hastened.

Over and over again in the scriptures the Kings of Judah and Israel are either identified as "doing right in the eyes of the LORD" or "doing evil in the eyes of the LORD". And as these Kings led so followed the people, to either blessings or judgment.

God held the King and the people responsible for their action, He will hold our leaders and us responsible for our actions.

I was trying to sing a song that my dad would sing to my brother, sister and me when growing up but couldn't remember all the words. Well thanks to youtube it's easy to find:

The Battle of New Orleans - Johnny Horton

Listen and enjoy.

How will you know when the USA has officially abandoned what made it great? See the list below and check off those actions that have occurred.

1. The Gov't will force financial institutions to take large sums of money from the treasury whether they want it or not.
2. When the first round of money "giving" doesn't work...do it again only bigger.
3. The Gov't purchases two failing business
4. The Gov't fires the CEO of one of the businesses, then installs their own "CEO".
   
5. The Gov't forces the other failing business into bankruptcy and tries to force the financial institutions "invested in" earlier to forgive the debt.
   
6. The Gov't then "helps" select the board of directors of the company in bankruptcy.
7. When one of the other major owners in the bankrupt company is the labor union.
8. And another owner is a foreign auto-maker that this Gov't likes because they know how to produce "environmentally freindly" vehicles.
9. When leadership has more sizzle than substance.
   
10. When the people of the country are so enamoured with the leadership they ignore the erosion of their freedom.

The slide has been quite and rationalized through a recession and America's pursuit of happiness. The pill of hapiness is easliy swallowed if it promises to keep you from fealing pain.
I say it only delays a more and deeper pain.

Purpose for Posting

This is the first posting and felt it best to spend the space below explaining what I intend this to be. The blogs posted will cover a wide range of topics - spiritual to political, work to weather, family to friends, sports to literature. Really, anything is fair game. What ever thoughts or ideas are bouncing around in the space between my ears will eventually find there way to these pages. I don't want this to become a diary, but avenue to think critically and state my opinion on a broad range of topics.

Looking forward to getting started.