CLC Civics Lessons

Republican Congressional Forum

2010-04-07T08:01:00.001-07:00

April 12th: A Republican Congressional Forum will take place on Monday, April 12, 2010 at the University of Alabama in Huntsville. The hosting organization, The Consortium of Students for Justice and Liberty, is inviting the public to attend this free of charge event. North Alabama's 5th Congressional District candidates, Mo Brooks, Parker Griffith, and Les Phillip have confirmed their participation in this event. The Consortium of Students for Justice and Liberty, an association of middle and high school students, will solicit questions for the forum from organizations around town and from several area schools. This is not an opportunity to protest, but instead a time to listen and hear what the candidates have to say.

The forum will be held in the University Center/Admissions Building on the UA Huntsville Campus. The doors will be opened to the public at 6:30 pm with the program beginning at 6:45 pm. The forum will begin at 7:00 pm and end at 9:00 pm. A straw poll will be taken and the results will be announced at the end of the forum. Members of the media are invited to attend.

Upcoming Hunstville TEA Party events

2010-03-30T14:41:00.000-07:00

Upcoming Hunstville TEA Party events
Sunday, April 4th:
Tea Party Express is coming to the Space & Rocket Center
at 2:00 PM. They are providing the speakers. It should be good. (Though Easter Sunday is not the best time for such an event! I hope to make it to at least some of this, but I'm not sure at this point.)

Thursday, April 15th:
We want to have a HUGE turnout for our April 15th Tax Day Protest.
Tell all of your friends, email everyone you know, post it on
Facebook, anything you can think of to help us get people out. April
15th from 5:00 to 7:00 PM in the parking lot on Clinton street across
from the Post Office. We have great speakers lined up. Mike Leahy, Dr.
John Fanning, and Gary Palmer from the Alabama Policy Institute.

Bring your signs!

(I do plan to make it to the April 15th Protest - we plan to leave CLC by 4:00 that day if you want to go downtown with us.)

Saturday, May 15th:
Making of America - Constitution Seminar. 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM.

PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD ABOUT THIS EVENT. Once again we are having an
excellent instructor from the National Center for Constitutional
Studies (NCCS) come and teach us about the principles of the
constitution. Cost is $15 per person. Intended audience is 8th graders
through adults. Location to be announced soon. The deadline for
payment is April 20th. Please make checks payable to "The Huntsville
Tea Party Movement" and mail them to Chad at: 105 Pinckney Rd Harvest, AL 35749

I do hope to make it to the Constitution Seminar also.

My Thoughts on the Health Care Debate Sunday

2010-03-24T09:56:00.000-07:00

I watched the Health Care debates and the vote on Sunday evening (switching back and forth between Fox News and C-Span. It was depressing, to say the least. I tweeted (you’re surprised, I know) during the entire evening. I tried to keep up with who was saying what as best I could. I didn’t mark whether the speakers were Democrats or Republicans, but it is generally very clear from what they say.

What follows are most of my tweets from that evening, with some additional commentary sprinkled in. As I said then, I can sum up my feelings simply with, “God help us.”

Don't know why I want to punish myself by watching the coverage of what's going on in D.C....but I am. I may have an ulcer by time its done!

Congressman Stupak makes me angry. He is a traitor to Pro-Life. I yelled that earlier....My oldest child and my youngest responded, "We know that!" (Do you think they’ve been listening to me rant a bit?)

The question today is how many "moderate" Democrats have been "bought off" or who "bought into" the lies! Shame on any who claim to be Pro-Life!
Congress hasn't fixed major problems in #CPSIA -- they can't be trusted to pass, and then fix Health Care bill...No way!
Rep Paul Ryan of Wisconsin: "Rule of man does not trump the rule of law" I so agree!

I liked Senator DeMint’s comment on Twitter during the debate: “What's happening in the Capitol today gives a whole new meaning to "March Madness." It would be funny, if not so sad.

The rule has passed on the House floor...Grrr...They've taken the first step towards disaster...

I was already planning to teach a class on the Constitution next fall -- didn't realize I would be teaching on a document despised by so many!

Caller on CSPAN "nothing is free" ...Wife of a doctor, she understands what Congress doesn't! HC will not be free! And will be rationed!

Rep. Hoyer is making a connection between what Congress is doing with march from Selma to Montgomery -- how dare he!?!

Hoyer: "Critics call it government takeover, not true..." How can he say that? How is this anything BUT govt take over?

Hoyer: "Critics call it tyranny...it is lower costs to the middle class...Biggest deficit reduction bill..." Where do they get this stuff?

Rep Clyburn going to start on the nonsense of the "big, bad insurance companies" again....And this bill will add jobs...Sure to the IRS...Yuck!

Hoyer: "I know this bill is very complicated...." What, has he actually read it? Doubt it!

Hoyer..."elected us to this, the People's house..." Wait, did he just say the People's House? We want our house back!!!

Rep Deal: "problem with socialism is you eventually run out of other people's money" Exactly!

Waxman again....Arrgh! "We strengthen Medicare..." How? They are weakening Medicare, not strengthening it!

Rep Upton "Only in Washington can folks stand here and argue that spending 1 Trillion dollars will cut the deficit..."

Dingell, "It's the Insurance companies who are against this bill..." No, Mr. Dingell, we the people are against this bill!

Rep Pallone: "Our health care system is in crisis..." No, it will be in crisis after this bill passes! This is not HC Reform!

Rep Whitfield "How can you strengthen Medicare when you are taking money out of it...

Markey: “The Republican Party is the Party of NO, and the Democratic Party is the party of Hope...”

Woolsey: "Being a woman is a ... preexisting condition..." What?

Rep Kline: "...Perhaps its time for Washington to stop talking and start listening...listening to calls, 13 to 1 against this bill..."

Rep Kline: "Listening to the thousands of citizens who traveled to our capital this weekend to tell us to 'Kill the Bill'"

Hensarling: "Personal freedom...So many reasons to oppose this bill...taxpayer funded abortions...Back room deals..."

Pence: "Give the people more choices, not more government!" Exactly!!!

Rep McMorris Rodgers" It is the wrong time...I urge you to vote NO...Don’t let the hunger to do something trick us into doing the wrong thing" Exactly!

Swartz "Ensuring all insurance policies use easy to understand language" ....As opposed to those who write 2,000+ page bills!

Rep Capito: good analagy about how blanket of legislation was made...and what it does and doesn't do..."flimsy fabric of broken promises"

Rep Capito: "How can we turn a deaf ear to the American people...we should stop this unfortunate endeavor...listen to heartbeat of America..."

"If not this, then what? If not, then when?" Not this, then something that is true health care reform...Not now, when we have a GOOD bill!

In case anyone wants to read what Congress wants to force down our throats, CSPAN has it for us: http://bit.ly/a4612c

After hours of CSPAN tonight, my kids are only half listening...But heard Rep Cantor - and from the other room one yelled, "He makes sense"

Rep Boehner : "Do you really believe if you like the health plan you can keep it? No you can't...Is this really the time to raise taxes?"

The House is getting a little rowdy during Boehner's speech

I like Rep Boehner better right now than when he came to Alabama to campaign for Rep Griffith, the turncoat...

Boehner is requesting a roll call vote - good for him! And reminding his colleagues that this is the "People's House"

Boehner : "We break the ties with history...If we pass this bill, it will be the last straw for the American people." Definitely!

Pelosi is going to have to follow Boehner...Fun...

Pelosi "Tonight we will make history for our country, and progress for the American people...Health Care for all Americans..." Yeah, right.

Pelosi is trying to equate socializing our health care with the pursuit of "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness..."

Was there booing when Pelosi mentioned President Obama?

Can Joe Wilson yell "You Lie" now?

I'm so happy to hear that being a woman will no longer be a pre-existing condition...Wait, hasn't been a problem for 1st 53 years of my life.

Now we get the tribute to Senator Kennedy...gag...

Having 200 Republican amendments makes it bi-partisan? Don't think so!

Can she NOT bring up "life, liberty..." again? Pro-lifers believe in life...Pro-death folks do NOT!

Roll Call vote turned down... Now a "recorded vote" instead... Voting on Senate's bill from last December...

As I waited for the votes to be made, I wondered:
216 democrats can sell us into slavery...will they do it? Why haven't all the Republicans voted yet??? Who are the cowards who waited till the end to vote?
We have lost the battle -- can we still win the war?

So the liberals bought enough votes...why are we not surprised? You would think they were counting down till New Years.. .

Absolutely amazing. Such a major reworking of our country, and they accomplish it with tricks...

Now they are going to "reconcile" the bill...And how exactly will they accomplish that? It is irreconcilable!

The house and the senate just passed the largest pro-abortion bill since Roe v Wade went through Supreme Court. Sad day for life in U.S.

Now they’re getting into post-bill issues:
Stupak needs to sit down and be quiet, hasn’t he done enough damage? Stupak has no right to talk about what promotes life at this point...How dare he?!?

First call for the bill that "promotes social justice"..gag, gag!

After several frustrating hours, I finally called it a night…Time will tell whether this day will go down in history as “the beginning of the end” for the United States.

The 2010 Census

2010-03-24T06:28:00.001-07:00

Many of us are upset, and rightly so, about the way this year's Census is being done. It continues to be an assault on our privacy, and much beyond what our founders intended when they authorized a Census-taking every 10 years in the Constitution.

I have seen several things now that help put the Census, and how to respond to it, in good perspective: This blog, Civil Disobedience and the Census, being one of the best.

And this youtube video, The Census is Getting Personal.

If you are looking for answers to how to deal with the Census, and how much information you REALLY need to give them, these are two great places to start.

Bill Frustration

2010-03-22T09:48:00.000-07:00

After watching the debate and vote on the Health Care Bill last night, I went to bed very frustrated with our elected "representatives". Words can hardly explain how dangerous what they just did really is! I hope that we are able to get this law overturned before it can do the type of damage to our Country and its economy that many of us expect it to.

I put together a two page "How to Analyze a Bill" paper this morning. I wish our Congressmen were obligated to analyze the bills they vote for. But at least we can analyze them for them. The document is available as a free download from www.CurrClick.com.

May the Lord help us!

Sept 12, 1 month later

2009-10-11T17:53:00.000-07:00

A month ago, a friend and I were on our way to D.C. for the September 12 March on D.C. It was an event we knew we had to be at, even though we weren't sure exactly what to expect when we got there. But we went, and we were glad we did.

Now, a month has gone by...Congress is back at work trying to pass through any number of bills that we would like them to leave alone (the Government takeover of Heath Care and Cap & Trade being at the top of the list), and not fixing the one bill we WOULD like them to deal with -- the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act.

Did our March on Washington accomplish anything? It's too soon to tell whether it did anything in the short run. But I think we'll really know the results in 2010 -- when the 2010 elections come around.

In the meantime, it was good to see that we weren't such a rare breed after all...And to be around so many relatively like-minded folks.

Universal Health Care

2009-10-01T11:32:00.001-07:00

I've had a little more time to digest the talk we went to last night, where they were trying to explain to us how important it is to give everyone universal health care, and how cheap it would actually be.

My response can really all be summed up in a short Economics lesson: Everything we purchase has to be considered a scarcity. No matter how much of it there is, there is still a limited amount of it. (Do we have consensus on that?) In a system that is working, scarcities are taken care of with one tool – prices! And yet, under the Universal Health Care System being pushed under the Conyers bill for example (H.R. 676) – prices are taken out of the economic equation. When price is no longer allowed to regulate demand, demand ALWAYS exceeds supply. There are no exceptions.

So the bottom line with universal health care is shortages, and shortages will lead to rationing. Doesn't matter what they say!

March on D.C. final notes

2009-09-12T18:28:00.001-07:00

I started the day with a full charge on my phone battery – but I ran out of juice, between pictures and tweets (I hit 100 tweets today before the phone died at 3:30 p.m.)

So my notes from the last 30 minutes or so of the Rally will go here instead of on twitter.

The next speaker was Hector, a former SBA Administrator: "Welcome to this Million Patriot March…We don't need another Trillion Dollars in debt to fix problems…all you're asking for are common sense solutions…(Tell the politicians), "If what you're selling is more government and less choices, we're not buying it." The crowd started chanting "We're not buying it."

Darla, one of the 9/12 Organizers spoke next, telling us that "Glenn Beck has a message for you on his website afterwards…It's been a long year since January…a lot of people thought we couldn't pull it off…We showed them! …God gave us a right to freedom, and nobody is going to take that from us! …Congress knows we're here, of course, we've shut down D.C….God has blessed America, and that blessing hasn't ended!"

Next was Bruce, a recording artist who survived Katrina and is hoping to survive Obama. He mentioned a CD he has put together: "Forgotten but not gone." The song he sang included the lyrics, "Stand up…make your voice heard…"

William: "What a beautiful sight this is…Our group's motto is "Patriotism in action"…For today, the motto is, 'It's the Constitution, Stupid!' ….Favorite amendment is the 10^th…They lie…It is time for us to stand up…Thank God for Congressman Wilson…(Tell Congress) Read the Constitution and obey it!"

The next gentleman is an immigrant from Poland (after World War 2?)…He wrote Legacy of the White Eagle about his experience in Warsaw Poland as a young man. He addressed us, "This is the greatest day of my life…I congratulate all of you for joining hands…There can be no human progress under tyranny…No sacrifice is too great in defense of freedom and independence..we have a lot to be thankful and grateful for in this great land of ours…If you've never lived under tyranny, you can't fully appreciate how fortunate you are…" He was 10 when the Germans invaded Poland, 12 when the Nazis closed their schools and he joined the underground Army, and 15 when he fought in Warsaw. "If you can imagine 180,000 people dying in 2 months…" Then he was transported to a POW camp from which he escaped 9 months later. "Why did kids like me fight? Because of our shared legacy of Freedom!" Chants of freedom through the crowd. "Visit Arlington Cemetery while you are here…Remember the young men and women who laid down their lives for you….Our responsibility to keep the flames of freedom burning."

Last speaker: "Get involved..Today is not the end, it is the beginning…We are ALL Community Organizers! …We are working on a Contract From America."

And with that we headed out – quietly, respectfully…An amazing day, I'm so glad we participated! At that point, we were tired, hungry, thirsty, in need of a real chair to sit in, and in need of restrooms…other than that we were in great shape….We headed down Pennsylvania Avenue, back towards the Metro trying to decide where to stop that 100's of others wouldn't be at – when I spotted the tower of the Old Post Office – so off we went – and took care of all our needs! Great, easy, end to a wonderful day.

August Town Hall in Athens

2009-09-03T16:39:00.001-07:00

The week had started with a 4 hour Town Hall Meeting with Congressman Parker Griffith in Florence, and I certainly thought that was plenty. But then the emails started coming in about the Friday afternoon Meeting in Athens…And a request for the attendance by as many of us as possible…So I made arrangements for my daughter to watch our store, and off my son and I went for Athens. This one was only scheduled for 2 hours, so we figured it shouldn't last TOO long!

This was to be the 6^th Health Care related event I had attended in the last two months, and I must say it rated as the most uncomfortable! They had set up ~120 folding chairs on a gym floor -- - and the rest of us got to sit on bleachers! We guessed that there were at least 400 folks at this one by time it got going, maybe more like 500 or 600.

Promptly at 2:00 the event began with an invocation. It was considerably longer than Monday evening's: "…here today as a community…gather today out of a common concern…give thanks for gift of freedom…acknowledge many perspectives…seek your wisdom…help us to remember the Common Ground we come from…your compassion eclipses partisan politics…"

Then a Professor came up to finish welcoming us: "The University is proud to have Congressman Griffith here…but we are also proud to see you here…Mr. Jefferson would be proud…Health Care consumes 16% of our national wealth every year…Congress is engaged in a great debate (on Health Care), the first in over 40 years…(Remember) hearing yourself talk is not always the best exercise of the First Amendment…Our Congressman is new to Congress, (it is his) first term…not new to this topic, since he is a physician by occupation."

There were two microphones set up, and we were directed to keep our introductions short, under one minute. (That continually proves to be a hard concept for so many at these meetings!) As usual, I took detailed notes during the meeting, and share those here. Parker Griffith's words, as best as I could record them that afternoon, are in bold below and my thoughts are italicized. I have also underlined some of the key points.

Congressman Griffith started his introduction: It is gratifying to see the interest in Health Care…America is no longer confined to the TV set…(But I) must say to you that there are other issues should turn out for – education (and) illegal immigration (are) serious problems in our country.
[1^st applause this afternoon]
If he wants us to attend Town Halls on those other issues, guess he needs to try setting them up…Only then might he be able to complain that we don't care about those other issues as well.

He continued: The federal Government has no backbone to close that border
[2^nd applause]
I have to ask myself when I hear these comments – did he misspeak, or does he truly want NO immigration from the South…If that is not the case, he wants the border secured, not closed – there is a VERY important difference!

Now on to today's topic: Let's talk about Health Care…The American public is living longer and longer…and people from all over the world come here for Health Care. [applause]
But where will we/they go if this wonderful Health Care system is destroyed?...system second to none. Trying to fix SMALL part of it. But aren't we in danger of destroying the entire thing with most of these "fixes" being suggested? Trying to provide access for small number (lost jobs, etc.)…We have decided in America to air this out/tee this up. Well, no, let's get this straight, Congressman Griffith…The President and Congress decided to make these major changes, and we, the People, have forced the issue by not taking the changes quietly. …We are asking ourselves as a Nation…

One of those, the Waxman bill, is already out of committee…I am not for that bill and will vote against it. (applause) …But doesn't mean (I'm) against reforming Health Care… At this point he launched into the tragic story about Patsy and her cancer that we heard Monday evening. …Can we find (the) solution to that problem? …Waxman Bill is a threat to Medicare…We need a solution…There is no Senate bill yet…2 committees…Vast majority want us to improve our Health Care… Do you really care what we want? I don't believe the majority wants the Federal Government trying to "fix" Health Care…and does it really matter what the majority "wants", if there is no money to do it?!?

Griffith continued: How did we get in this fix? Times have changed since World War II…every company began to offer perks, and one of them was Health Care…We had men and women who worked at the same companies for 20 – 30 years…A system that we were used to became scrambled…For small companies (it is) too expensive…no health insurance…(There was a) great debate back in the 90's that went nowhere…Big companies, pharmaceuticals, etc. were against any reform…(Now we are) trying to reform this Health Care system around an acute shortage…the typical medical establishment failed to recognize Baby Boom generation coming through…even wealthy counties like Madison, hard to get Medicare patients seen…

Griffith started to make his proposals for correcting these problems: …good students being turned down by medical schools, need reform [applause] …Tort Reform
[applause] At this point Griffith had been talking for almost 15 minutes, and sounded like he would have continued, until one brave soul walked up to one of the empty mikes and asked for the opportunity for the audience to be heard by the Congressman now, instead of the other way around. Within moments, lines were forming at both mikes:

"I don't understand…why can't we think outside the box? (Are we offering) a blue ribbon plan or bottom level plan?" Griffith: Insurance Companies need to be reformed, need to compete across state lines. Oh yes, those big, bad insurance companies again… isn't it the fault of governments (state and/or federal) that insurance companies CAN'T currently compete across state lines?!?
Questioner: "(Could set up) community Centers to provide Health Care for those without insurance…" Griffith: (There are) not enough of them.
"On FTC commission, are you not?" Griffith: No, I'm not. Questioner: "Why are we allowing trucks and truck drivers coming across the border and taking jobs from Americans?" Griffith: Until the federal government stops it…and your elected officials take care of
{At that point someone pointed out included him.}
I'm on your team, don't fight me. Questioner: "Other question, what would it take for you to vote for Obama's plan?" Griffith: He doesn't have a plan…he's waiting for Congress to fight this out…One day he says this and one day he says that… Seems like Griffith won't be real popular with his own party when he returns to D.C. next month! But I'm still not convinced he has any plans of switching parties!
George, from Liberty House: "…Congress didn't write these bills, lobbyists did… [applause] We ask that bills be available for 14 days on the internet before any votes and that those who wrote the bills are listed in the bills, an annex…Health Care is only the symptom." [applause] Griffith: I authored two resolutions…they would require that any Health Care bill must be on each Congressman's desk for 1 week before a vote and any Health Care plan passed becomes Congress' plan. Kudos to the Congressman for each of those proposals – but my understanding is that they have both failed…so nothing really changes. It's not lobbyists who write bills, they write checks…The most dangerous individuals are the long term staff.
An older gentleman was up next: "Most of adult life working for the federal government…I learned one thing: Whenever government buys anything, its market value falls to zero….(During) LBJ's Great Society – Medicare checks devalued husband/fathers – 42% of kids now live in home with no father or step-father." (Someone in audience stood up and yelled: "Are you advocating getting rid of Medicare/Medicaid?") The gentleman continued: "General Motors was selling at $42/share…now Government GM, is not even listed on Dow Jones – it's penny stock…" [There were boos from the audience when Congressman Griffith tried to explain the demise of GM was because of debt at top and Toyota…]
Next older gentleman explained: "H.R. 3200 isn't about Health Care, it's government control."
[applause]
"We don't want a greater expansion of our entitlement society, we will run out of our money."
[applause] "The (true) number of uninsured does not equal 47 million, that includes illegals and those who don't want insurance. Only about 3% of population is uninsured. [Audience members yelling, "Ask a question."] He quoted from book, "Goal is to keep us on the plantation." Griffith interrupted: Town Hall Meetings tend to go to the negative…The Judeo-Christian ethics is woven into capitalism…I don't want us to believe (we are) not the best in the world. [Audience member yelled, "Get government out of it."]
"One solution would offer: small number who need Health Insurance, Health Care, Government can help those…(could) easily pay for (it, with) Health Care stamps, however you want to do it…Government facilities…Has to be a way to deal with illegals clogging Emergency Rooms before we close our borders…Do you believe any bill that rations Health care would lessen our life expectancy?" Griffith: No question. But Judeo-Christian ethics reject that.
Diane: "First question: "What was your very first vote as our representative?" It was clear she already knew the answer…Griffith danced around the question/answer before he finally admitted: For Pelosi (as Speaker of the House). Second question: "In Florence several people asked you Constitutional questions; do you carry with you a copy of the Constitution?" Griffith answered: No. To which she responded, "I have one for you to keep with you…this is it…you don't need a 15,000 page document." [She got a standing ovation while she was taking it up to him.]
A 19-year-old student from UAH spoke next: "…My Mom had ovarian cancer…no chemo ever worked…She is using an experimental drug, which is banned in Canada and U.K….Obama would decide if my mom is worth the money…Obama is so arrogant, he thinks he can play God." [applause] "Will you stand up to Pelosi?" Griffith: Absolutely.
"In 1963 my husband enlisted…(we were) promised Health Care for life, not true…perhaps we should go looking for all these "lost dollars" first…We would ask for at least one week on ANY bill, and no last minute additions…How can we stop Cap & Trade?" Griffith: Cap and Trade is a perfect example of why Blue Dogs decided not to let Waxman do that to American people again. Why did they let Waxman do it once? We knew it was a bad bill! Why didn't ALL of the Blue Dogs and Republicans vote against Cap and Trade?!?…Pelosi didn't bring Health Care to the floor, she didn't have the votes. Barack Obama's responsible…we learned a lesson with Cap and Trade, men and women folded under pressure…American people don't want (it). [applause]
Christie, Huntsville Tea Party Organizer: "In Florence you said, 'You liked Price's bill, but it doesn't have enough support.'…Will you get behind this bill and give it the support it needs?" Griffith: I will.
Dale Jackson came up next. He started in politely enough, "Thank you for holding these events…Thank you for opposing HR 3200 and Cap and Trade…" But Griffith was ready for him: Why did you falsify the state seal? Dale explained his mistake and then asked, "Is it important that Congressmen have integrity?" Griffith: Yes, it is. But then Dale started wasting time talking about Pelosi, and then the "secret" meeting in Decatur… Griffith wasn't happy: You took it out of context…There was an individual recording…It was a joke…you're an entertainer, son. [Much of the audience started yelling, "Next".] A wasted opportunity, Dale, in my humble opinion. So many important things you COULD have asked him.
An older gentleman was next: "$91 Trillion deficit over next 10 years…How do you propose that any costs of any Health Care (Reform will) be paid for?" Griffith: We've gone off the cliff on debt…Unless the Senate can come up with a bill that is deficit neutral. Since that will NEVER happen, except with rationing, which he claims is wrong, they should just give up and move on to other things…maybe protecting our Country from enemies?
"Half my face is paralyzed permanently…I'm married to a Marine…I went to see military doctors…I was misdiagnosed for 5 months…until got permission to see private doctor (diagnosed with a childhood cancer at 22-years-old)…(There) will be rationing of care…I've been trying to read the bill…The committee (will all be) appointed by the President directly or indirectly. Too much power for any one man…" [applause] Griffith: One of many reasons Waxman bill can't be law! The Commissioner will be kind of a king or a czar…We've already established going to kill bill, so relax… Excuse me, Mr. Congressman, that was very rude! We won't relax until the bill IS killed…Promises to do so don't mean much.
"Most doctors in Alabama oppose Waxman…It is very complicated to treat patients…Pharmaceutical companies are raising the cost of Drugs." Griffith: A deal about 8 weeks ago between the Executive and Pharmaceuticals…can't stand. [applause] …We know we CAN improve our Health Care system…We know we MUST improve our Health Care system.
"…Drugs I had been using, are now being denied…I don't want to live in country where being run by czars who don't believe in the Constitution." [applause] "…I heard Obama (would be) doing away with the insurance I have…it replaces Medicare (Medicare Advantage)…Why would they do that?" Griffith: Many of Medicare Advantage have been sold well… I must have missed the point somewhere in that answer.
Older gentleman: "…(Tell us) why you voted for Pelosi?" At this point, it feels like we need to get beyond Pelosi! Griffith: New Congressmen…As Blue Dogs, we sat down with Pelosi… Gentleman: "Do the Blue Dogs control the way you think? Why did you vote for her?" Griffith: …We needed the support of leadership…Committees…
[audience members yelling "Pork"] Griffith: Bridge and schools are not equal to Pork….The opportunity to do…to help my district… I wouldn't vote for her again… What's good for this district is important. Gentleman: "…Won't be any grandchildren if you continue along this path…What is COBRA?" Griffith danced around the answer, before finally saying: Ability to continue insurance after lose job… Gentleman: Single Mom who just got laid off, would she get treatment at Huntsville Emergency Room?" Griffith: Yes, but we want to see her earlier. Gentleman: "You want to steal all of this money…" [audience members yelling "Next"]
This older woman went on and on about shaking Griffith's hand and Senator Kennedy... "I want to tell story…" [boos] "I'm going to tell it anyway…His son, with treatment after lost leg… Said he couldn't have afforded it without his senate insurance…" [more boos] She finally asked Griffith a question, "Are you willing to give up money you've received from Insurance Pacts?" Griffith: Not the facts…I have accumulated whatever wealth I have by grace of God and hard work…I cannot be bought by any individuals… Her: "Pacts are not individuals…Will you give back the money you got from the Insurance Pacts?" At this point Griffith was getting upset, maybe because she wouldn't accept his answer.
"…I'm a right wing terrorist, not wearing a swastika…Would you vote for any bill that funded abortions overseas?" Griffith: No. "(Do you think they should have) access to our accounts?" Griffith: No.
U.S. Army retiree: "How will we pay for this? I can't afford more taxes…I'm working harder in retirement to protect freedoms for my grandchildren…"
Older gentleman: "I voted Republican, but very impressed today…" By what? Someone PLEASE tell me what Griffith said at any of these Town Halls that should have impressed a Conservative?!? "…a Legal house of prostitution in Nevada was taken over by IRS; they couldn't sell sex and booze, how can they sell this?"
Karen: "…an enigma – Conservative from Massachusetts…any price you can be paid to vote for Pelosi next time?" Griffith: No. Karen: "…Convey to your colleagues…you are employed by 'We the People'…We need Term Limits…This entitlement mentality…What has happened to personal responsibility in this country?"
[major applause]
"Do you oppose Fair Tax?" Griffith: Don't know yet. Haven't read it.
That's a dangerous expectation to start there, Congressman Griffith, we might start expecting that type of reaction on every bill you are presented.
[The Audience is getting rowdy, they have less and less patience with those who don't get to a question quickly.] Karen: "…We need picture IDs to vote…" [audience: "where is question?"] "…fire in your belly…I would cast my first Democratic vote, but I would love to see you flip to the Republican Party." Again, I have to ask "Why?" Griffith:
Left wing crazies are as crazy as right wing crazies… Guessing that was his way of telling us he was content right where he is; but would we be better off with another RINO anyway?
I recognized this gentleman from Florence Town Hall, where he asked a similar question about Drug Companies and Doctors. I don't get the impression he likes either group very well. Griffith: Drug companies have too much power…but experimental drugs cost millions to develop, even those which fail…easy to suppress creativity…
I don't remember that attitude about Drug development on Monday evening, Mr. Griffith…Does that mean you are learning? Or just changing your answers to please us? Gentleman: "Tort Reform – return to hands of people." Griffith didn't respond to that comment, maybe he didn't understand it any more than I did.
Bob, an older gentleman, who had been a pastor for 25 years: "You mentioned…Judeo-Christian…What is the foundation of the U.S.?" Griffith: Other than the Constitution? Bob: "What you think (it is)?" Griffith: "Freedom…to make choices…to fail…to reach potential…a country born of an idea, not a geography…Christian…
[applause] Bob: "Past 16 years, I've been teaching high school History/Economics…my greater concern: I subscribed to the White House newsletter, and the first one blew me away. 'Dear Friend…a nationwide…building a NEW foundation for America…' Do you believe…that America needs a new foundation?" Griffith: I do not.
Then why do you make all these suggestions that would take away our freedoms, and would tear at our foundation?
Older gentleman: "…all Blue Dogs are going to have their arms twisted…" Griffith: It has already happened. This is hard ball. Like being in the principal's office. I'm new up there, but I'm not new! Gentleman: "Average people…we're fearful of what this country's becoming..." [applause]
Very old gentleman, couldn't understand his question, something about cancer and cancer tests… Griffith: Tests varied…and very complicated…specifically, can't answer.
"…Millions of Americans uninsured continue to (just) survive…(Yet there is) more outrage over Vick's actions towards dogs…(Always) excuses: socialism, too expensive, death panels…(Then) why do grandmas live longer in Europe than here? …Obama is a Christian…This is a moral issue like Civil Rights… [boos] …(We are in the) Bible belt… (In Heaven, when Jesus says, you) 'saw me sick and uninsured', how are you going to answer the Lord?" [audience – "Thou shalt not steal"]
Stephanie, from Huntsville: "Will you dismantle Medicare and Medicaid?" Griffith: No, but if we allow government to compete with private insurance companies (it won't matter)…(this) program (has the) potential to drain people (from their existing plans)… She asked again, "You don't support a government option at all?" Griffith: Medicare and VA are existing systems, but they are not working well. Stephanie continued: "…(In) Canada they will fly you if you live in rural area… [negative reactions coming from the audience]
Older gentleman: "…We haven't talked much about Health Care (here today)…Is it a right? …(Is it) a privilege? …We know our Health Care system needs reform…In 1992 (there was a red flag, but) nothing was done…(It was all) left in private hands, (with) insurance companies…(But) now (we are) in a dilemma…Think we all know need reform…83% (approve)...(There are) more and more losses because of loss of jobs… [audience: "ask a question"] …we're losing…The only way is to put some pressure on insurance companies is a public opinion." [boos] Griffith: Every major employer in U.S. is begging us to make this an affordable system…change from '92, back then all your major companies were against any reform…all recognize this as a competitive problem
I think we need to go back to one of the first people, who warned of government competing with private enterprise.
…without us improving the system…(It is) a business decision on CEOs part…Half of all deaths in America in the next 100 years will be preventable. When did Griffith get a crystal ball? …smoking is a self-inflicted wound…obesity/diabetes (are lifestyle choices that add a) huge cost into our system…(Because of this) the life expectancy (of kids) is already going down…personal accountability… Personal accountability should be exactly that, personal!
Gentleman from Limestone County said something about silly discussion of co-ops. Griffith: You need a critical number of people, (there are) not enough in Alabama who are uninsured (only 600,000)…They threw the word out, (but) national co-op not any better than (government option).
Very old gentleman asked: "…Is it true that people in U.S. fund the research of new drugs?" Griffith: A big federally funded organization does fundamental research, then promising finds are shown to a Drug Company, who decides whether to raise millions of dollars to do toxicity study, study of last resort, and then the FDA considers release…(The whole process can take up to) 15 years. Gentleman: "American people, not other countries, are paying for…Other countries should be paying for drug development, too...Obama, the people he surrounds himself with are Communists. Griffith: He is having trouble transitioning from Candidate to President. Gentleman: "…Say public health care passes – will abortion be included?" Griffith: In the Waxman bill, yes! Gentleman: "I don't want my tax money paying for abortion."
Martha, as one Health Care practitioner to another: "Have you heard of the Australian filing a lawsuit against U.S. officials, for attempted 'mass murder' with mixture of swine flu, avian, and tama flu…to use as vaccine? (It is a) criminal act to refuse forced vaccines…" Griffith: I will look into that.
Older woman: "Back to illegals…illegals are not going to be covered in Health Care, however also heard if there is one citizen in the family, the entire family is covered." Griffith: It is not true that (illegals) won't be covered; the border has to be closed. Her: "Why do they say it?" Griffith: …Trying to get it (the Health Care bill) passed.
Retired female teacher: "Inquire about the Health of our Nation…(I am) thankful for TV; it covers a lot that needs to be covered…" Griffith: Very concerned…Obama will be a one-term President if this is rammed down our throats [No reaction today to that comment] …The danger is we don't care enough to change things…
Older man: "We (my wife and I) worked on your campaign…I have a rhetorical question: as someone who cannot buy individual Health Care at any price, how can we contain costs without a Public Option?" Griffith: Four changes would make that happen. Him: "I don't share your confidence."
Griffith:
…I think we can change that without a Public Option.
Personal friend of Terri Schiavo, daughter of World War II Vet who committed suicide, thanks to Hemlock Society: "…You are a Senior Citizen, a physician, and a politician…do you see anything in HR3200 (that starts us down a) slippery slope…" Griffith: …If we are paying physicians to discuss end of life care…becomes a standard…Language means something, (which is) why we don't want it rushed through… (Well, I would agree that it's ONE of the reasons we don't want it rushed through, but ONLY one.)
Vet: "…(We want) a Congressman who talks the talk AND walks the walk…You rival Obama in speaking skills…(But I am) disappointed, (since you are) unique as physician and as a Blue Dog, you could lead the opposition against this – with one phone call. Griffith: …It could make my effectiveness LESS if I was a TV "thing"…I am working behind the scenes, (since the) Congressmen I serve with are not physicians; I have to sit down with them and go over again and again…(If you become a) media star, you lose your credibility with your peers. Vet: "You need to influence the American people…through the Media." Griffith: It's going to be a different Congress…in September.
That is certainly our hope, but it is hard not to think those are hollow words.
Older woman: "…HR 219 (has been) in committee for almost 2 years; (it is) robbing from Social Security…Why are we so intent on pork barrel spending? …Our President wants us to be a third world country…(he is surrounded by) communists (who) don't pay taxes…" Griffith: We are showing our muscle with this… Her: "Take some of that money out of the Stimulus and put it back in Social Security…ACLU should be closed down; they get paid with taxpayer money."
Older gentleman, retired Navy vet, fully dependent on VA care: "…I can't stand, because in pain, can't work, because can't breathe…What are you going to do to help me? …" Griffith: …We are completely dedicated in this Congress to improving our VA system, (to get rid of) rationing… (It is an) overloaded system; …a very, very difficult problem…My office is here to help you… Him: "Regulations from Washington make it more difficult to get care…(with) too much government, it can get broken!" Griffith: …Health Care…like Post Office…our men and women not be attracted to medicine… I think I missed something in that answer, sorry.
Older gentleman, Marine, son in Iraq: "…I did this for freedom of speech… We should be respectful of all…We need Term Limits, redistricting…reappropriating of Congressional seats…Term limits is pie in the sky…(We need a) reasonable number of reps serving reasonable number of people…The Census occurred…(In the past) Congress expanded the House of Representatives; (if we) enlarge Congress two – three times, so have more voice in Congress… Griffith: No real answer. Gentleman: …TV...sick of…FCC… [At this point the audience started yelling "Next" and being quite rude.]
Mr. Wall: "…offering solutions, not just criticisms…I am self-employed, so one but me responsible for my Health Care [applause] Two Bills (you might want to endorse): HR 1495 and HR 2630. First one let's ME compete with private insurance [applause] …Tax credits (give me) more money in my pocket, so I can help those who need help…Have you heard of these? Do you support them? Are you familiar with how low percentage (of charges) insurance companies actually pay?" Griffith: …Great idea…don't know of those bills… Mr. Wall: "Credit so reduce taxes pay for insurance…(Should also) look at tax rebate for EXPORTS…" [more applause]
I'm not sure if Mr. Wall ever mentioned Dr. Lappert by name when he was referring to us competing with insurance companies, but I had my notes from Dr. Lappper's talk a couple of weeks ago, and presented them to Mr. Griffith's staff member afterwards.
The Tea Party Organizer from Limestone County spoke next. She spoke of: "…I am part of the majority – opposing government (intervention? option?)…I am a gun owner…The Obama administration is working behind the scenes to take away our rights to bear arms." Griffith:
…NRA monitoring EVERY bill submitted to Congress….alot more diligent than you think…Every bill dropped in to the hopper is read by them… That was an amazing concept to me – the NRA is capable of monitoring EVER bill submitted to Congress, but our Congressional representatives can vote on them without reading them?!? Her: "Assurance, you will fight for our right to bear arms?" Griffith:
Unequivocally! She ended by invited us to join her in D.C. on September 12. I hope to see you there!
Small business owner…He and his wife are independents, Conservatives, Christians: "Two factions concerned about in D.C…. Pelosi/Boxer/Reed faction…Other faction…Rahm Immanuel…Frank Lloyd…Is this a back door?" Griffith: …The lines are drawn…It should be clear to all of us…The people the President has surrounded himself with…(We can't let it) divide us on an issue…we have to be American…independent thinking…vote for the woman/man/issues.
[applause] Businessman: "…Dan Jones, head of the Apollo Alliance, is taking credit for authoring the Stimulus bill…" Griffith: The Stimulus…has been a disaster.
Retired gentleman: "…VA had database compromised about three years ago…(An example of) government in action…In Seattle, Washington (there was an) article in the paper about illegals…taking jobs from U.S. Citizens." Griffith: The Stimulus bill had E-Verify in it when it left the House, it was gone when it left the Senate. Retiree: "…Democrats voted against it overall…" Griffith: I would have voted for E-Verify. Retiree: "…Acorn & SEIC…Acorn…why hasn't Democratic Party demanded the A.G. investigate Acorn? Griffith: The issue in many districts (is that there) are many Congressmen/women who will block…
"We need to learn to disagree without being disagreeable…If government wants to be involved – issue vouchers for physicals every 3 – 5 years… And how much would that cost? And who would administer it? I don't trust the government to come clean on this…(I was in the military during the) Vietnam era, as an Officer, I was promised Health Care and Dental Care for myself and my wife for the rest of my life…The only winners will be the bureaucrats who administer that system…" Griffith: …We have a fundamental distrust of government…In God we trust…(We believe in) Personal accountability…Your freedom is in your wallet…(This is a) nation of free will and free choice….It is hard to tell people what they can and cannot do…Those of you who don't believe in Government intervention…the polio vaccine was developed without one penny of government money.

Almost an hour later than the 4:00 scheduled end, the Town Hall was closed out with these parting words from Congressman Griffith: …It is wonderful that we are here…America goes through these cycles of agreement and disagreement…(An important) issue that didn't come up…You should get involved in your school system…

I went up and talked to the Walls for a few minutes about the bill, and Dr. Lappert's previous talk on Health Care. Since some of Lappert's points had come up, I presented my notes from that talk to a young man on the Congressman's staff. I don't know what the likelihood is that anyone connected to the Congressman will actually read the various things that were presented to them, but figured he certainly wouldn't read it if we DIDN'T share it with him.

After three Town Hall Meetings with our Congressman, I still don't trust him NOT to vote for this bill (or something equally bad), and I am not ready to consider him the next candidate for party switching, but we should at least hold out SOME hope that he's right that the Blue Dogs WILL succeed in keeping the liberal Democrats from ramming the worst of these things down our throats! And we should pray our country holds on until the 2010 elections, and succeeds at that point in changing the tune being played in Washington!

Griffith’s August Town Hall Meeting in Florence

2009-08-29T14:15:00.001-07:00

Monday night, August 24, my daughter and I drove to Florence to attend another Town Hall Meeting with our Representative, Parker Griffith. We had attended his Town Hall Meeting in July in Huntsville and were anxious to see if his stance had changed on anything. We had hoped to arrive much earlier than we did, especially after having missed out on getting into Senator Sessions' Town Hall Meeting a couple of weeks ago because of the size of the crowd (and the inadequate size of that facility). Parker Griffith's words, as best as I could record them that evening, are in bold below and my thoughts are italicized.
I have also underlined some of the key points.

Kudos to Congressman Griffith and/or his staff for choosing a large enough facility to hold this event, and for the three microphones which were placed in easy to get to areas of the auditorium. The auditorium at UNA is big enough to hold over 1600 people, so even though it looked like 1300 or so turned out, there was plenty of room for all of us! Promptly at 6:00 p.m. it started, with a brief invocation, which included the request that the Lord grant us "a productive meeting" here tonight. The invocation was followed by applause from much of the audience.

Then Griffith was introduced; he began with an introduction of his own: "First of all, I appreciate so much…the number of people here…this is truly what America is all about and needs to get back to…we need to have such meetings in the future about education and illegal immigration…" From there he launched into a story about one of his patients (Patsy) from his days as a doctor. Of course, the story was being used to indicate to us that something needs to be done to our Health Care system: "Had she had insurance…and I seen her earlier…she would have had a 95% cure rate…saw Patsy late…spent over 1 million dollars….that's why we're here." I don't want to take away from the tragedy of that situation, and I hate to be disagreeable so early on, but no, I don't believe that's why most of us were there that night!

Griffith continued, "…Judeo-Christian ethic wants to make us do better…one of the best Health Care systems in the world – if you can access it…we are doing something right in our Health Care system, but we want everyone to be able to benefit from it."
Again, I have to disagree with the Congressman. The Judeo-Christian ethic is what makes US want to do the best we can – but we are not asking that of our government! As Dr Lappert pointed out in his talk last week, hospitals as we know them were started by Christians. Charity is to be a work of individual people, not something done by the government.

From there, Griffith started talking about the specific bill that is currently working its way through Congress. So far, the bill has been voted out of committee, but not onto the floor. Griffith assured us that he is opposed to the current bill – Waxman's bill. (Yes, that would be the same Congressman Waxman who recently co-authored the Cap and Trade bill, and who is almost single handedly keeping last year's toxic bill, CPSIA, from being fixed!) Waxman's bill started at 875 pages, and has already grown to 1017 pages, and weighs 40 lbs. At that point he held up his copy of the bill. (I don't think anyone asked him during the evening if he had read.) He continued, "We are discussing this at the right time – we don't want to have the same thing happen as the Cap and Trade…hoping and praying the Senate will shelf or gut." (Major applause at that point.)

Parker Griffith pointed out that he is vice-Chair of the Blue Dogs Health Care Committee. (Blue Dogs came up many times in the next 4 hours….) He also pointed out that there are several bad parts of Waxman's bill – including that it includes a federally sponsored Insurance company (commonly called the "public option"). At this point there were a couple of shouts of "yeah" and lots of boos. There is also a proposal on the table to do a public – or insurance – exchange – all wanting to sell would have to put their proposals in – with the federal government's proposals. (The audience reacted negatively at this point, and Griffith had to wait to speak again.) The difference is that the public one would be based on a similar idea to Medicare, which is financially unstable at this point. Several people in the audience got very rude here, and probably should have been excused from the auditorium. Griffith continued, the proposal is to remove money from Medicare to support the new public option (many boos) – Not a good idea. (applause)

The discussions continue about where to get billions and billions of money from – money from "Medicare savings", but would put Medicare further at risk, not a good solution. (An audience member yelled out, "been borrowing from for 40 years") So then Griffith told us, "Here's what I want to do. It is a fact that there are 4.6 million in Alabama, 1 million are on Medicare, 700,000 are on Medicaid (and yet later he would tell us how difficult it is for people to get on Medicaid), and 600,000 have no Health Care Insurance. At this point, I was still waiting for what exactly he was proposing we should do, but he finally got to his "suggestions": All insurance companies have to compete across state lines (much applause); no "pre-existing" refusals; small business be able to bid together; Health Care Insurance companies will not be allowed to "overrate for age". These should be the conditions to sell insurance in the U.S. Additionally, we need Tort Reform which is not in this bill (much applause at this comment).
Currently there is a doctor, patient, and a lawyer in every examining room and emergency room…It's not the amount of money in the suits, but the existence of the threat at all…He has to protect himself from suits…extra tests, etc. (more major applause).

Griffith said he asked Congressman Waxman,
why isn't there Tort Reform in this bill? Waxman's response: "Not time to talk about it." (Guess we can only wonder whether he needed more than 1,000 pages…or more than a few months…or…?) What else isn't in this bill? No increase in nurses/doctors in more than two decades, and the shortage of doctors isn't addressed…Less than 2% of medical students going into Primary Care…47 million Americans are uninsured – 10 million are under 19 and 20 million are under 40, not hard for us to insure. (I had to ask myself, on what does he base that claim?) Griffith than claimed that Medicaid in Alabama is the most restrictive in the U.S., we could liberalize Medicaid and cover more of the above. (And how would we pay for this small miracle?)
Additionally, the VA needs to be more liberal with care and take care of more Vets. (My husband, father, and father-in-law are all Vets, so I'm all for that in principle, but again, who pays how much for this?)

Griffith told us that the current Health Care bill contains many, many pages that are fine. (I've apparently missed those pages when I've read through the bill…I haven't seen ANYTHING that looked good to me!)
Appreciate folks who want Public Option, even though I'm against it, that's why we're Americans…I will do what I think is best for my constituents…We are in a very trying time…easy to knee jerk…I will take on the leadership of my party, the other party, the executive branch, to protect this district…

By this time dozens of people had lined up at the three microphones to ask Congressman their "brief" questions:

"Remind you that government should never be in the place of competing with Private Enterprise." (applause) Where do you stand on COLA adjustments going down for Social Security and Medicare?" Griffith: "Sorry about that…little Congress can do…will get worse if this bill passes." (Congress can't prevent COLA Adjustments? They make sure they get their own adjustments!) Questioner: "Before you pass the final bill, give us the chance to read it!" (Should have added, and be sure to read it yourselves!)
"Like Public Option…My daughter aged out of my insurance in high school…in college used infirmaries…sick over the summer…Mom's doctor wouldn't see her. What in your plan will take care of that?" Griffith: "Final bill we write, your daughter will be covered…our 5 children became uninsured when they finished school…let them stay on parents' insurance longer." (I have to wonder at where all this money is supposed to come from when liberals come up with this type of stuff…)
"…an opponent to Public Option…Christian…6-year-old diabetic grandchild, 6 month wait could prove fatal to her…want system that won't create long waiting lines and care that doesn't leave out elderly." (applause) Griffith: "Thank you."
(Yes, that was his entire answer to this "question".)
"What bill would cover questioner number 2's concern…What would your bill do to lower my insurance rates for employees?" Griffith: No bill yet…No amendments offered to #3200 yet.
"1978…wife Margaret with breast cancer given about 6 months to live…state of the art Health Care under Blue Cross…$750,000 bill over 10 years…she lived 10 years, not 6 months…What we have is better than we realize…We have a Mercedes with a bad transmission, and the President wants to put us in a Hugo, I want to fix the transmission." (applause and standing ovation at this point in his speaking) "Will future Margarets die under care like Canada and England?" Griffith: "We have to be careful..can't take away from what we have…have to improve access for 47 million."
"Retired medical technician…used to be $3 for throat culture…until insurance started paying $12 for throat culture…all prices raised…bottom line is money…Try to get those people to understand you can't spend money you don't got!" (more applause) No answer from Griffith.
Woman with AARP: "What do you see as some of the most misunderstood and divisive portions of this bill?" Griffith: (a) "Comparative effectiveness" – originally to compare 1 treatment with another…Danger in bill like this to put things like that in law…used as standards for treatments…takes decision away from Physicians. (b) "End of life care counseling" scaring our elderly unnecessarily. At that point it wasn't clear to me whether he was saying that we were overreacting to the "end of life counseling", or whether it shouldn't be in the bill…. Then Griffith continued: If Physician gets graded on amount of end of life counseling…Needs to be taken out of bill…not a government responsibility.
(applause) – Look at that, Griffith and I agreed on something! "Hospice happened without the government…Polio Vaccine happened without the government, without one federal dollar…Less government in Health Care the better off we'll be. And for that he got a standing ovation – it's a shame that some of us have trouble taking him at his word on this – maybe it has to do with all the other things he's been saying about Health Care!?!
An Anesthesiologist spoke next: "Thanks to the Blue Dogs for getting this delayed until after recess so we can have Town Halls like this. Individual Responsibility and Lifestyle choices have to be addressed…" I always get a little agitated when I hear people talking about individual responsibility and lifestyle choices in this context – is he suggesting the government needs to address those issues?!? No thanks! Griffith liked that topic: 2,000 deaths/year in Alabama from various cancers --- and 3,000 deaths/year from smoking-related diseases alone…Lifestyle issues leading to Diabetes…no bill can fix that… Well, then please don't try!
My friend's husband, Chad, spoke next, bringing up the "Empowering Patients First Bill" by Dr. Price, and asked about making Health Savings Accounts simpler. Griffith: "Dr. Price…good bill, not much support for…Health Savings Accounts are good – if you have a job. I think that was one of the most obnoxious things I heard Congressman Griffith say all night! Chad continued: "…Lawyers/Hospitals can do Pro Bono as tax write off, but not Doctors…" No response from Mr. Griffith on that last idea.
The next person was someone I recognized from last week's talk at the Liberty House. He made three points: Alabama rates second to last in using Nurse Practioners; 37% of budget goes to Health Care (in Europe 50% of budget goes to Health Care; do not support illegals receiving Health Care benefits…thousands of illegals registered to vote in Alabama (Alabama hindered by federal government for fixing that). Griffith responded that Emergency Rooms are overrun by illegals. (Is that a fact, or just a "truism" everyone likes to throw out there? I would love to see the stats on that.) Griffith got into a story about a friend being rear-ended by an unlicensed illegal…Until federal government has backbone to shut that border down…(He was cut off by cheers and applause)…Plenty of blame to go around – R's and D's in power – not dealing with… The questioner then mentioned that Parker Griffith should talk to Dr. Lappert – who has some great ideas.
"Nine trillion dollar debt we have…federal government has stolen everything I've made and my children will make…didn't just start…going on for decades…Do you support term limits?" Griffith: Absolutely – that's an easy one…more important than term limits – have to stop begin disinterested in our government…have to stop losing our children…
Older woman: "My concerns with Public Option: Lack of choice/rationing…husband using VA services…happy at first…chest pains…nitrate pills…went to another doctor through private insurance – ended up in Huntsville Hospital with 80-90% blockage in arteries…" Griffith: Great concern…danger in a system and we hear a lot about cost…many things Americans spend on that are much less important than Health Care (this was another one of the most obnoxious things Congressman Griffith said – so the Federal Government can tell us that we need to spend more of our money on Health Care?!?)…don't want to see that type of care marginalized by this bill…Why we're here…" No, sir, that is not why we are here – we want to make sure you understand that we don't like this bill!
Respect to have Town Hall Meetings and hear all sides…bill up there doesn't need to be modified, doesn't need to be tweaked, it needs to be trashed. (Standing applause from audience) Portability – why can't we do that now? Griffith: State law. Her: "So it's a government-created problem."
One of my favorite questions: Where do you find authority in the U.S. Constitution for the Federal Government to get involved in Health Care?" Griffith: "That's the second time you've asked me that…" Older gentleman: "Still no straight answer." Griffith: In our Congress, 1965, we decided to develop Medicare. Gentleman: "No better case." Then Griffith went on about Medicare increasing life expectancy since 1965. (Interesting claim, Congressman, it's a shame most of us aren't buying it!) Then Griffith made annoying remark #3 – Not a constitutional scholar…rabbit trail with you. Excuse me, Congressman, you don't have to be a constitutional scholar, you just have to read it and believe it! And it is not a rabbit trail!
"I do support a public option…no doubt would lower costs of Health Care. (Audience was a little rude here...booing him)…Poor college student… Griffith: Massachusetts is proving Public Option not working. (applause)
"Working for Pharmacy Call Center…83-year-old woman, her insurance would cost her $800…you are a blue dog…will you support closing the gap in Medicare…?" Griffith: Absolutely.
Next we heard from a 13-year-old: "I do not want nationalized Health Care – neither do many of my friends…if you get nationalized Health Care, and its being rationed, still telling her to die, happens in nations like Canada and England. (applause) Not much Griffith could say at this point, so he didn't say anything.
"Member of Labor – you promised would be an advocate for Labor…also said would be advocate for health reform…would do everything you could to get Health Care for everyone in the country (booing in the audience…which part were they booing?)…You have not voted for one thing for Labor in D.C….In 2001, U.S. down because of deregulation…This Economy is turning around, even though you didn't vote for Stimulus. Griffith: No, I didn't (at this point the audience was getting pretty riled up). Labor guy: "Are you Democrat or Republican?" Griffith: I'm a good Democrat.
We finally moved on: "Member of NRA" (applause) …Broke college student…but opposed to Public Option…News…a lot of ruckus about Democrats in Congress pushing bill through in spite of concerns.
Griffith: With a technique called reconciliation…Obama will be a one-term president…we are a polarized nation and can't afford to get more… Then Griffith said something about what stimulus will do… (I missed most of the answer, but there was lots of applause.)
"Esther (Old Testament)…there at the proper time…surprise to me, but the Blue Dogs may be there at right time…Waxman typical of politicians in D.C….salespeople… 'gotta be done now'…We're not ignorant...we know way socialized medicine care goes..these salesmen are the reason bill weighs 40 pounds…thank you it has not been voted on yet…if Blue Dogs will go back to D.C. and hold a bonfire on the mall and burn every one of them you would do our children and grandchildren a great favor…We don't have enough doctors and Health Care people going through our system…what's to encourage them when looking at a bureaucrat deciding what they can make…constitutional authority…but when it comes down to reality…very dangerous thoughts to us." No answer from Griffith, though I'm not really sure what he could have said at that point…
The next question was very off topic – about Congress declaring war, not what happened in Korea, Viet Nam…Moving right along…
Good questions: "…correct earlier person…People who made mess of mortgages were Barney Frank and Chris Dodd…Constitution…Declaration…government is based on consent of government…" Griffith: "…We the people have got to make our voices heard."
I'm sorry, when I hear that from a Democrat, I have to shake my head. No, Congressman Griffith, WE the people, have to have OUR voices heard…" Back to questioner: "Retired for 22 years…How do we as individuals make those idiots in Congress show us what they are doing and do what we want?" Griffith: "Doing it right here…the more hollering the better…Need to do more often."
Implication being that he is listening to us? Time will tell!
"…Moved here from California…Type 1 Diabetes is NOT based on lifestyle…need to figure out way to cap insurance profits…if can afford premiums can't afford co-pays…Health Care costs up because Clinton's bill requiring all facilities taking Medicare money must take all who show up wanting/needing care…" While I think this questioner made some good points about Medicare, I'm still not so sure that insurance companies are raking in outrageous profits…No response from Griffith (but I don't think a question was really asked.)
"Not from this district (originally from New Jersey)…Great tax system here in Alabama…(we're trying to figure out what his point is…) …More like medical control…end of life – don't like direction that is; don't like taxpayers paying for abortions a moral issue there); other problem we have…Federal Reserve…" (Audience started yelling, "Ask him a question."…He finally stepped down without having asked a question.)
"How do we keep abortions out – since every attempt to exclude abortions has been shut down?" Griffith: Co-sponsored bill that would exclude abortions…promise not to vote for ANY bill that does not EXCLUDE abortion…lost some votes here, gained some.
College student at UNA: "Why do you associate yourself with leadership of your party like Pelosi and Obama?…we have reached a tipping point." It looked like he turned to an audience member at this point, and said, "Sir, you are in a minority in this building today". Back to question to Griffith, "Will you stand firm in our principles, or will you fold to pressure of Democrats?" Griffith: "Practically speaking, Conservatives couldn't have stopped this bill, don't have vote…Someone asked me earlier whether I'm a Democrat or a Republican, I'm an American…What we have watched for last two decades, enough blame to go around…we need to change our attitudes and stop stereotyping people…worrying about jobs…"
My question for the Congressman at this point would have been, if you are worried about jobs, why are you willing to sacrifice the Economy for the sake of any type of Health Care "fixes"?
From Huntsville: "Cap and trade – sitting on a shelf – and you hope and pray it stays there. I hope and pray you are doing more than hoping and praying…You're saying all the right things…but you seem to be divorcing yourself from fact that your party is ramming this through…Need more than good words…You need to fight your leadership…biggest bait and switch ever, will create the biggest bureaucratic takeover of Health Care, all will be set by standards of BOARD appointed by President…willing to go and fight your party, haven't seen that." Griffith: Have you seen my voting records? Her: "Safe votes because party had votes without you…we need you to go and fight, not just vote NO! Take the leadership down and stop this insanity!" Griffith: Nancy Pelosi promised vote on floor before August Recess – Blue Dogs told her it would fail if she did.
I missed the next question, it was something about Medicare. Griffith: 435 Congressman – a lot of competing views on Medicare.
Next speaker started by commending the 13-year-old for speaking. "…Against the Public Option…Brother-in-law dentist with health issues, insurance because of wife's job…would get pushed aside under this bill…260 million Americans DO HAVE insurance!...Those vets didn't fight for socialized principles, they fought for democratic principles." Griffith: Very opposed to Waxman's bill…but believe that we as Americans want to preserve our Health Care while keeping what's good about it!...we don't want a bureaucrat even thinking he is in a position to make those decisions.
How does he think we can possibly keep what's good with our Health Care and do even a portion of what ANY of the Democrats are proposing to do?!?
"Some Congressmen won't face constituents at Town Halls, but willing to send our boys to harm's way..Have seen where Obama has said (in past) he was FOR single payor nationalized system….House Bill backway path to socialized Health Care…we will lose all control if makes it to Conference Committee between House and Senate. My question, why are things happening so fast? …Why does it have to be done in such a short period of time? (members of audience getting rude…) Griffith: We're losing some audience here. Questioner kept going, without saying much. There was applause when he finally stopped, and Griffith didn't even try to answer. Not much he could have said at that point.
"…you made me proud I voted for you…Obama said, 'If you like your doctor and your insurance you can keep it." Griffith: Mistake to think if Waxman bill passes, will be able to keep… Questioner: "How much do doctors have to pay in malpractice premiums?" Griffith: $50,000 - $300,00/year or more…When I'm sued by a patient, my house, everything I own, goes on the line…not how many suits, only takes one for hospitals and Doctors to practice defensive medicine…Told Waxman had to have Tort Reform, ignored me. Questioner: "Pelosi might not let you back in chambers if she hears what you said here tonight." Griffith: …I'll have a gift certificate to a mental institute for her…
Long drawn out story with the next person…Audience getting tired, taking too long to get to question: "How many would have to be in Co-op to work?" Griffith: Don't think state co-op would work, would have to be a regional. Questioner: "Trying to get insurance in Tennessee, joined affiliation of contractors to get better rates, no significant difference in costs, with 600,000 members. Why couldn't get better discount?" Griffith: You're asking me? I have no idea. Questioner: Paying 10% in insurance, raise my taxes 9% with Single Payor, and I'll still be better off." Griffith: If could get seen! He got it better than she did! Griffith continued: Cannot reform a system around a shortage…have to reform system fundamentally, not just an insurance question…If you had a pure Medicare hospital it would close… (She still thinks Single Payor will be better!) Griffith: It won't feed the bull dog, it won't pay the bill. (audience is getting rude again; getting restless) But I still don't see how anything being proposed will accomplish Griffith's grand goals!
"If we got the government option, it would be subject to change at any time." Griffith: If we enact Health Care reform in a partisan way, it will be reversed in the next four years...too important to be decided along partisan lines. (We might add that it's too important to have the government deciding!)
"…Need more people in D.C. like you…since both parties suck…Adding 47 million to Health Care without adding more doctors – rationing will become a reality.
36-year-old single mom: "How long will this arguing take…What is it going to take? What can we do to help hear other's… Griffith: You are exactly what we need… (Audience member yelled, "Give her a job.")
Now, we're all getting emotional: "Not what will happen to my care, but what will happen to her." (Audience members telling him to go help her himself…) "One question, will you work as hard for her as for cheerleaders here?" So now, we've been relegated to the status of "cheerleaders"! Griffith responded with another non-answer: Need to see our children early and our ill early!
Minister: "For the public option…Vietnam Vet…fought for black folks to have same rights as white folks…One daughter in college, went to Emergency Room, charge $1560…Ask these people what planet you live on? … When you Blue Dogs going to get behind a winner like Barack Obama? (boos from the audience) My question is: "When are you going to read the bill and stop listening to Rush Limbaugh?" Griffith didn't answer.
"My husband and I both voted for you." Then she asked the audience, "How many of you have read the bill? Many hands, including mine, went up. "Got to fix the problems…Pre-existing has been a monster for years…bill deals with it….Illegals…what about companies who knowingly hire illegals? Griffith: Stimulus bill took out the E-Verify system. Her: "Why can't you guys look at the bill and see what we can agree on?" Griffith: This bill weighs 40 pounds. It was completed on Thursday, they wanted to bring it to the floor on Friday – we blocked it from coming to the floor without ANYONE reading it…A government that can give it to you can take it away!
Christie: "I want to correct one thing about Blue Dogs, didn't stop the bill – just slowed down. If had all stuck together, wouldn't have come out of committee." Griffith: We wanted the American people to see the bill.
Christie: "Pelosi one of the front runners of this bill, would you vote again for her as Speaker of the House?" Griffith: No (audience member yelled: "Best thing you said tonight…she needs to go home.") Griffith continued: Someone that divisive cannot bring people together.
"We have a lot more in common than I would have realized…Do you feel the most significant thing in Health Care is cost?" Griffith: It's access.
That is a common theme we hear from Griffith – that the biggest Health Care problem is access, not cost. And yet, only real complaints we're hearing from people is the cost! He tried again: If costs were reduced significantly, would take care of some of the issues. Griffith: We need more providers. Questioner: "How do we get those?" Griffith: Medial School in North Alabama…System trying to change here didn't grow out of a mandate from government…as plans grew, became more and more expensive…companies becoming international, without loyalty to American workers… Questioner: "…eliminate tax incentives for employers paying for Insurance so employees can get own insurance…We need you to fight for us…Pharmaceuticals gauging us… (Why is it so often assumed that because the price of something is so high, that it is because we are being gauged?!?) Griffith: Big pharmaceuticals made deal with President…no competitive bids. (If that's true, there the government goes, interfering with the Free Market again.)
"…carry on to next generations…(hard to hear this gentleman, and he was having trouble getting to his question) …Social Security…cover most of your Health Care." (I had no idea what he was saying, and I don't think the Congressman did either…We finally moved on)
From Huntsville area: "Very opposed to any government insurance…have read most of the bill…What can we do to help you keep this bill from passing?" Griffith demonstrated how his voting card works and then said:
What I can do for you is listen to you…people in our Congress that don't think like we do…something fundamentally flawed as that…not against reform our Health Care system…not way to do it.
"You say availability is biggest issue…I agree with others that cost are biggest issue…big difference between taxation and charity – an act of free will – want everyone including YOU to understand the difference (applause)…with other reforms put in place don't need government to subsidize doctor's education. Griffith: Existing schools… Questioner doesn't earn himself any brownie points at this point: "I'm against government education." Griffith: Greatness of America has come out of Public Education (Personally I think that's as big a stretch as crediting Medicare with our increased life spans...)Then the questioner really goes over the edge: "This is the Constitution. You said this is a theoretical document. (Checking notes from first 42 questions/comments and answers, don't see that comment anywhere!) Griffith: I didn't say that. Then they get in a nasty fight about public education and I stopped listening (thankful that the questioner never mentioned homeschooling in his arguments!)
Business owner in Huntsville: "Lady from AARP had asked about misconceptions about this bill…misconception is that this can be free or affordable…a bill that forces transparency in insurance companies…and some type of cap on costs." (I guess he was saying that was what we needed a bill to do?!?) Griffith:
A scarcity…increase supply, reduce costs. (So the earlier fight over scarcity versus costs boils down to both – if we increase supply, the costs will go down, and there will no longer be a shortage…but government intervention will decrease supply and increase costs!) Griffith: Agree that Pharmaceuticals are out of control…only country in the world that allows them to push drugs on TV.
(So pass a law forbidding that and be done with it!)
Linda: "It's been said that the President, Senators, Congress have insurance that will not be effected by this bill, is that true? Griffith: Introduced a resolution that would require Congress to be on the same Health Care plan. Linda: "What doesn't Congress understand about 'No'? Get your hands out of my pocket and your nose out of my business!"
"You have people in need…people don't mind helping people in need, mind being taken advantage of…" Griffith: No system someone won't try to take advantage of…people in financial world taking advantage of the system… Questioner: "Difference when people buying dog food with food stamps…. Griffith: We can cure diseases today that we couldn't dream of curing 25 years ago…lifestyle choices…we decided as a country to fix best Health Care system in world.
Excuse me, Congressman Griffith, Mrs. Difficult here again to argue with you – No, WE didn't decide that! Absolutely not! Some of the more liberal minded folks in D.C. decided that – it is not the will of most of the people!!! Questioner: "Take a message back to DC. About the Health Care plan… (I missed the message somehow…) Griffith: I didn't take the Government Health Care option, paying for my own.
"Vietnam Vet, been on Medicare and on Blue Cross/Blue Shield…How are we going to defeat that bill…We need to take the U.S. back."
"Earlier you equated Medicare with increase life expectancy; don't believe one has anything to do with the other." Griffith: We have people living today…that would never have lived…if we hadn't accessed system… (Oh yes, clearly because of Medicare! AARGH!) Questioner: "…bill that's a complete overall of Health Care in U.S. and I'm just trying to figure out why…go about it slowly, one issue at a time…give our Congress time to figure out where money is going to come from." Griffith: That's why we slowed it down…One of things we can do is require any new drug on market be cheaper and more effective… Okay, let me see if I have this straight, Congress will declare that only new drugs can be developed that are cheaper AND work better…Yeah, just like they declared that bicycles and ATV's for children will suddenly be made without lead – because they said so – Say goodbye to new drugs!
An elderly gentlemen, over 80: "WW2 Vet, Medicare has been a blessing to me and my wife…reading about specific pages in bill…we Americans are benevolent people…"
"Do you currently have enough votes to kill that bill?" Griffith: Yes, why it hasn't been voted on yet…and they have fewer votes than they did before, after these Town Hall Meetings.
"Walking, without Hugo…If you're against it, where do I go?" Griffith: Let you have a choice of Insurance Companies…Let them compete…Ability to get Health Insurance will go up, like term life insurance, and home insurance…Will always be people who need to be on Medicare/Medicaid…Need to expand SHP…or will spend fortune correcting what could have corrected earlier…
"How in the world did Democrats put someone like Pelosi in Chair…sounds like regardless of what American people want, they'll pass it." Griffith: If they do reconciliation (only need 51 votes in Senate, not 60), end of Democratic power – including President Obama…
Vet from Iraqi Operation Freedom: "…didn't come back same…30% connected to VA…How am I going to be taken care of?" Griffith: Don't have to worry, VA getting better, not worse! (not a repeat of post-Vietnam) We have 486,000 Vets in Alabama, just under 80,000 in this district. We owe it to you and your family that you get the care…
"Are you willing to oppose all Public Options?" Griffith: "All I've seen so far, I've opposed – don't know what's coming down the Pike.
"Are Blue Dogs willing to pull Obama to the middle where most America is?" Griffith: If he doesn't separate himself from ones like Pelosi, he'll be a one-termer…Hasn't transitioned from a Campaigner to a President.
"…How about a gift certificate to Dr. Kevorkian? …Ronald Reagan warned about socializing medicine."
"Said earlier, 'no turning back Medicare'…almost had bill rammed down our throats…need time for public to see bills…ALL legislation should be approved by us…Medicare/Medicaid have raised the costs of Health Care…How will Single Payer reduce costs of Health Care?" Griffith: It won't! …Access to Health Care…It's outcomes we're interested in… Questioner: "Nothing in that bill that leads to positive outcomes." Griffith: Exactly! Questioner: "Bill gives employer incentive to drop Health Insurance…8% tax less than cost of Health Insurance currently providing." Griffith: Fewer people in private will pay higher, until private insurance goes away…leads to Single Payer Government Plan…
Widow of proud Marine; brother was Marine… "Dad would have been exterminated under this… She has Blue Cross/Blue Shield…It works. Don't exterminate our parents and our Vets."
Medical technologist for 37 years: "…will be shortages in ALL areas of Health Care… We (lab) did VA hospital inspection, found problems, no longer allowed to do inspections…Our VA system needs to be overhauled!"
"So many Congressmen holding Town Halls…arrogant…not going to listen to his constituents…bothers me…" Griffith: Bothers
me too. Questioner: "How do we know who to trust in D.C. anymore?" Griffith: Many honest people in D.C…Representatives are people's reps! You best pay attention to your constituents. Questioner: "You yourself said we can't undo Medicare, so how do we undo this?" Griffith: Best just not to do it!
Then Griffith started using Great Depression as example of good government. Gag! Griffith: Some people need help, they truly do… (But our argument isn't against people needing help, it's about whose job it is to provide that help – individuals or the government?) Our strength is we can come together to solve…We can't get too close to a problem…We have a track record second to none…we cannot be defeatists!
"All questions about Health Care have been answered…immigration is transforming our country overnight…what angered me…when they asked Barack Obama whether English should be official language…divides our country…angers me…We can send our solders to harm's way, but we can't secure our borders?!?" Griffith: Complete agreement…No backbone… Questioner: "Health Care is a problem…Immigration will rip our country apart! (If he is referring to illegal immigrants, I agree with him, but he almost sounded to me like he wanted ALL immigration ended!)
"Knee replacement coming up…9 providers to find someone who will do…VA limit is 600/year…Tort Reform in Health Care will be handled, but still make Doctors more accountable?" (Something about an ad on TV that mentioned Congressman Griffith, as if it had his support, he didn't know anything about it in advance, or approve it…) Griffith: Tort Reform doesn't mean we don't want doctors sued… Questioner: "…Competition across state lines, if we bought insurance in California, and that Company went bankrupt, who bails them out?" Griffith: Health Insurance is regulated, reserves required… Questioner: "Most I can stay in hospital with knee surgery is 7 days…"
"Paid taxes 47 years…I have a vested interest in what happens…resent being called a Radical…Make sure abortions are left out of any Health Care bill…" Griffith: Will do! (Okay, we've all heard it. Griffith has promised repeatedly now to vote against any bills that do not EXCLUDE abortions!)
"…Courageous gentleman to say what said about Pelosi…Dr. Price of Georgia set up day to go over bill with Barack Obama; please take a day too." Griffith promised to do that.
One of the last speakers of the night was a 16-year-old Eagle Scout whose Mom was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2005. "We won the battle…like the Health Care we have…greatest in world." Griffith: You need to run for Congress.
"Would like to see something pass…my brother has been laid off for 8 months…he has no insurance…there are people being laid off daily – Blue Cross/Blue Shield is great, I love my insurance, but what is in there for them?" Griffith: We are not saying NO to improving our Health Care system…you would not still have Medicare under…No one in Congress I've spoken to is against Health Care Reform, but want DIFFERENT bill! …No one wants to avoid that, we want to improve the system….Well-meaning individuals in Congress… (Well, as they say, the Road to Hell is paved with good intentions! And frankly, most of us don't care how "well-meaning" they are, we care what they DO!)
"Illegal immigration, moment you bring it up you will be a bigot, a racist…this has to stop…the Schumers, the Pelosis…" Griffith: McCain got thrashed by his own party, over amnesty... Questioner: "Open Door into this country…."

And with that off-topic comment, an hour late, the 4-hour Town Hall had come to an end! All in all, I was glad we went. (Didn't realize then that we would be in Athens just a few days later listening to Congressman Griffith discuss Health Care yet again, but those notes have to wait for another blog post!)

Health Care Talk

2009-08-24T09:17:00.001-07:00

I enjoyed the Health Care Talk last week at Liberty House.
Dr. Lappert gave a wonderful talk that he called, "Taking Our Medicine: The Government Takeover of Medicine and its Consequences for Human Dignity". I went expecting a talk on the ins and outs of the current Health Care bill (since Dr. Lappert is one of the few I've heard of who has read more of it than me). But this talk was so much more than that. In fact, my biggest frustration was that the group present to hear him was so small! As is my habit, I took notes throughout his presentation, but he talked very quickly, and shared much good information, so this is just the highlights of what he covered last week (his comments are in bold, my thoughts are italicized).

Right away, Dr. Lappert was changing the tune of today's debate, at least for me; spelling out clearly that this is not the first time liberals have tried to take over the Health Care system; the battle has been running for over 70 years (he explained that further, later in the evening). I really liked what he said next:
"If we are arguing about the details of the current legislative effort, we have already lost. It is NOT a question of too much, too fast. We need to get away from any argument that makes it seem like we're just unhappy about portions of the bill – even large portions of it." He then pointed out that we are living with a government manufactured crisis (which he also explained further at a later point). And he explained that most of the current Health Care problems could/should be solved at the State level, not the National level (which many of us have been saying throughout this argument!)

Dr. Lappert explained that the role of government in private lives is unparalleled! (I don't think there was much disagreement in the room that night!) And he talked of the collision of interests in this "crisis" – private, corporations, state, and federal. (Depending on which figure you believe, Health Care equals ~14 – 20% of our Economy.)

Meanwhile those in the Government complain that the crisis is worsening because the population is getting older, the number of workers paying taxes is going down, the rising costs of high technology, fraud, poor patients abusing the Emergency Room, and Insurance Company abuses.

But then Dr. Lappert pointed out that we need to look at our Health Care "Crisis" in the context of the History of Western Medicine, which cannot be fully understood without understanding the Christian Worldview (a connection I'm sure that most of us had not made before!) He spoke of: Faith (in an eternal destiny),
Hope
(our actions have meaning and affect our destiny), and Charity
(perfection in the love of God is best action for affecting our destiny).
And that right there summed up much of what has happened in Western Medicine, and what we have strayed away from today, in ways that I had never thought of before!

From the earliest days of Christianity, Christians have believed in caring for the sick, the poor, the forgotten, and the impoverished! In fact, hospitals were started by Christians because of those beliefs…In the third century hospitals first appeared, run by Christians, for the care of the poor, the stranger, and pilgrims. (Before that, the Romans had clinics in wealthy homes for the care of the rich, their families, their servants, etc.)

Julian the Apostate, nephew of Constantine, who had renounced his faith when he came to power, saw the effectiveness of Christian medical care and ordered a state version, based on taxes. (Sounds familiar…)

The Christian methods of caring for the sick and the poor worked well for centuries, until:

The rise of materialism during the Age of Enlightenment; which put faith and reason at odds with each other. The myth of progressivism claimed that man today is superior to those from 1000 years ago, and that science is "based on reality". Dialectical Materialism comes out of this belief and was the foundation of Marxism.

Meanwhile, in America public and private efforts in Health Care had grown in parallel. For instance, the Mayo Clinic was started by the Sisters of St Francis and the two Mayo brothers… But, charity is not obtained at the point of a gun – that kills charity….the Government has no business "doing charity". And under this system, who got care? Everyone who needed it – No one went without medical care. (And until the 1960's it was understood that all doctors gave 10% of their time to pro bono work.)

But even before then the Federal Government started to get involved in Health Care: In 1934, with FDR's Committee on Economic Security's Social Security Bill came the promise that a "health insurance plan would be forthcoming"… and it was violently rejected by the voters of the time.
Bills were presented to give the government more control over Health Care starting in 1943 – and President Truman was the first president to publically support the idea – costing his party the 1950 mid-term elections.
(Hopefully, the same will happen in 2010!)

In 1956 the Disability Act, a "necessary prelude to universal health care", was passed. And in 1957 the AFL-CIO came out in support of the idea. In 1965 65% support was garnered for Medicare – with the idea of shifting dependency away from family and charity to the state. Claims were made that elderly would be ruined by catastrophic illness – even though there was no catastrophic coverage in Medicare. Among other things, they misrepresented the poverty level of the elderly in the U.S. The AMA fought the idea of Medicare idea (the last intelligent thing they ever did?)

In the beginning of Medicare, the bills were paid in full – and there was no incentive to cut costs. (We were in the midst of a booming economy, since Kennedy had cut taxes recently.) The generous Medicare payments skewed the valuation of services, and resulted in 30% of spending on the last three years of people's lives. Before this government interference, less than 40% of Americans had any insurance at all! Medicare caused a rise in the prices of Health Care for all. And it led to an explosion in malpractice and product liability lawsuits. It also led to a dramatic rise in private insurance with the promise of "Pay a little, get a lot" (Actual result: "Pay a lot, get a little.")

With all this government intervention, we have gotten to a place where insurance companies pay only an average of 9% of the total bills that hospitals submit to them…And doctors average 40% payment on the bills they submit. (And yet, a private payer, with no insurance, is expected to pay 100% of the bill!)
And then these billed prices are the ones used to calculate "Health Care costs", even though they are inflated, and not generally paid in full!

Our system has become nothing more than a
protection racket. But the threat has been created – by the Government – those that are now offering to solve it for us!

What are the top reasons most of us think Health Care is as expensive as it is? Inflation? Litigation? Technology? Bureaucracy? And of those, technology is often believed to be the worst culprit – but technology makes goods and services less expensive and more available to more people.
No, the real reason is the implementation of the "Soviet Model" of Federal Government with central planning, unmanageable complexity, and the denial of basic human motivation…

And now those who are trying to get the current bill rammed through over our protests are changing the terms – referring to the bill as the "Insurance Reform Bill" rather than the "Health Care Reform Bill",
as if that would make it more palatable! And they've started calling for "medical co-ops", blending market forces with collectivism…but the result will still be central planning, federal start up money; cherry picking of the lowest risk patient pool, and entry into "Medicare for the young"….none of which those of us who believe in liberty/free markets can endorse!

There are a couple of truisms that will hold up well in this argument against the socializing of our Health Care: (1)
"The most efficient place to control costs is at the point of sale" and (2) "People are most frugal with their own money!" If we spend our own money on Health Care – we reduce the cost at the point of sale; remove issues of "injustice" (who's paying for what and who's receiving what); and get rid of morality issues (like "end of life decisions").

We need to make incremental changes – we didn't get here overnight; tort law is mostly state law; insurance law is mostly state law; we need to keep hammering the MORAL TRUTH – not the TECHNICALITIES – of Socialism (including this bill!) A
good starting point would be: States should mandate that those using Health Care Savings Accounts must get the same discounts as the insurance companies…And we do need tort reform: caps on punitive awards; caps on product liability awards; and jury of peers …

In summary: What is the central issue that makes this an unjust system? The use of other people's money! (He who pays the piper calls the tune)
Medical care is the current battleground between forces of liberty and forces of statism! It is an Invented Crisis! And they are trying to nationalize a state problem.

And finally: Remember 1950 – Keep them on the run! We need true champions of liberty!

Les Phillip – Health Care Reform Town Hall

2009-08-17T09:44:00.001-07:00

My notes from last week's Town Hall Meeting with the next Congressman from our district: Les Philip.

The meeting was very refreshing after the one I attended in July. Most of the people in attendance were well behaved, and most asked reasonable questions.

Les' Campaign Manager reminded us that "this a dangerous time for our country" and that "now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country." Les was introduced to us – an immigrant to our country who pursued his dream to be an aviator for the Navy, then joined Industry, and now runs a small business with his wife – the kind of credentials we need in D.C.

Les pointed out that: "These are difficult times…and one of the most important things today is Health Care…and our Representative is out of the country…When I hold this position, you'll know where I'm at when I'm home…"

Les also pointed out that "most of our representatives have not read the bill…and if they need a team of lawyers to read a bill, they need to get a new bill….Health Care will touch every one of us, it is the one thing that touches every single life in the United States."

And then he asked, "Why do we want to get rid of the best system in the world? Who thinks we need to overhaul the entire system?" Apparently only one hand went up from the 150 – 200 people present in the room, so Les graciously gave that gentleman the opportunity to ask the first question.

"…people are going bankrupt because of Health Care…people who oppose it are offering NO plan" Les: "Not true that there are no alternative plans. One of areas looking at is competition…Competition equals zero…The federal government can break down barriers to competition, efficiencies/profits will be increased." Les went on to say that the "reason no competition is roadblocks the federal government needs to get out of way." And he pointed out the need for "Health Savings Accounts with catastrophic policy – Young People should at least have = responsibility (prevents bankruptcy and burden on society)…Portability: Insurance policy goes with you; not attached to your job." And "Tort Reform…OB in my family – she pays half a million dollars/year in liability insurance….For the last 100 years incidents at birth have stayed steady (attorneys also know, and will take any case to exploit tragedy)…Risk/Balance Ration is out of whack."

Les went on to point out that he was against this Health Care Reform because "It is not in the Constitution" and "It is not the Government's responsibility." (Much applause). Les also mentioned that he has travelled to England extensively…their Nationalized Health Care is causing too long of waits – so they make people wait outside the Emergency Room to reduce official "waiting times". He repeated his conviction that the "Government needs to get rid of roadblocks and increase competition…We as citizens need to get engaged – use our religious institutions and community organizations to help the poor."

Because of…doctors…catering to those who can afford this…poor people are dying in Emergency Rooms. Do you have anything to refute that?" Les: "One of the reasons people are dying in Emergency Rooms because we have an illegal alien problem. Dozens of hospitals have closed in California because of illegals…California's debt…because of illegals."
I missed much of what the next person said, but it seemed to be more a comment to the effect that "I think the American Dream is being destroyed socially and economically…$0.46 of every dollar the Federal Government is spending is borrowed."
To which Les responded: "I agree 100%. We cannot afford this Health Care bill – costs for it are expected to be between 1 – 1.6 Trillion dollars. He then when on to point out that "other countries are taking our corporations because they charge them less or no taxes: Ireland and Hong Kong, for instance, are good countries for businesses, and Hong Kong is the most prosperous country in the world: When everyone has a job, you don't need social programs." The doctor on the panel then spoke up: "On the issue of people not being taken care of: People come in time and time again that can't afford care – they get it – they are being taken care of. The myth that patients are not being taken care of is nothing but a myth."
The next question came from a Doctor/immigrant who had worked in England under their socialized medicine. He eventually got to his question for Les, "America is a land of opportunities…not one size fits all…do you support that dream?" Les: "Yes, because that is the American way!"
"There has been a crackdown on Medicare and Medicaid fraud – how can giving government more to do…help…Do you have any ideas?" Les: "Regular audits of Medicare and Medicaid."
Next person was a retired military person…He never got to a question. He spoke of poor who can't get coverage and tax incentives for those who give benevolence service…Very few people who can't get medical care in this country…He spoke of a free Medical Clinic – private with volunteers…
Two questions from the next person. Can you document your earlier statement about the long waiting periods in England? And who will provide for the poor? Les: As far as the first question, personal observation – and you can Google it." And the Doctor spoke up to answer the second question: "Those coming from outside America to work say Americans are the most generous in the world."
Understand you want to give examples of other countries, but it is a shame that our elderly cannot afford to pay for their medicines and a majority of Americans don't have Health Insurance. What are you… Les: "Most Americans DO have Health Insurance." She then claims that 2/3 don't have appropriate insurance. Les said: "84% have Insurance, and 85% are happy with their insurance…We need competition in the insurance industry. She then said that competition isn't good, that the only thing working is Medicare and Medicaid. Then she added that the majority of us are NOT happy with our insurance, even though we are claiming we are. Les just had Dale go on to the next person at that point…
This young woman was 23-years-old, married and expecting her 2^nd child. She is uninsured, but did not go to the government aid to get help, her husband is working overtime. She is concerned about page 167 in the bill that says they will tax individuals like her who choose not to have "acceptable coverage". She feels infringed upon with this bill. Les: "The choices you have now will be taken away." The gentleman from question #7 yelled at him "Not true", to which the audience yelled at questioner #7 – "Read the bill".
A cancer survivor: "Our right to be able to choose…what comfort can you give me?" and "When I was on Medicaid I got punished for working." Les: "One thing I want to say about that – the government's job is to provide opportunity, not equal outcome – that will just bring everyone down."
"Our representatives are to listen to us…we must stop this bipartisan voting…we have to have a change in attitude in Congress." Les: "Absolutely, right. Elections have consequences…didn't just start 6 months ago…started over 100 years ago when politicians figured out could tax one group to buy votes from another." At this point Les help up a pocket Constitution: " signed a pledge to govern by it…We are human beings, we are imperfect, but we got her because of…constitution…rights come with responsibility…until we elect people who understand what's in this document…It's not 1000 pages..why do we want to go away from this? I do not understand."
"62,000 people trying to insure with this bill…yet could cover them with one fourth that cost and cover everyone – they really want government control!" Les: "Government is to promote the general welfare, not provide for it and protect us! … Socializing medicine…has failed everywhere else."
"America is great…and a light in a world full of darkness….Our Health Care system helps many people..how do you persuade those who have private insurance, but can't afford it…how do you persuade them that we need to improve what we have, not completely overhaul?" Les: "Events like this and personal conversations – not media!"
"Cancer death rates are much higher in Canada and England…How would my 56-year-old family member get help? Les: "Probably wouldn't (if we get this "reform") I was brought up to respect my elders – to take care of the very young and the old…"Type of people we are – we don't ration food and we shouldn't ration health care."
Another comment, not really a question for Les: "Only one part of medical care that is not controlled by government, and the costs have gone down. Do you know what that is?" (someone in audience answered "Plastic Surgery")
Will Doctors stand up against AMA and resign from the organization and start their own? The doctor answered: "Many have already left AMA. Medical students have to be part of it, but many doctors drop immediately…and many doctors ARE leaving AMA over this bill."
"The financial state of U.S….we're close to bankruptcy…if there was nationalized Health Care…What are your feelings about the National Debt? And I'm a third generation Hispanic – my parents came here legally – Are you familiar w/ E-Verify? What is your stand on it? Les: "The National Debt needs to be reduced – government has to reduce its output – need to reduce the corporate tax rate." And "The federal government's job is to protect our borders, but it is so bad now, need to implement E-Verify."
Question from two teachers: "Our health insurance is currently provided by the state – we are concerned we will lose benefits if Health Care bill passes. Les: A website with this information….One thing we have to realize is we aren't helpless…we have to remember who we are and where we came from."
How can we get info out there (on these plans) so people can get the truth? Les: "Heritage Foundation is one of the best sources."
Just an example this time: "My mother-in-law moved back to England when her husband died, but kept her insurance here. She came back to the U.S. had a stress test which found two of her arteries were blocked. 5 years later she is still alive."
What do you think of the Fair Tax? Les: "For it"
"Life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness..What its all about, not what the government provides….Paul said, "If you don't work, you don't eat. Questions: If they pass this plan, what are our options? And "Problem with Health Savings Accounts – some lose unspent portion at end of each year." Les: "If it passes, your job is to vote the bums out…Reason I want to go to the House because that's where the money is…Health Savings Accounts are not a choice under this plan."
"Do any of the bills address tort reform or portability?" Les: "No." Back to questioner: "Afraid of public option – false competition – government will undercut private industries, and start rationing care." Les: "Agree."
Comment: "Believe our Health Care should be reformed…Congress should be forced to follow."
More comments: "Health Care is distorted by Government…Medicaid and Medicare both pay less than 100% of costs, causing Insurance Companies to pay more…Individuals can't deduct cost of their Health Care, companies can."
"I'm not an immigrant; I was born here….Blue Cross/Blue Shield lobbies in Montgomery to keep out competition…Why haven't Republicans addressed earlier?" Les: "Get rid of the 50 state Health Commissioners; make it interstate….You hire people who govern by the Constitution, not party."
"What's going to happen to Senior Citizens?" and "How can we pay for all these illegals?" Les: "Agree with you…foundation of all societies is a family – mother, father, children…Have to go back to the foundations of this country?"
"…Cost of medicine will become unsustainable in 25 years if limits not put on…cost control…more than 20+ cardio doctors here now and 30+ ortho docors here now (increased consumption) How can we afford unlimited access to medical assets? How will we pay for it? Doctor Ed answers: "At some point, providers, citizens, have to say, can't do everything for everybody…battle in Medical Community. We do Cardiac CTs here than can now reverse heart disease. It costs less than $1,000 to do scan. Blue Cross doesn't want to pay for it – though Heart Attack could cost $100,000 later….We have all sides out here tonight, we didn't shut anyone out here…"

Les: "Thanks for coming out. Whoever you vote for, make sure they believe our governing document is the Constitution."

And with that, an hour and a half Town Hall Meeting on Health Care ended. I was very impressed with Les Philip's thoughts on the subject, and the way he handled the questions. I was also impressed with the way the majority of the audience behaved themselves.

More on the House version of Health Care bill

2009-08-17T06:56:00.001-07:00

I'm slowly making my way through this Bill… I wonder how much of it our representatives and their staff have read at this point!?!

Page 125 continues with information on the "Modernized Payment Initiatives and Delivery System Reform: (a) The Secretary may utilize innovative payment mechanisms and policies to determine payments for items and services under the public health insurance option."
(That part doesn't sound so bad, right, but later on the page it continues…) (b) …The Secretary shall design and implement the payment mechanisms and policies under this section in a manner that (1) seeks to improve health outcomes; reduce health disparities (including radical, ethnic, and other disparities); provide efficient and affordable care; address geographic variation in the provision of health services; prevent or manage chronic illness.
(How are they going to accomplish all of that?)

On page 130 the bill makes an interesting comment: "..the Commissioner shall establish effective methods that ensure that individuals with limited English proficiency are able to apply for affordability credits."
I have numerous relatives who immigrated to this country legally from Mexico – they took the responsibility to learn English very seriously. Why does the government need to take that away from them?

Then we get into State Medicaid Agencies: "If the Commissioner determines that a State Medicaid agency has the capacity to make a determination of eligibility…"
So, the Commissioner working for the Federal Government will be determining if State agencies have certain abilities? Does anyone else see a 10th amendment issue here?

On page 132 we get to another interesting part: "Access to Data-In carrying out this subtitle the Commissioner shall request from the Secretary of the Treasury consistent with section 6103 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 such information as may be required to carry out this subtitle."
So they'll have access to our financial information? Certainly sounds like it to me.

Section 246, Page 143 clearly spells out that "No Federal Payment for Undocumented Aliens: Nothing in this subtitle shall allow Federal payments for affordability credits on behalf of individuals who are not lawfully present in the United States."
At first I thought this meant that none of the Health Care bill provisions would be going to pay for illegals, and that may still be true, but the 10 pages or so leading up to this have specifically been dealing with "Individual Affordability Credits" (starting on page 128) Those pages are dealing with what income levels people will be getting help with paying for their health care insurance – so that is more likely to be the only portion they are clearly saying here does not apply to illegals.

On page 143, we get started on the Employer's Responsibility. On pages 144 and 145 the details begin: An employer meets the requirements of this section if (1) Offering of coverage… (2) Employer Required Contributions… (3) Provisions of Information… (4) Autoenrollment of Employees… On page 146 the Government informs employers that they will be required to cover at least 72.5% of the premiums for their full time employees and no less than 65% of their spouse and children. My question here is what about employers who cannot afford to pay those amounts, or to employees who cannot afford to pay the remaining amounts? There is an opt-out option for the employee mentioned on
page 148. It looks like employees will have 30-days to opt out of the insurance being offered by their employers…

So what happens to those employers who cannot afford to provide insurance? We start to get the answer on pages 149 and 150, where we see that an employer of a "large" company will have to pay an 8% "contribution" if they are not providing acceptable insurance to all of their full-time employees. Companies with payrolls under $250,000 will not have to pay the "contribution, and it slides up to 2% for up to $300,000 in payrolls, to 4% for up to $350,000 and 6% for up to $400,000.

Page 162 lets us know how serious the government is about this: "The Secretary may assess a civil penalty against the employer of $100 for each day…beginning on the date such failure first occurs and ending on the date such failure is corrected." Now, to be fair, they do go on on pages 163 and 164 to say that "No penalty shall be assessed…if such failure was due to reasonable cause and not to willful neglect and such failure is corrected during the 30 day period… But they go on to say: "In the case of failures which are due to reasonable cause and not to willful neglect, the penalty assessed…during any failures during any 1-year period shall not exceed the amount equal to the lower of 10% of the aggregate amount paid or incurred by the employer during the preceding taxable year for group health plans or $500,000."

And on page 167 we get to "Tax on Individuals Without Acceptable Health Care Coverage" In the case of any individual who does not meet the requirements…during the taxable year, there is hereby imposed a tax equal to 2.5% of the excess of the the taxpayer's modified adjusted gross income for the taxable year, over the amount of gross income specified in section…"

On Pages 171 - 173 we get the Government's definition of "Acceptable Coverage": "(A) Qualified Health Benefits Plan Coverage… (B) Grandfathered Health Insurance Coverage; Coverage Under Grandfathered Employment-Based Health Plan… (C) Medicare…; (D) Medicaid…; (E) Members of the Armed Forces and Dependents (including Tricare); (F) VA… (G) Other coverage – Such other health benefits coverage as the Secretary, in coordination with the Health Choices Commissioner…"

We start seeing more about how they plan to pay for this starting on page 197, "Surcharge on High Income Individuals: In the case of a taxpayer other than a corporation, there is hereby imposed in addition to any other tax imposed by this subtitle) a tax equal to 1% of so much of the modified adjusted gross income of the taxpayer as exceeds 350,000 but does not exceed $500,000, 1.5% of so much of the modified adjusted gross income of the taxpayer as exceeds $500,000 but does not exceed $1,000,000, and 5.4% of so much of the modified adjusted gross income of the taxpayer as exceeds $1,000,000." (Remember, this is on top of all the other taxes these folks are already paying!)

On page 215 the section on Medicare and Medicaid Improvements begins. This is an oft-touted section for "saving money" in this overall bill, but if it's so easy to safe money in Medicare and Medicaid, without disrupting the benefits, why are they waiting until this 1000 page bill passes to do it? Details that interested me didn't start until pages 228 and 229 when they start discussing Payments to Skilled Nursing Facilities. There is talk of "Change in Payment for non-therapy ancillary (NTA) Services and Therapy Services." Congress has decided that it its necessary to "increase payment by 10% for non-therapy ancillary services" and to "decrease
payment for the therapy case mix component of such rates by 5.5%." I looked up what non-therapy ancillary services include – drugs, medical supplies, oxygen, and those types of things…As a non-medical person, I read these types of things and wonder how we can just arbitrarily make these types of decisions…Are non-therapy services being underpaid? If so, who decided a mere 10% would correct that? Are we paying too much for the therapy portions? Somehow I doubt it! Aren't these the types of legislative decisions that will result in the closings of more Skilled Nursing Facilities?

More commentary to come…

My 1st Attempts at Dissecting the Health Care Bill

2009-08-12T07:11:00.001-07:00

Everyone is talking about the Health Care Bill these days – but very few are reading it – beginning with those who may soon be voting on it. That seems to me to be about as effective as deciding a trial based solely on hearsay.

I'm not really interested in what ANY of our elected officials have to say about the Bill at this point, especially if they haven't actually read any of it – I want to know what IT says. I have found time to skim over the first 125 pages or so, and hope to work my way through the next set sooner rather than later. (10% down, 90% to go!) I figure at this point I've read more of it than most of those in the House of "Representatives"!

So, for what it's worth, here's my brief look at an incredibly complex bill:

I didn't have to look further than the title of the bill to get concerned about how realistic this idea can be:
"To provide affordable, quality health care for all Americans and reduce the growth in health care spending, and for other purposes."
The "for other purposes" may be the most honest part of the bill! But, besides that, how can we provide quality affordable health care for all AND reduce the spending – only through rationing! And yet they are all telling us this is not about rationing.

Page 15 Under this bill it seems fairly clear that the government is going to decide what is an acceptable Health Care plan, instead of the Consumers: "A Health Benefits Plan shall not be a qualified Health Benefits Plan under this division unless the plan meets the applicable requirements…relating to affordable coverage…relating to essential benefits…relating to consumer protection."
So apparently, we, the Consumers, are not capable of deciding whether coverage is affordable or what benefits we might consider essential.

Page 16 explains what coverage will be grandfathered in under this plan: "Subject to the succeeding provisions of this section…means individual health insurance coverage that is offered and in force and effect before the first day of Y1 (explained on page 14 to mean 2013, the first year of this bill's effect) if the following conditions are met: In General…the individual health insurance issuer offering such coverage does not enroll any individual in such coverage if the first effective date of coverage is on or after the first day of Y1…shall not affect the subsequent enrollment of an individual who is covered as of such first day." (So yes, if we like it, we can keep it, at least as long as we have it – just don't expect to change to anything except the public option.) And then it goes on, "…the issuer does not change any of its terms or conditions, including benefits and cost-sharing, from those in effect as of the day before the first day of Y1."

Pages 21 and 22 deal with Insurance Rates that will be permitted to be charged, and then with a study that the Health Commissioner will be required to conduct that looks at those who self-insurance. I was most troubled by the parts on page 21 that are telling insurance companies what they will be allowed to charge: "The premium rate charged for an insured qualified health benefits plan may not vary except as follows:" (and there are only 3 exceptions listed). While this sounds "fair" it seems like the first indication that the government will in fact be telling those "big, bad insurance companies" what they can charge us, "the poor, abused consumers". (Expected result: the government will allow insurance companies to continue to exist – until it just prices them out of the market…)

Pages 24 & 25 continue the theme of the Government dictating the prices. (Does anyone know ANY situation where that has worked well?)
Section 116 is entitled "Ensuring Value & Lower Premiums". I'm already nervous. It starts out by telling us that, "A qualified health benefits plan shall meet a medical loss ratio as defined by the Commissioner." Help, what's a "medical loss ratio"?

Pages 27 & 28 list the minimum coverage for these policies and then pages 28 & 29 seem to set the amounts that Consumers will be paying: "Requirements Relating to Cost Sharing and Minimum Actuarial Value" It begins with good news for Consumers but not necessarily for those who will be paying the bills: "No cost sharing for preventative services…"

Let's look at some of the highlights on Section 123 Health Benefits Advisory Committee, which begins on page 30: "There is established a private-public advisory committee which shall be a panel of medical and other experts to be known as the Health Benefits Advisory Committee to recommend covered benefits and essential, enhanced, and premium plans." Let's start there: What's a "private-public advisory committee"? And I don't have to be a legal or a medical expert to read that they just said a panel of "medical and other experts" will be making recommendations on health benefits. Medical and other experts? Now, who exactly might they be – and if they are not medical experts why do they have any say in what health benefits any of us might or might not be receiving? And by the way, most of the members of this committee will be appointed for 3-year terms by the President. Sorry, I don't see that as being the Constitutional right/responsibility of the President – this one or any other.

Pages 31 and 32 spell out requirements for the membership on this critical committee: "The membership of the … Committee shall at least reflect…experts in racial and ethnic disparities
(say what?)…and at least one practicing physician
(oh good, at least one member will be a doctor!)
or other health care professional (nope, spoke too soon, not necessarily even ONE doctor on this committee to make medical decisions!)…"so that no single sector unduly influences the recommendations of such Committee." So, of the up to 26 members of this committee, 1 may or may not be a doctor.
Then we get to one of the roles of the committee: "The Health Benefits Advisory Committee shall recommend to the Secretary of Health and Human Services..benefits standards…and periodic updates to such standards." (Remember this is a committee that may not even contain ONE doctor on it!)

Page 42: "The Commissioner is responsible for carrying out the following functions…The establishment of qualified health benefits plan standards…including the enforcement of such standards…(all this in the hands of an appointed "Health Czar")

Pages 57 & 58 "Goals for financial and administrative transactions…enable the real-time (or near real-time) determination of an individual's financial responsibility at the point of service, and to the extent possible, prior to service, including whether the individual is eligible for a specific service with a specific physician at a specific facility, which may include utilization of a machine-readable health plan beneficiary identification card…I don't even know where to go to comment on that portion, other than to say it makes me really, really nervous! And then it goes on, on Page 59: "…enable electronic fund transfers in order to allow automated reconciliation with the related health care payment and remittance advice…" (So who's going to be transferring money, and from where to where?)

Page 61: "…programs to provide incentives for, and ease the burden of, health care providers who volunteer to participate in the process of setting standards for electronic transactions…an estimate of total funds needed to ensure timely completion of the implementation plan…" (Another nice sounding idea, to set up electronic records – but we don't know yet what it will cost…)

Oh, and I just loved this portion: "There is established within the Health Choices Administration and under the direction of the Commissioner a Health Insurance Exchange in order to facilitate access of individuals and employers, through a transparent process, to a variety of choices of affordable, quality health insurance coverage, including a public health insurance option." Let's see, they promise us a transparent process, a variety of choices of affordable, quality health insurance, and a public health insurance option. Nope, I don't think we're getting any of those with this bill, starting with transparency!

Page 84: The Commissioner shall specify the benefits to be made available under Exchange-participating health benefits plans…" Again, where do we even go with a statement like that? And then
on
Page 85 we start learning about "3 levels of Exchange-participating health benefits plans: basic, enhanced, and premium…" There isn't much more about these 3 levels, at least not in this section.

Page 89: For some reason, the decision has been made here that: "The provisions of the Federal Acquisition Regulation shall not apply to contracts between the Commissioner and QHBP offering entities for the offering of Exchange-participating health benefits plans under this title." So, I hope the concept of FAR wasn't overly important to anyone!

And pages 89 to 91 explain the Standards to offer an Exchange-Participating Health Benefits Plan, including (1) Licensed…, (2) Data Reporting…(including information necessary to administer the risk pooling mechanism…and information to address disparities in health and health care, (3) Implementing Affordability Credits, (4) Enrollment – The entity shall accept all enrollments…subject to such exceptions (such as capacity limitations)…, (5) Risk Pooling Participation…, (6) Essential Community Providers…(6) Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services & Communications. The entity shall provide for culturally and linguistically appropriate communication and health services. (So apparently translators will be required…)

I guess this is where we start getting into the funding portion of this idea: Pages 109 & 110: "There is created within the Treasury of the United States a trust fund to be known as the "Health Insurance Exchange Trust Fund"… "Payments from Trust Fund – The Commissioner shall pay from time to time from the Trust Fund such amounts as the Commissioner determines are necessary to make payments to operate the Health Care Exchange, including payments under subtitle C…Transfers to Trust Fund – Dedicated Payments – There is hereby appropriated to the Trust Fund amounts equivalent to the following: (A) Taxes on Individuals not obtaining acceptable coverage… (B) Employment Taxes on Employers not providing acceptable coverage…(C) Excise Tax on failure to meet certain health coverage requirements…So, am I missing something, or are the taxes mentioned in A, B, and C going to pay for this mandatory Health Insurance? How big are these taxes going to be?!?

Page 111 mentions the role of states in Health Care – and seems to ignore the 10^th amendment: "If a state (or group of States…) applies to the Commissioner for approval of a State-based Health Insurance Exchange to operate in the State (or groups of States); and the Commissioner approves such State-based Health Insurance Exchange…(So states can participate in this game, but only if they play by Commissioner approved rules…)

Page 121 shows how payments will work under this plan: "In general – The Secretary shall establish payment rates for the public health insurance option for services and health care providers consistent with this section…"

Pages 124 & 125 have the disturbing news that: "There shall be no administrative or judicial review of a payment rate or methodology established under this section…." (I guess the Commissioner has the last word on all of this…at least that's the way it sounds to me.)

So, for what it's worth, that's what I have seen in the first 125 pages or so. And it's not that I don't think we could improve our Health Care system – I just don't see the government doing it, particularly through a bill such as this.

If we want to look at ways to improve our Health Care, why don't we start by removing the restrictions that keep Health Insurance from looking more like Car Insurance, that can be purchased across state lines, with less government restrictions? And then we should make Health Care Savings plans more accessible – why can't those be offered by banks, and insurers, and NOT have to be used in the same year? That simple change would make those more useful to the Consumers.

My latest comments on a Health Care blog

2009-08-02T20:23:00.000-07:00

Health Care is not the same as Health Insurance even though so many use the terms interchangeably in these discussions. Several of my adult children do not currently have Health Insurance. That is a choice they have made. But they DO have access to Health Care. The fact that millions of people do not have Health Insurance does not mean they are without access to Health Care...

This bill consists of over 1,000 pages - over 1,000 pages that our Congressmen have NOT read (I bet most have not even SEEN it -- BTW, I have a copy of the House version sitting on my counter and I've started going through it) If you want to see it yourself, check it out on govtrack.us.

...This bill would increase the number of abortions in our country, it would increase the rationing of medical care, and it would decrease the care given to our Senior citizens, our handicapped and other weaker members of society. How can anyone think those are good ideas?

Additionally the supporters in Congress don't seem to be concerned about the high costs of this idea...Where is this money supposed to come from? This bill would put our economy into a downward spiral that we would be hard pressed to recover from.

And a final point of clarification: We are a Representative Republic, we are NOT a Democracy. Even if President Obama HAD won by an overwhelming majority - it would not make it proper for him and his liberal buddies in Congress to pass this massive Health Care Legislation.

Call to Action Notes for Tonight’s Mtg

2009-07-27T20:37:00.001-07:00

A Call to Action: Pray/Process/Participate/Persevere

Remember: There are FOUR branches of Govt – Legislative, Executive, Judicial, and WE THE PEOPLE!

www.hslda.org A homeschool legal group – but great political info available for all, including non-members

www.house.gov and www.senate.gov (can get info on your Congressmen/Senators, as well as others)

1-202-224-3121 Capital Switchboard (can contact any Congressmen/Senators through this)

I have this number on speed dial on my cell phone!

http://thomas.loc.gov and www.govtrack.us (can find info on specific bills, track specific congressmen and bills, etc.)

http://www.sba-list.org and www.stoptheabortionmandate.com and www.keepabortionoutofhealthcare.com (leading the fight against abortion)

www.cspan.org Can see live debates/discussions in Congress and more…

www.youtube.com (Great place to see speeches various elected officials are giving, from CSPAN, etc.)

www.hsvteaparty.com Can sign up for their newsletter email list for local TEA Party info (Taxed Enough Already)

http://www.ameripac.org (American Political Action Committee) – good source of conservative information

www.twitter.com (my favorite source of news/info) www.tweetdeck.com (my favorite way to keep up w/twitter)

(Where you can tweet me at: cmmjaime)

Stop Abortion Mandate Webcast

2009-07-26T19:53:00.001-07:00

I listened to the Stop Abortion Mandate Webcast, 23 July for almost 2 hours. It was encouraging and discouraging at the same time. I took notes during the webcast, and have included highlights from the speakers. (The emphasized portions are my emphasis.) More information on this vital work can be found at: www.stopabortionmandate.com

I was a couple of minutes late getting on, due to difficulty logging in at the same time as almost 35,000 other concerned Americans. I got in just in time to hear someone explain that the current Health Care Bill could be called the "Planned Parenthood Bailout Bill", and then to point out that "Every American should be concerned…if not outraged…" If this bill passes in anything even resembling the current legislation, taxpayer dollars will be used to fund abortions while other services are being cut…Planned Parenthood is already included in the Senate version of HC bill…

One speaker pointed out that "There is no denying there are problems in the Health Care delivery system…but government takeover is not the answer."

"Phone calls ARE having an effect…Keep the calls, cards, letters coming."

MARJORIE DANNENFELSER, Susan B. Anthony List:

There must be an abortion exclusion in the Bill – or Abortion will be included (and will be funded!) Americans have been continually asked to fund "abortion on demand"

1. Politically appointed bureaucrats have always filled in the blanks (like Obama's "Health Advisory Committee"), 2008 Candidate Obama made it clear that benefits should include abortions…

2. 4,000 unborn die daily… Why is Obama pushing for increased funding of abortions when more than 70% of Americans oppose. Answer: "He is a true believer"…He equates abortions to having a tonsillectomy…

DR. JAMES DOBSON, Focus on the Family:

"You've been hearing a lot about Health Care Reform lately…but not hearing about taxpayer funded abortions included in the bill." The Health Care Bill will force taxpayers to pay for abortions…Almost every American will be forced into a plan that pays for abortions…How dare the Congress and the President try to force this legislation on people of conscience?...Many of our elected officials and our President are anxious to make it happen…Call your senators and representatives as soon as possible…Please join me praying that God will intervene…and will have mercy on our Nation and on our pre-born babies."

DOUGLAS JOHNSON, National Right to Life Committee:

"The pro-abortion forces have been working towards this day for years…This bill would be a platform to extend abortion to all women…Some advocates complain that there are not enough abortions…At least 1 million Americans are alive because of the Hyde amendment…Congress is pushing that every healthcare plan must include 'essential care'…which will include abortions…Do not depend on the Mainstream Media for information…Congressman Tim Ryan of Ohio was allowed to misrepresent the content of the bill and our opposition to it…"

FR. FRANK PAVONE, Priests for Life:

"If abortion is not specifically excluded in the Health Care bill…this will be the largest expansion of abortion since Roe vs. Wade…How? The fact of the matter is that the Supreme Court has significantly weakened Roe since then, as have some state legislations…One of the goals with this bill is to increase the ease with which abortions are performed and funded…Almost 2/3 of abortion mills have been closed since their height…Abortion being considered an essential health benefit will be funded in a way never been before…AND this will take away rights of providers not to perform them…The Abortion industry is hopeful that Health Care Reform will…this is their last ditch effort…

WENDY WRIGHT, Concerned Women for America:

"…the deceptive language that is already in this bill…we need to be wise as serpents when dealing with the Obama administration…It is NOT their goal to reduce abortions…Obama: 'Let's not get distracted by the abortion debate'…400 activists at the summit…Obama is committed to ensuring the abortion mandate is in the Health Care bill."

The word abortion is not in the bill, but that doesn't mean the bill won't increase funding for them…It is Legislation with deceptive language…It would hand over power to define and decide what will be covered…Who will decide?...Bill proposed this week claims to reduce abortions, will actually increase abortions…One main reason to oppose this bill: It will empower bureaucrats to decide who will get what treatment – who will live and who will die

TOM MINNERY, Focus on the Family:

"Just after Obama was elected, Planned Parenthood and other groups gave him a wish list of what they want…They will reap the benefits of our tax dollars…Candidate Obama claimed he 'wanted to make abortion very rare'…but whatever is subsidized will expand…So this will cause more abortions…Congressman Mike Pence of Indiana proposed an amendment to ensure that Planned Parenthood shouldn't receive ANY federal money because of this bill. (The amendment failed on Friday, July 24)...34% of Planned Parenthood's income last year was from the government…

KRISTEN DAY, Democrats for Life:

"This bill must include language which prevents money from going to fund abortions…There are at least 39 Democrats in the House who plan to vote against if bill includes abortion funding…"

CONGRESSMAN CHRIS SMITH, U.S. House of Representatives (from NJ):

"Some in Congress are trying to cobble together a phony compromise about abortion…Don't believe that Obama wants to reduce abortions…Please, Mr. President, give me a break…Pro-life amendment would bar funding for abortions…so far has lost in every committee vote…We will persist in spite of those losses…Both Pro-life amendments are straightforward…Passing airtight language is paramount…The potential for deceit is high, and we must guard against it…This is the big one!...Not since Roe v Wade have our children and our Moms been more at risk!"

Another speaker (I missed the name):

"The goal of the pro-choice movement is to include abortion in this bill…This is the big one!...We've got to do ALL the things mentioned in the handout…We need to confront our Congressmen and Senators during recess…Write a hand-written letter to each of them – put on it "hand-delivered"—and then take to their district offices…NO ABORTION in health care or health insurance funded by our money…"

KRISTAN HAWKINS, Students for Life of America:

"How would these bills ration care…This bill rations care, especially for those with special needs…Obama said in May 'the chronically ill, and those towards the end of their lives are counting for 80% of our health care bills…' Health care will be rationed for people like my son because he is less valued…A nationalized health care system will mean the difference between life and death…shows us the culture of death we have arrived at…Please join us in calling and visiting Congressional members…demanding that Health Care Reform not use federal dollars to…We must speak for those among us who cannot speak for themselves…"

CONGRESSMAN JOE PITTS, U.S. House of Representatives (Pennsylvania):

"Will force us to subsidize abortions with taxpayer dollars…the biggest fight for life in decades…Two amendments have been proposed to Energy and Commerce (already turned down in 2 committees) – last chance to amend the bill before it hits the House floor…20 Democrats have sent a letter to Pelosi saying they will NOT support the bill unless it excludes Abortion!...we must speak out before it is too late…Abortion is NOT health care…Health Care is about saving life…Want to see an explicit exclusion of Abortion in any health care plan."

PEGGY HARTSHORN, Heartbeat International:

"The research arm of Planned Parenthood says abortions will increase by 30% if funded by government….Pro-life medical folks may have to stop practicing medicine because of the requirements to do or recommend abortions…Fear for women, and men, and babies…Abortion mandate is an assault on human dignity…"

MELINDA DELAHOYDE, Care Net:

"America is becoming more pro-life…Mandated coverage by Medicare would result in at least 30% increase in abortions, probably more…We want to reach abortion-vulnerable and abortion-minded women…If abortions are provided free of charge…what will that do this most at risk population…The lack of protection for right of conscience…When we lose those state laws, and we will lose them under this bill, we will lose a window of opportunity…"

JIM SEDLAK, American Life League / STOPP:

"Planned Parenthood is in a fight for their survival…Operators of largest abortion chain in the nation…They will be on the sidelines if they don't get abortion in this bill…Last Thursday they had a tremendous force meeting in D.C….did get themselves written into the Senate version…Another bill making its way through Congress this week…opportunity to let our representatives know that Planned Parenthood is NOT Wanted!...No money in this bill to be used by PP for any purpose….Up or down vote tomorrow on the House floor…Contact members of House tonight and tomorrow…want them to support Pence amendment (part of Health & Services)…take all $ away from PP (The Pence amendment failed the next day.)

We have to ACT!

DAY GARDNER, National Black Pro-Life Union

"…It is especially important to the black community…1939 "The Negro Project" – "get rid of black people" through abortion and sterilization…Killing centers are still purposely placed in minority areas…Abortion is the number one killer of black people in America!...Why do our taxpayer dollars go to support this racist organization?..."

CARMEN PATE, Point of View Radio Show

Bishop Jackson:

"Abortions will continue to soar…if action is not taken…Hope must be kept alive…Keep hope alive!"

Menendez on Health Insurance Companies

2009-07-15T18:55:00.000-07:00

I watched Senator Menendez' Briefing on Health Insurance Companies this evening. I wasn't sure which side of the Health Care "Reform" issue he was on until I started watching the you tube video...It was a pretty good guess right at the beginning that he wanted the government to get involved, when he's standing there with a big chart next to him showing "Health Insurance Profits" from 2000-2007. I guess the chart was showing that they had made a 428% increase during that time, and something about $32.9 billion, though I never heard him address it, or its "facts", specifically.

Senator Menendez starts right out letting us know that "Truman understood the meaning of community...that we have obligations to each other to be part of the solution." Senator Menendez, the government is NOT community. If we have an obligation to each other it is as citizens who are part of that community, not the government interfering with that community.

Then the Senator spoke harshly of Private Insurance Companies and the fact that they "use their 'market power' to boost their bottom line...." ....As if such a thing is such a condemnation...

Then he points out that it is necessary for "insurance companies to be...more responsive to their policy holders." It made me think of our representatives in Congress, and how responsive most of them are NOT!

Senator Menendez then reassured us (or at least tried to) that the "public option is to drive competition" (as opposed to drive out competition...not seeing how that would work out, sorry!)

And he ended by stating that "If you like what you have, you get to keep it." I see. But of course he fails to tell us that page 16 of the 1000+ page bill currently in the House makes it fairly clear that we may be able to keep what we have, if we have it when all this starts, but don't count on getting something new after that, at least not from outside the Government. Did you miss that part, Senator Menendez, or did you not think we needed to know that?

More on Health Care

2009-07-10T19:39:00.000-07:00

In the midst of all that is being said about the sad state of Health Care in our country, it's nice to know that there are still reasonable articles being written about its true state:

10 Surprising Facts about American Health Care

In spite of its title, I didn't find the facts contained in it surprising at all!

Herman Cain and Health Care issues

2009-07-10T19:09:00.001-07:00

There are a growing number of articles on what's wrong with the Government taking over Health Care.

Two from Herman Cain, one explaining the problems with the current plans:
Five Traps That Trick Americans Into Accepting Socialized Medicine

and another suggesting REAL improvements to it:
Seven Ways to Make Health Care in America Better

We have to keep those in D.C. from continuing to enlarge their power at our expense!

2009-07-10T18:43:00.000-07:00

Just as true today as it was in 1822:

"Knowledge will forever govern ignorance and a people who mean to be their own governors must arm themselves with the Power which knowledge gives."

James Madison in letter to W.T. Barry

Join Us for the July 17th Nationwide Protest

2009-07-10T16:32:00.000-07:00

For those in the greater Huntsville area, Christie says:

"July 17th Nationwide Protest -- Protesting Nationalized Health
Insurance and the Cap & Trade bill. President Obama wants the
nationalized health insurance bill passed through the House by August,
and Cap & Trade (HR 2454) is on its way to the Senate for final
passage. Two bills that would put us in much greater debt, devestate
private businesses, and worsen our recession. We are still working on
the permit, but for now are tentatively meeting where we did for the
Tax Day Tea Party (across the street from the post office on Clinton
Ave) from 12:00pm - 1:00pm. Please come out and join us! These are two
of the most dangerous bills our Congress has ever voted on and we must
show our opposition! This protest is geared toward local congressional
offices around the country. However, as there is not enough room for
all of us to protest in front of Parker Griffith's office we have
chosen this location, which is actually quite close. Griffith's office
is just on the other side of the Parkway at 2101 Clinton Ave. If you
are coming, bring a letter to Parker Griffith! We will be personally
delivering them afterward! If you are unable to stand with us for the
entire time, stop by and drop your letter off so we can deliver it! If
you are unable to drive by, call/fax/email him!
http://griffith.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=4§iontree=4 Griffith
voted against Cap & Trade, but stated at a recent Health Care Town
Hall that he 1) thinks health care is a right and 2) thinks we are
past adhering to the Constitution. This time you'll be parking on Lot
K, where we met for the Tax Day Tea Party. I'll let you know when our
permit goes through. Bring your signs!!!"

Health Care -- Private versus the Government

2009-07-08T17:42:00.000-07:00

In case anyone is sleeping through the current wave of legislative nightmares working their way through our Congress -- the Federal Government is trying again to socialize our medicine. HillaryCare on steroids = ObamaCare, and it is not a pretty sight.

I will attempt to collect some various articles, youtubes, etc. and post here for those who want/need Health Care information at their fingertips. And if you haven't already done it -- put the Capitol Switchboard # on your speed dial -- these folks work for us -- and they need to hear from us: 202-224-3121.

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A great starting point is a Wall Street Journal article from July 1,
Parsing the Health Reform Arguments

And another one from the Opinion section of July 7: Of NICE and Men

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There'a a petition about Health Care.

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And here is a summary of Democrat Health “Reform” by the Numbers

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Congressman Blunt spoke briefly about Health Care this morning:

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And Senator DeMint sent out the following "Freedom Alert" today:
July 08, 2009
Dear Friend,

In many ways, our health care system is broken. Even people satisfied with their own care are nervous about losing it, concerned about rising costs, and frustrated by the failure of government to bring about genuine reform. But the reason Congress has so far been unable to fix our health care problems is that Congress is too busy creating the problems in the first place. That’s why the current proposals emanating from the White House and congressional Democrats won’t work either. Those proposals would hand over the most personal, private undertaking of our lives -- health care -- to the most impersonal, inefficient, and broken system in our society -- the federal bureaucracy.

These programs will only grow government, limit options, encourage waste and abuse, and ultimately lead to rationing of health care by bureaucrats and politicians in Washington. If you’ve ever wondered if there might be a better way, then my new Health Care Freedom Plan might be for you.

The plan, which I introduced last month in the Senate, is the opposite of a government takeover like HillaryCare in 1994 or ObamaCare this year. It does not force any American off of their current plan, but provides them with the ability to access and own a health plan that best meets his or her needs. Compared to the Democrats’ plan, my bill will cover more uninsured Americans, in half the time, at no cost because it will be paid for entirely by terminating the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) and reclaiming the Wall Street bailout funds over the next five years.

Here’s how it works:

My plan puts individuals back in control of their health care decisions by offering every American a health care voucher -- worth $2,000 for individuals and $5,000 for families -- to purchase a plan that best works for them. It doesn’t force anyone who likes their employer-sponsored health care to leave it. If you like your current plan, you can keep it. If you don’t have insurance, or if you do have insurance but might want to shop around, you can claim the voucher. My plan finally allows comparable tax benefits for those without employer-sponsored care, like small business workers and the self-employed.

The plan also breaks down barriers and creates a nationwide insurance market that doesn’t restrict individuals from purchasing insurance plans in other states. It also allows greater flexibility to use Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) to pay for insurance premiums.

To bring down overall health care costs, my bill reduces predatory malpractice lawsuits against physicians and hospitals and brings more transparency to the industry by requiring that true costs of health care are disclosed before patients receive treatment. My plan also ensures that Americans with pre-existing health conditions would be provided access to affordable coverage through federal block grant funding of state high-risk projects.

Americans should have access to health insurance that they can afford, own, and keep -- and that the government can never take over or take away. The Health Care Freedom Plan guarantees every American’s freedom to choose and own a plan that is best for them. You can rest assured that I will continue to fight for real reforms that allow Americans to regain control of their health care choices.

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And if you want to get in on the debate, the Republicans have a "Senate Doctors" site where they are seeking questions to answer about Health Care.

Town Hall Meeting vs TEA Party

2009-07-06T09:00:00.000-07:00

I sent the following letter to the editor in to my local newspaper today about the political events I attended last week. Time will tell whether they print this one or not. (They printed a letter I sent in in January about their awful coverage of Home Births, and they didn't print the one I sent in in April about CPSIA.)

This was a very political week for me. On Tuesday I attended a fundraiser for the next District 6 Congressman, Phil Williams; On Thursday I attended a Town Hall Meeting on Health Care put on by our U.S. Congressman Parker Griffith, and on Saturday I attended the Huntsville TEA Party. Needless to say they were very different events.

It was shocking to see how many folks Thursday evening supported Griffith and others in the idea of allowing the government to meddle in the greatest Health Care system in the World. The pleas for Congress to go to a “Single Payer” system shocked me.

On the other hand it was exciting to see 5,000 other concerned citizens from the greater Huntsville area at the TEA Party. It was not a protest; it was a gathering; an assembly; an opportunity to express our frustrations with a government that has gotten out of control at multiple levels. We want our government to return to its true role in our lives – as a government of the people and for the people.
Contrary to the voices of a few on Thursday, we do not need a Nanny State. We are adults. We are ready and willing to make decisions for ourselves. We want those in our government to abide by the law of the land, the U.S. Constitution, no more and no less.

(Footnote -- They did print the editorial in the opinion section of the paper on 8 July, under the heading "Rein in Government")

Notes from our Independence Day TEA Party

2009-07-05T20:22:00.001-07:00

I did not try to send tweets during the Thursday evening Town Hall Meeting, I just took notes and came home and tweeted afterwards. But during the TEA Party, I sent tweets. (44 to be exact.) I decided there were advantages and disadvantages to both.

We were late to the TEA Party in April, so we did a better job this time of getting here early. There are probably only a few hundred folks here already when we arrive (nowhere near the 5,000 or so that will be here during the event). We set up our chairs, get a bite to eat and take in the crowd and signs around us. There are several great signs to be seen, including: "No Trap and Raid" "How is Change Working for you?" "Don't spread my wealth, spread my work ethic"

Then the Band starts – nothing against them, but Christie, if we do this again, can we get a Band that plays patriotic music? Please!

After the band, Christie opens the ceremonies by reading from the Declaration of Independence; moving words at any time, but especially during this event.

Christie asks what our Government is guilty of, and suggests we look at the Preamble to the Constitution and the 10th Amendment. (I think those are missing sections of the Constitutions in Washington, D.C.) Then she mentions Cap&Tax (there are boos from the audience), Socialized Medicine (more boos), and the fact that Congress votes on bills they haven't read (even more boos). She ends with a shout of "God bless America" and gets a standing ovation. The evening is off to a good start. Then we are all happy to stand for the posting of the colors, the Pledge of Allegiance, and the Star Spangled Banner.

We welcome the first speaker, Roger Richardson: "It is a joy to be here tonight to celebrate the birth of our nation…We are not here because we hate America. We are here because we LOVE America…We LOVE freedom...We want future generations to have more freedom…and more rights...not less."

Richardson asks: "Do you believe government should be running car companies? banks? passing Cap&Trade?" There are resounding "No's" after each question! He finishes by telling us "A Minister wrote 'My Country 'Tis of Thee' for such a time as this."

The next speaker, Mary Scott Hunter, is a local attorney and veteran. She speaks of "...Liberty...working hard and achieving goals." She says she is "scared of the spending spree Government is on… Government mandated 'gifts' rob the giver and the recipients... Education is absolutely essential...I got here because of choices I made and my family made... We have to make ourselves heard through movements like this, and we need to educate our kids... Resist the expansion of government; in a country with representative government, participation is mandatory!"

Our next speaker, Rachel Gray, is a young college student. She starts with "Good evening fellow domestic terrorists...Nice to see you peaceably assemble again!" Then she asks "How are we going to defend our personal liberties? Put the power back in our hands in 2010...Young Conservatives...stay strong...Persevere...Stop apologizing for America..."

Les Phillips, one of our candidates for US Congress for next year was our next speaker: "Regardless of what the media says, we are not alone…I have no tolerance for anyone who enters the country illegally (my parents waited 3 yrs for their visa)… The Constitution is the law of the land...At 18 I took an oath to defend this country against enemies domestic and foreign...I took an oath to defend the Constitution, not to defend a politician… What's different about us is that this country was founded on God…Stand up to liberals, enough is enough… Our political leaders underestimate us today...We need to stand strong!"

Then Mo Brooks, our MC for the night, came back up on stage: "Mr. President, the United States is not arrogant...Stop apologizing for our heroes."

Our next speaker, Sergy Braylyan, lived in Russia for many years; he has been to many different "tea parties", usually discussing politics! "I took my 1st breathe in USSR...My Mom watched many other women die of infections in that hospital...I have used medical services in 4 different countries...By far...the best in the world is here in the US…There is a lot of talking here...health care is too costly...In Soviet Union we gave away our freedom completely...If you went to the hospital for any problem...turned down...or have to bring your own medications...long waits for any treatment..." He ended by reminding us that "Utopia, the road to socialism, is the road to nowhere."

Linda Lawrence has been leading the charge against the Federal Government's takeover of housing in South Huntsville. "Our government is thumbing its nose at the Constitution...and subjecting us to an experiment of Socialism...but Socialism NEVER works…Socialism is unsustainable...they are using Socialism to create more dependencies..."

Our last speaker, Vince Croyl, finally came up: "No matter what Obama is doing in DC, no matter what Pelosi is doing...I'm proud to be an American!" He went on to make the valid point that "Socialized medicine will have the efficiency of the Department of Motor Vehicles and the compassion of the IRS!"

After almost two hours of speeches, our MC came back up to end the evening with "Let's Take America Back". A long evening, but all in all, a good way to celebrate the birth of our Country!

And my final thoughts that evening, in response to a text one of my kids sent me, "Yes, Happy Birthday America: 233 candles on the cake. May she survive to see many more birthdays."

Parker Griffith and Our Health Care

2009-07-05T19:00:00.001-07:00

I started the week attending a very positive, enjoyable event for Phil Williams. Then on Thursday evening I attended my first Town Hall Meeting with our U.S. Congressman Parker Griffith: "A Healthy Alabama is a Prosperous Alabama". It was co-hosted by two groups I hadn't heard of: Alabama Appleseed's Health Insurance Project and Arise Citizens Policy Project. I don't know anything about the two groups, but if they were happy about how the event unfolded, it would speak volumes about them; to me, that night was as depressing as Tuesday night had been uplifting.

On Wednesday evening I did some more research on Health Care, in preparation for the Meeting. I already know where I stand on it, but I wanted to have more facts. A great article on Health Care came out in the Wall Street Journal on July 1: "Parsing the Health Reform Arguments" (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124640626749276595.html) The author does a great job of summing up the arguments against the Government messing around with Health Care. I strongly recommend it for anyone who wants to understand the arguments being made.

While I was doing my research, I ran across references to the Arizona Health Care Freedom Act. More attention will definitely need to be paid to that...It looks like Arizona may be the first state to pass its own law saying they don't have to participate in whatever disaster the Federal Government comes up with for Health Care.

As the meeting Thursday evening was about to begin, I listed the points that I would want to have made about Health Care:

1) Our system brings Medical Innovations like no other in the world.

2) The system being proposed in Congress leads to long waits and rationing.

3) Even if it doesn't begin as a Government Monopoly, it ends that way because Private Companies won't be able to compete.

4) And most importantly, it is Unconstitutional. There is no way to construe anything in the Constitution as giving the Federal Government the right to deal in any way with Health Care!

After he was introduced, Congressman Griffith gave his overview. He said that there is a general feeling among businesses, the AMA, and the population as a whole that our Health Care system needs to be improved. Really? Interesting, since most folks I know understand our Health Care system to be the greatest in the world!)

He spoke of our 233-year Democracy, and something about not living up to its ideals. I knew we were in trouble then. Especially when Griffith followed it up with a comment about 47 million Americans being uninsured or not having access to Health Care. That is when I really wanted to scream. Note for Parker Griffith and those who think like him: Not having Health Insurance is not the same thing as not having access to Health Care! Five of my older children are currently uninsured. They all have access to Health Care.

And yet Griffith went on to admit that deaths from Cardio Disease and deaths from cancers (besides smoking related) have gone down. What, in our failing medical situation, how could that be?

He spoke of the options: A single payer (everyone in the U.S. has the same Insurance card -- Medicare-like). Why would anyone want a system like that?!?
Or where we just ADD Govt Health Care option to existing options since "some" of us are actually satisfied with our existing insurance, we would get to keep ours -- at least until the Govt drove our companies out of business. It wasn't clear to me that either of those were good options, but a small portion of the audience seemed to thing they were.

Griffith went on to say that "We want everyone to have access at a reasonable cost, quality, choice..." Wish we could have asked him right then when the Federal Govt became Santa Clause and how we were going to pay for such offerings.

Then Griffith talked about trying to reform a system around a shortage; in this case a shortage of Physicians. What part of this program does he really think will lessen the shortage of Physicians?

Then the ground rules were set and the floor was opened for questions.

An older gentleman right in front of us asked Congressman Griffith right away where in the Constitution the Government has the right to provide Health Care. Parker Griffith tried to put the gentleman on the defensive by asking him if he was on Medicare. Griffith wasn't happy when he got a Negative answer from the gentleman, who persisted in asking Griffith to "follow his oath". We could have ended the evening right there and I would have been happy…Very few of the questions that came after this one were worth listening to.
Now the complaints began: "Prescriptions in the U.S. cost $50, in Europe they are the equivalent of $5…How can the Government do worse than Private Industry…We need Single Payer…" I personally think that the Government can do MUCH worse than what we currently have, but pray we will never find out!
Next complaint came quickly: "Policies today are too complicated" Griffith quickly comments, "We have lots of Single Payers here"
(Really, he was able to determine that by two questions. Amazing.)
Another Conservative finally got a question in: "When Medicare was started in 1965 they predicted the cost would be $12 million. By 1990 the cost had exceeded 98 million." Not much Griffith could say to that, so he didn't say much.
A sad story about a 29-year-old sister who's insurance lapsed through no fault of her own. (A bad situation, but socializing Health Care is not the answer.)
A small business owner shared his frustrations about not being able to compete with big businesses for Health Care plans. (Must be an answer to this besides the ones being suggested.)
The point was made that the quality of care of Dialysis patients on Medicare is much worse than those of commercially insured patients. Like most of the questioners here tonight, it wasn't clear if they actually had a question for the Congressman, or just wanted to make a statement. At this point Griffith took the opportunity to point out that a child with appendicitis is five times more likely to die if has no insurance.
The point was made that Medicaid should reimburse for prenatal care…And then that infant mortality is so bad in the United States. (Sorry, don't buy that statistic at all.) Parker Griffith used this opportunity to point out the big problem we have in this country of the distribution of doctors. Really?Again, how will socializing Health Care fix anything?
Another sad story – but this one was from a small businesswoman whose husband had been in a really bad car accident. She was very thankful that the hospital's main emphasis was on saving his life - -and pondered whether that would have happened if they didn't have insurance. Griffith pointed out that the unique thing about OUR system is that we are making advances…we see whoever in the Emergency Room…(So why do we want to want to change this great system?)
The next gentleman went on and on and on (people started yelling "What is the question?"). After Griffith asked, "Would you like to ask me a question," he finally got to saying something about regulatory issues in medicine being a big joke. We moved on finally…
Now someone complained about going to the Emergency Room and how bad it was there, and how he spent 4 hours waiting to see a Doctor. And yet somehow he was convinced that nationalizing Health Care would somehow be an improvement!
Someone got up and pointed out that a Government Option would compete with private insurers. Then asked Griffith bluntly, "Do you support a Government option?" Griffith was not straightforward with his answer, "We don't want unintended consequences." (Really, Congress actually thinks about unintended consequences? That would be a nice change!) And then he actually made two more reasonable comments: "If Government Care equals Medicare, we will be destroying." And "The public option is okay, if we have level playing field." He was quite accurate in that second comment, and since we'll never be able to level the playing field – I would like to take his third comment to mean we can't do it! (Though I'm sure that's not what he meant.)
A real question finally – "Recently President Obama appeared before the AMA and said he doesn't support Tort Reform" (The audience booed!) "What is your position on Tort Reform?" Griffith had a great non-answer, "Tort Reform and Distribution haven't been addressed in current bills." Moments later he made another couple of interesting comments, "We may be promising people something we can't provide"
(You think!) and "…These are not easy decisions…."
More of a comment than a question: "You Republicans are selfish, you want roads…water…but no taxes."
Another good question snuck in: "How can private companies compete with the Government…Maine and Massachusetts have tried public options and failed, how can the federal government do better?" I know, I know, they can't! Griffith mentions his own efforts with Health Care, "I am introducing legislation to say that any Health Care bill as to be on our desks one week in advance of the vote." (Why isn't that the case for ALL major legislation?!?) and "Whatever legislation we pass for Health Care for the Country, we will have to have the same care. (Can we all say, "Yeah, right!)
"Insurance companies have to earn profit on each patient enrolled…" (and he went on and on and on) He finally got to a point. "You can't force everyone to buy insurance – or the government will have to subsidize those who can't/don't." Griffith pointed out that the expected cost will be between $1 – 2 Trillion. (And remember, that's expected costs!) And then the questioner pointed out that a Single Payer is a better solution, but that Griffith is not supporting it because it isn't politically feasible. Griffith pointed out that the Single Payer in the bill is NOT better! But the concept of eliminating administrative costs is good!
An employee of a small company pointed out that he can't afford his company's insurance. How will we lower our costs without putting for profit insurance companies out of business? The answer to this question was not an answer, "Big pharmaceuticals need to be regulated."
(Yeah, we all know how effective Govt regulations have been in other areas!) And "the Health Care Industry is the largest industry in America." (And this is before the Government takes over!)
Good question: How do we convince Insurance Companies to reimburse Nurse Practioners, PA's, etc. Good question, no answer.
The United States is built on free trade and capitalism. We can't we regulate these problems away? (Yeah, I got lost with that argument too!) Griffith just went on to make an unrelated statement: "I disagree with President Obama on 30-45 day timetable on something so critical as Health Care."
Okay, we can agree on that position! And then he went on to say that "Competition is good".
(We agree on that too – so how do we go from that to socializing medicine? Got me!)
Then we got the guy who wanted to say that "Health Care is a right in so many countries…" Griffith said, "There are many improvements that we could make." To which someone yelled, we "Have to go to Single Payer option!" Really? And how will that improve anything? I was particularly disturbed by Griffith's next statement, "Health Insurance is a right."
The next questioner complained that the Insurance Company is making the decisions.
Griffith's next statement was interesting in light of his positions: "Medicare is a form of Single Payer, and it reduces your choices."
Some good questions came up from the next person: "So many foreigners come to our shores for health care, where will we go…How will we pay for this?...Government Health Care is limited for older folks in other countries…." Interesting response from Griffith to these questions: "We're asking Congress to reform Health Care, and Congress has less than a 25% approval rating."
Next questioner mentioned that we're trying to force everyone through a Cadillac Health Care system…Why not try a free market?
With current layoffs, joblessness, the loss of Health Care to the forefront…Griffith mentions that we need to fix Medicare/Medicaid fraud.
How can we trust that Congress will do the right thing on this – when so many in Congress are taking money from Pharmacies and Insurance Companies? Interesting answer: "Everyone is a special interest…trying to influence Congress for a vote…we have to be savvy enough and try to make decisions on what is best for MOST of the people." Questioner then makes the claim that "60% of Americans want Single Payer and 83% favor a Government Option." (Where do people get those types of statistics from?)
A college student with an immune disorder has great insurance now, but worries about being dropped in the future. Griffith responds that he wants reforms so that "Every American has access and has insurance." (There we go with the access = insurance nonsense.)
Next person claims that we "All know that the system is broke." And that "Canada has a pretty good system".
Good response from the next person. "Let me throw some caution in here. I've lived under Canada's single payer system for 8 years…Our primary care was good, but I was glad that nothing unusual happened to me during that time. There was 1 MRI Machine for the over 4 million in the entire city of Toronto. We need stop gap coverage for people between jobs, etc. We are the medical treatment country of last resort for Canada.
Our last question for the evening ended with "Do you believe illegals should be entitled to our Health Care?" Griffith answered with an emphatic "No" and then caveated that "Problem is, every child born in the USA is a US citizen".

And with that, a very painful evening of "questions" and "answers" came to an end.

Phil Williams -- Alabama District 6

2009-07-05T07:14:00.001-07:00

I have really gotten behind on posts to this blog this summer -- for a combination of reasons. But it is not because I have been thinking less of my Civic Duty. In fact, I have done more as a civics-minded citizen during the last couple of months than I normally do.

A friend of mine introduced me to Phil Williams, the Conservative who is running in a special election for Alabama Congressman from our district. I have now been to and/or hosted 3 events for Mr. Williams. If he is elected he will bring the number of Republicans in the Alabama House up to 44, almost half, for the first time in a very long time. From everything I have seen and heard, I believe he will do a great job.

On Monday, we went to a fund raiser for Phil at the Botanical Gardens. It was great to be in a room with over 200 like-minded people from our area. Governor Riley spoke highly of Phil, and looks forward to Phil joining him from Montgomery. One of the points Gov. Riley made was that Phil Williams understands business (which is sadly, unusual for someone running for public office). The Governor sees this election as a great opportunity for this area, and I have to agree with him.

Then Phil addressed us for a few minutes: "I'm so proud to be from Alabama... Everything great that's happened to me has been in Alabama..."

And he wisely noted, "We need to be prepared for a storm...get out of debt...Get to know your elected officials now (get ready for 2010).

If you are in Alabama District 6, get out and vote for Phil Williams on July 14. It is a special election, only for this position, so it is critical that we take the time to vote that day.

Shakespeare quotes for Independence Day

2009-07-04T10:53:00.000-07:00

I just posted these quotes on my new Shakespeare blog, but thought they would be appropriate here as well:

Shakespeare quotes for Independence Day:

"Let's all cry peace, freedom, and liberty!" Julius Caesar

"I am a foe to tyrants, and my country's friend."Julius Caesar

"Who is here so vile that will not love his country?" Julius Caesar

"Having my freedom, boast of nothing else."Richard II

"This liberty is all that I request." The Taming of the Shrew

Quotes Courtesy of American Shakespeare Center http://www.americanshakespearecenter.com/v.php?pg=469

Obama Budget Cuts Visualization

2009-04-30T21:02:00.000-07:00

Last week Obama ordered his Cabinet to cut $100 million from the $3.5 Trillion Budget, as if that was accomplishing something. For any of us, $100 million would be a lot of money. Unfortunately, when you are talking about a budget of over $3 Trillion, it is almost nothing.

While I knew that fact, a visual is always a better way to appreciate such a concept. This youtube video does an excellent job of showing just how small that $100 million really is when we're talking about the current budget.

Swine Flu

2009-04-30T08:20:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure I had even heard of the Swine Flu this time last week. When I first started hearing about it, last Friday and Saturday, it got my attention immediately. Concern was being expressed that it was coming from Mexico (I have kids that are planning to visit Mexico this summer, we have relatives that live there, and other relatives who visit there often.) Then there was talk about the students in a New York City School that had been confirmed with the Swine Flu. I have a daughter attending high school in New York City. I contacted my kids in NYC and the kids planning the Mission Trip to be on the alert -- not to be worried, but to be paying attention to what was going on. I sent them all links to the various sites I had found, such as the CDC, with information on the Swine Flu. And I pondered how quickly this had become something for us to follow.

But yesterday, it got even more personal. Two students at a local elementary school are suspected of having Swine Flu -- so all the schools in our area have been shut down, and all the local sports events have been canceled, at least through the weekend. And when I shopped at Walmart last night, the store clerks were wearing rubber gloves...I haven't determined yet whether folks are overreacting, or just taking proper precautions...But, meantime, I think I'll be reading over those websites a little more carefully.

More on the Volunteerism Law

2009-04-27T21:02:00.000-07:00

I am 100% against this law...I don't believe that it is the Government's place to "mandate volunteerism" -- or to do anything else related to volunteering!

But we need to be sure we react to the right portions of the Law. I read a blog recently that tried to prove the point that this law was in some way, shape, or form prohibiting religion. The claim was based on Section 132A. It claimed that this section forbid volunteers from participating in religious activities. It does not do that. Section 132A prohibits a volunteer position from being used for partisan political activities or from being used to engage in "religious instruction, conducting worship services, etc..."

In that section it is not clearly not prohibiting a volunteer from engaging in political or religious activities. It is prohibiting someone from using their volunteer position in those manners. There is a huge difference between the two.

We don't do ourselves any favors by misquoting or misapplying portions of a law like this!

Generations Invigorating Volunteerism and Education Ac

2009-04-22T19:37:00.000-07:00

So much has happened in the last week -- I've gotten behind on blogging!

H.R. 1388, Generations Invigorating Volunteerism and Education Act, was signed into law today. I think the subtitle says it all: "A bill entitled 'The Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act, an Act to reauthorize and reform the national service laws.'" It even comes complete with uniforms...

Today's TEA Party -- 1st Thoughts

2009-04-15T19:45:00.001-07:00

It was exciting being with so many other like-minded folks today (~2,000)for the Taxed Enough Tea Parties.

We heard some great speakers, with thoughts we could certainly agree with:
Mo Brooks:
"...most of us work for a living."
"It's one thing to have power, it's another thing to do the right thing with it!"
"Everyone benefits from free enterprise."
Dale Jackson:
"We have a problem...Government Spending out of control"
Headline for today: "A Rally of Domestic Terrorists in Huntsville today."
Sam Gavan:
"If someone believes we're not heading towards socialism, they are out of touch with reality."
"Give people a hand up, not a hand out."

We saw many great signs, including:
"If I wanted European Socialism, I'd move."
"The Real Pirates are in Washington"
"If I wanted European Socialism, I'd move"
"Get out of my Piggy Bank"
"6th grader, Already in Debt"
"Save a Little Prosperity for our Children"

Only time will tell wither this is the beginning of any changes.

Radicals on Right?

2009-04-15T06:16:00.000-07:00

Warning, if you read this blog, or others like it, and care about the direction this country is headed, you may be labeled a radical extremest:

I just read a disturbing article in the Washington Times: Federal agency warns of radicals on right

The article starts with the disturbing news that:
"The Department of Homeland Security is warning law enforcement officials about a rise in 'rightwing extremist activity,' saying the economic recession, the election of America's first black president and the return of a few disgruntled war veterans could swell the ranks of white-power militias."

So, because we are concerned about the recession and the war -- we are automatically associated with white-power groups. Excuse me, I don't think so!

The article continues:
"A footnote attached to the report by the Homeland Security Office of Intelligence and Analysis defines 'rightwing extremism in the United States' as including not just racist or hate groups, but also groups that reject federal authority in favor of state or local authority."

So, if we read and believe the Constitution limits federal authority -- we are rightwing extremists? All of the anti-federalists amongst our Founders would have been so labeled.

And the article, and the report continues:
"'It may include groups and individuals that are dedicated to a single-issue, such as opposition to abortion or immigration,' the warning says." If to be opposed to abortion makes me a rightwing extremist, then I hope I am in good company!

The report in question, was apparently sent out by Homeland Security last week with the disturbing title: "Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment."

Searching for information on the report, I found a couple of interesting looking blogs that I will have to go back to including The Liberty Papers: Life, Liberty, Property, Defending Individual Freedom and Liberty One Post at a Time

I'll have to revisit the idea that my concern makes me a radical later: I'm off to prepare for my Government Club meeting, for today's T.E.A. Party, and an Economics class on the real problems (the government) in the Great Depression.

Great YouTube Video of John Wayne and America

2009-04-13T15:55:00.000-07:00

Great YouTube video on 912Project site: John Wayne: "America, Why I Love Her"

Alabama Legislation: Ignition Interlocks

2009-04-12T16:43:00.000-07:00

Forwarded from Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD)…

In 2007, 389 people were killed in drunk driving related crashes in Alabama. This accounts for 35 percent of total traffic fatalities statewide.

Fortunately, ignition interlocks have the potential to eliminate these preventable deaths. Interlocks can prevent a vehicle from being driven by a drunk driver. If they are used correctly -- in concert with treatment, in addition to hard license suspensions and in the vehicles until they are no longer needed -- ignition interlocks can decrease repeat offenses by 64%.

Alabama is one of only three states that does not have an interlock law. House Bill 32 would require interlocks for all repeat DUI offenders and would allow judges to order interlocks for first-time convicted drunk drivers. HB 32 recently passed the House of Representatives and is now up for consideration in the Senate. Please contact your State Senator and urge their support of lifesaving legislation HB 32.

"Enumerated Powers Act"

2009-04-12T14:22:00.000-07:00

Great bill proposed in the house by Representative Shadegg (of Arizona):
H.R. 450 Enumerated Powers Act
"To require Congress to specify the source of authority under the United States Constitution for the enactment of laws, and for other purposes."

Somehow I don't see Congress tying their own hands -- but its certainly a bill most of us would like to see passed into law!

More Great Government Related Quotes

2009-04-11T13:48:00.000-07:00

“Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.” Thomas Jefferson

"Hold on to the Constitution, for if the American Constitution should fail, there will be anarchy throughout the world.” Daniel Webster
"Those who sacrifice liberty for security deserve neither." Benjamin Franklin
"A government big enough to give you everything you want is strong enough to take everything you have." Thomas Jefferson

"The Sneeze"

2009-04-11T12:47:00.000-07:00

After their "CPSIA report", I've become much less a fan of www.snopes.com. But I do check facts there now and again, if only as a starting point. A friend sent me a forward of "The Sneeze" -- a class's way around the school's recent prohibition on prayer, and I was curious if Snopes had anything on it.

They did...and their bias is very obvious...but the story is still cool, if you can get past that.

The Tale of Two Bows

2009-04-09T08:59:00.000-07:00

I really wasn't paying much attention to the whole "bow issue" until I saw this video. The difference between President Obama's bow to the Queen of England versus his bow to the Saudi King is pretty remarkable. I would love to hear his "explanation" for the difference.

"Day of Silence" Propaganda

2009-04-07T09:25:00.000-07:00

If your child's school allows "Day of Silence" propaganda, keep your child at home April 17

The Day of Silence, which is sponsored by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), fast approaches. This year it will take place in most public schools on April 17. On this day, thousands of public high schools and increasing numbers of middle schools will allow students to remain silent throughout an entire day-even during instructional time-to promote GLSEN's socio-political goals and its controversial, unproven, and destructive theories on the nature and morality of homosexuality.

Parents must actively oppose this hijacking of the classroom for political purposes. Please join the national effort to restore to public education a proper understanding of the role of government-subsidized schools. You can help de-politicize the learning environment by calling your child out of school if your child's school allows students to remain silent during instructional time on the Day of Silence.

Parents should no longer passively countenance the political usurpation of public school classrooms through student silence.

If students will be permitted to remain silent, parents can express their opposition most effectively by calling their children out of school on the Day of Silence and sending letters of explanation to their administrators, their children’s teachers, and all school board members. One reason this is effective is that most school districts lose money for each student absence.

School administrators err when they allow the classroom to be disrupted and politicized by granting students permission to remain silent throughout an entire day.

Visit this website for complete information on opposing the Day of Silence.

Freedom2Care

2009-04-06T17:59:00.000-07:00

Defending the conscience rights of health care professionals and students: http://www.freedom2care.org/

What is the "conscience regulation"?

The regulation simply implements three civil rights laws passed by Congress over the past 35 years defending the conscience rights of health care workers to make ethical decisions on controversial issues.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) finalized the conscience regulation on December 19, 2008.

The laws forbid discrimination against healthcare professionals who exercise their conscientious rights related to participation in certain controversial medical procedures--most notably, but not limited to, abortion and sterilization. The regulation applies to recipients of American tax dollars through certain HHS funding.

The HHS regulation notes that the intent of the regulation is to educate, raise awareness of, and provide for the enforcement of three existing laws protecting the conscience rights of health care workers and students: the Church Amendments (enacted at various times in the 1970s), section 245 of the Public Health Service Act (1996), and the Hyde-Weldon Amendment (first enacted in 2004 and then in every subsequent year).

Why is the new administration planning to rescind--get rid of--this regulation?

The introduction of the conscience-protecting regulation was met with violent opposition by abortion special interest groups.

Some commentators followed the talking points of these groups and distorted the scope and intent of the regulation, claiming that it was somehow a backdoor attempt to restrict access to contraception. That proved an implausible charge against an agency that in the same year budgeted over $1.6 billion for "family planning" programs, but protests continued regardless of the facts.

These inaccurate commentaries and the pressure of special interest groups, unfortunately, appear to have had an impact on administration policy.

It is our hope that public outcry and focusing attention on the actual language of the regulation and the positive impact of protecting conscience on health care will help the new administration recognize the benefit of keeping the regulation intact.

Some administration officials and abortion advocates have maintained that the regulation will somehow decrease women's access to health care. On the contrary, the regulation makes clear the protections that allow conscience-driven healthcare professionals to rebuff discrimination and continue to practice medicine. In doing so, the regulations help provide healthcare security, quality and quantity.

In reality, the effect of rescinding the regulation threatens to cause a crisis of access to health care. Many healthcare professionals faced with discrimination are likely to choose to leave medicine if forced to choose between their careers or violating cherished ethical standards.

Removing regulatory protections-or perpetuating the lack of awareness of legal protections--for healthcare professionals will have the net effect of decreasing access to healthcare. Consider, for example, estimates that between 15-20% of health care in the U.S. is provided by Catholic institutions, which historically have refused to participate in abortion. Imagine the impact on health care access if those institutions, which reportedly provide care for up to one in six hospital patients, are forced to shut down in order to honor conscience and ethical standards.

The Cybersecurity Act of 2009

2009-04-04T20:07:00.000-07:00

Very disturbing article! If this bill goes through, privacy is gone! (Someone remind me, when did the 4th amendment disappear?)

The Cybersecurity Act of 2009: "To ensure the continued free flow of commerce within the United States and with its global trading partners through secure cyber communications, to provide for the continued development and exploitation of the Internet and intranet communications for such purposes, to provide for the development of a cadre of information technology specialists to improve and maintain effective cyber security defenses against disruption, and for other purposes." (Another "appropriate sounding" bill!)

Tracking Bills on Govtrack

2009-03-28T19:20:00.001-07:00

If you want to see what type of bills are making their way through Congress, or see what your favorite (or least favorite) Senator/Congressman is up to http://www.govtrack.us/ is a great way to do it. You can get email alerts on topics that you want to follow (abortion, cpsia...), etc.

Gambling in Alabama

2009-03-26T06:20:00.000-07:00

I have more on this in my Economics blog, but I wanted to mention it here as well: There are some trying to get the "Sweet Home Alabama Plan" through our legislative body right now. It is not good for Alabama, and we do not need or want more gambling in this state. This YouTube video "The Truth About Illegal Gambling" is a short, quick reminder of why not!

Gateway Pundit: House Passes Hitler Youth Bill

2009-03-25T06:17:00.000-07:00

Gateway Pundit: House Passes Hitler Youth Bill

Very disturbing indeed! These are not the principles this country was founded on! And not at all constitutional. This is not the change we need.

Senator DeMint (one of my CPSIA heroes) spoke out against the "good intentions" of this law. I watched his speech on this legislation.

Speech: "Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death"

2009-03-23T06:22:00.000-07:00

Today, March 23, is the 234th anniversary of Patrick Henry's famous "Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death speech". I've been to Colonial Williamsburg recently, where I listened to an actor's rendition of that awe-inspiring speech. Even after 234 years, it is easy to hear the power in Henry's words and imagine the ripples it would have caused throughout the colonies, colonies that even then were in the struggle to decide whether they would or should declare independence from Great Britain. (In fact, only weeks later, the fighting of the American Revolution would begin, further north, in Massachusetts.)

The speech ends with the powerful words: "...It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry, Peace, Peace, but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!"

The rest of his powerful speech can be found many places on the web, including on the Colonial Williamsburg website: http://www.history.org/almanack/life/politics/giveme.cfm

2 Chronicles 7:14

2009-03-23T06:13:00.000-07:00

2 Chronicles 7:14 (King James Version)

"If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land."

Abort73 Website

2009-03-22T17:20:00.000-07:00

Several of my students told me about this website: http://www.abort73.com/ It is a great resource for information on abortion!
Including:
* The Case Against Abortion
o -- WHY ABORTION IS WRONG
o Medical Testimony
o Prenatal Development
* WHY THE LAW SHOULD PROTECT UNBORN CHILDREN
o The Role of Law
o Competing Rights
* Abortion Risks
* Abortion Alternatives
* Facts About Abortion

Red Envelope Day

2009-03-22T17:13:00.000-07:00

Here's a Great Idea From a Choose Life Group -- 50 Million Red Envelopes:

http://www.RedEnvelopeDay.com Please visit today and tell your friends!

What:
Get red envelopes or postcards and mail them on March 31st to the White House

When:
March 31st, 2009

Get a red envelope. You can buy them at party supply stores (we hope to have some at CLC soon). On the front, address it to

President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW
Washington , D.C. 20500

On the back, write the following message.

This envelope represents one child who died because of an abortion.
It is empty because the life that was taken is now unable to be a part of our world.

We will mail the envelopes out March 31st, 2009.

Put it in the mail, and send it. Then forward this event to every one of your friends who you think would send one too. I wish we could send 50 million red envelopes, one for every child who died [in the U.S.] before having a chance to live.

It may seem that those who believe abortion is wrong are in a minority. It may seem like we have no voice and it's shameful to even bring it up. Let us show our President and the world that the voices of those of us who do not believe abortion is acceptable are not silent and must be heard.

Together we can change the heart of The President and save the lives of millions of children.

Barack Obama spoke at a Planned Parenthood Action Fund event, uttering the now infamous line, "Well, the first thing I'd do as president is, is sign the Freedom of Choice Act. [Applause.] That's the first thing that I'd do."

An empty red envelope will send a message to President Barack Obama that there is moral outrage in this country over this issue [The Freedom of Choice Act, which will essentially “undo” every law currently in place to limit abortion in the U.S. (i.e., parental consent laws, parental notification, waiting periods, prohibition of transporting a minor girl across state lines to obtain an abortion, etc.)]. It will be quiet, but clear.

Please read more about The Freedom of Choice Act here: http://www.lifenews.com/nat4359.html

The secret ballot is Absolutely Necessary

2009-03-20T18:35:00.000-07:00

Here's a current bill you may be interested in researching, from the Workforce Fairness Institute about the EFCA (Employee Forced Choice Act):

"Dear Friend,

We need you to act today. Please contact your Congressman as soon as you can to help fight EFCA.. As you know, this bill would be the most monumental change in labor laws in half a century.

By eliminating the right to a secret ballot, EFCA invites intimidation, coercion and unfair organizing tactics into the workplace, in addition to depriving workers of the fundamental right to a Secret Ballot vote. And by imposing binding arbitration, this bill would remove the rights of workers to vote on a contract before it is imposed.

Please contact your member of Congress today, and urge them not to co-sponsor this bill! Go to www.house.gov to find your representative and email or call him/her now! Then forward this message to your family, friends, and co-workers to get the word out."

*****

"How to Deny Employees Free Choice", an article today in the National Journal explains the problem more:

"There is a reason, in the political realm, that secret ballots are used in genuinely democratic elections all over the world. For the same reason, 'the secret ballot is absolutely necessary in order to ensure that workers are not intimidated into voting for a union they might not otherwise choose.'

These are not the words of some business lobbyist. They come from a letter sent eight years ago to officials in Mexico by Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., and 15 other House members, including Democrats Barney Frank of Massachusetts, Dennis Kucinich of Ohio, and Zoe Lofgren of California. These members have since embraced the free-choice act's attack on the secret-ballot requirement."

Homeschool Patriot

2009-03-20T07:23:00.000-07:00

A friend just shared this website with me: www.homeschoolpatriot.com. It looks like it has all sorts of great information.

They say it well there: "Be Part of American History – Understand The Battle We Fight! We must always remain vigilant in defense of our freedoms." Amen!

I like their list of famous homeschooled patriots, and patriotic holidays.

This was also where I learned about The American's Creed: The American's Creed

"I believe in the United States of America as a Government of the people, by the people, for the people, whose just powers are derived from the consent of the governed; a democracy in a Republic; a sovereign Nation of many sovereign States; a perfect Union, one and inseparable; established upon those principles of freedom, equality, justice, and humanity for which American patriots sacrificed their lives and fortunes. I therefore believe it is my duty to my Country to love it; to support its Constitution; to obey its laws; to respect its flag, and to defend it against all enemies." ~Written by William Tyler Page in 1917, adopted by the US House of Representatives in 1918.

Time for a Second American Revolution?

2009-03-18T12:50:00.001-07:00

While I might have used a few less "choice words", and don't agree with every suggestion he makes, this you tube video: We the People Stimulus Package with "Thomas Paine" makes some great arguments.

"Mr. Paine" also argues for Common Sense in the you tube video of The Second American Revolution

Freedom and Liberty Quotes -- please add more!

2009-03-16T13:32:00.000-07:00

"Educate and inform the whole mass of the people... They are the only sure reliance for the preservation of our liberty."

—Thomas Jefferson

Presidential Election Bill in Washington D.C.

2009-03-16T07:46:00.000-07:00

Our Congressmen and Senators can't seem to find the time or energy to fix CPSIA, but they have plenty of time for other interesting legislation.

Here's one of the newest laws being proposed:
Bill # H.R.1503: To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to require proof of citizenship for presidential candidates.

Original Sponsor: Bill Posey (R-FL 15th)

About This Legislation:
To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to require the principal campaign committee of a candidate for election to the office of President to include with the committee's statement of organization a copy of the candidate's birth certificate, together with such other documentation as may be necessary to establish that the candidate meets the qualifications for eligibility to the Office of President under the Constitution.

CPSIA Meets the Food Industry

2009-03-15T19:22:00.000-07:00

First there was CPSIA -- to tell us what children's products we could and could not make, sell, or buy. Now Congress is going after our food supply...All in the name of "protecting us", of course!

The Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009, House Bill 875, has 40 co-sponsors and was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce and the Committee on Agriculture on February 4, 2009.

It has such a "safe sounding" title:
Title: To establish the Food Safety Administration within the Department of Health and Human Services to protect the public health by preventing food-borne illness, ensuring the safety of food, improving research on contaminants leading to food-borne illness, and improving security of food from intentional contamination, and for other purposes. (emphasis mine!)

Just like "any" became a big problem in CPSIA -- this section "and for other purposes" should concern us.

There are two portions of the first directions that jumped out at me right away were: Directs the Administrator to: (1) administer a national food safety program; and (6) establishing a national traceability system for food.

I don't believe a national food safety program would be one of the constitutionally granted roles of the federal government. And a tracing system for our food? I'm not liking that idea.

I believe there are some other issues with the law, those are just the ones I know of right now. Definitely a good law to contact our representatives about voting against!