I have to agree with Joe Scarborough, host of MSNBC's Morning Joe. The Democrats have no one to blame but themselves. They have a majority in both houses, a very popular president in office but their enemies are basically in their own "house." President Obama is doing a good job of representing the party, but his own people are preventing him from leading. Somebody needs to open a door for him, and help him to garner support from the right people and to ogranize in an effective way. Why aren't the democratic leaders (majority leaders and committee chairpeople) standing up and supporting him instead of putting out arguments which cause contention and weaken his support base and instead give him something to lead with! When healthcare gets defeated, it will not be because it is a bad idea or that Obama or the Democrats don't have a plan, even a good plan. It will be because the party in power has too many turncoats and gainsayers within its ranks.
The Republicans NOT in power have used their contentious spirit which they have polished over the past 8 to 16 years or more, to whip up the doubts and fears amongst the American people to a fever pitch. Now, they are helping to bring out the worst of the party in power. The issue, as I see it, is that the American people have been made afraid(by Republicans) that they cant trust their elected government to come up with a healthcare plan. Obama is trying to use his rock star status (quickly waning) to bring up moral support for his thoughts on the issues of Healthcare. There is a real problem in that the people have been de-focused from real issues and focused on this issues of their fears and the hob goblins the Republicans have set up before them.
The most basic need in this country's healthcare system is to cover those without care. I heard one of my relative say that he thought you could just go into a hospital and tell them you needed care and couldn't pay them. They would be obligated to treat you and later you could then decide on paying them as you could. He thought the healthcare system was doing just fine and needed no reform! There is a clear lack of understanding of how this whole thing works on HIS part, obviously....but still something needs to be done and nothing is being done....FAST!!
How about we start with the uninsured. Let's make a blanket statement that every American has to have medical insurance of some kind as well as prescription coverage. That leaves all those Americans who want to keep what they have on their own and only makes us consider those who have NO insurance. That also leaves out the "under insured" but they have not spoken up and so we leave them alone. We have to appease those who are yelling about getting healthcare support and reform. We also have a responsibility to take care of those who cannot take care of themselves...what are Republicans proposing for THEM? I propose that we have that public option for those who have no healthcare. We also mandate that employers keep covering the employees they are now covering. There. See how easy that is? Then we extend Medicare to all who have no healthcare and pay for it by tabacco and alcohol taxes. Anything we can do to move funds where it should be going. Taxes we are already collecting for any kind of health hazzard should be included in the pot. i know we have people in Washington who can figure this stuff out if they would get their heads out of somewhere they don't belong and their hands out of Lobbiest pockets.
Let us work together. I don't know if my ideas have any merit, but all I hear is that the president doesn't have a plan but the president's plan won't work. The Democrats are trying to bancrupt the country and kill off the Insurance companies, small business and run everybody to public healthcare. Another one of my relatives told me that she was afraid of losing her job! Negative, negative, negative. Can we please make it work this time?
I went to my doctor for a regular visit and when I got the bill it was over $100! A year ago it was $50. We can't afford Healthcare like that!
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Monday, August 10, 2009
Afghanistan & the Islamic world
World and Ancient History is my thing....what I studied in college. I also love comparative religions and the cultures that they inspire. Therefore I am somewhat familiar with the Arab and the Islamic world. They are rich in heritage, traditions, and of course, their faith. They look back to the Crusades and the atrocities and suffering they endured at the hands of the west, but the West grew up! They are still living in the 12th Century! They have reason to mistrust America and the West, but they have extremists who work to undermine peace and offers of help because of the 12th Century. Now admittedly some of my ancestors rode and fought in those Crusades, others of my noble and royal house sent those Crusades out (King John). However, I want the west to be able to help Israel, Iraq, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. We have much that we can learn from each other....but they have to stop fighting us and just regulate their contact with us. I have no doubt that they need protection from certain elements and segments of the west, but they need to stop hating because of the deeds of the past (centuries back).
Seems to me that things are getting out of hand. The Shiite/Sunni conflict is destroying their chance at democracy. Of course, they don't seem to be ready for democracy. They don't see how it works in Saudi Arabia and in Turkey. They would like more of a Sadam Hussein type leader except one who would be more generous and kind. Won't work like that. They are ruining their culture and stopping its progress on the world stage. It seems to me that the Western world is pretty well civilized but the Islamic world, as well as most of Asia is falling into chaos!
I wish they would get it together and become peaceful nations and progressive cultures. Is there a chance?
Seems to me that things are getting out of hand. The Shiite/Sunni conflict is destroying their chance at democracy. Of course, they don't seem to be ready for democracy. They don't see how it works in Saudi Arabia and in Turkey. They would like more of a Sadam Hussein type leader except one who would be more generous and kind. Won't work like that. They are ruining their culture and stopping its progress on the world stage. It seems to me that the Western world is pretty well civilized but the Islamic world, as well as most of Asia is falling into chaos!
I wish they would get it together and become peaceful nations and progressive cultures. Is there a chance?
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Healthcare, worthy of the row that we have?
Republicans said they knew they would not win the defeat of now Justice Sonia Sotomayor but they wanted it to be a “teaching moment.” I suppose that means that they wanted to get their issues and opinions out during the conformation process. We all should know that Justices serve for an indefinite term and frequently vote their heart and mind and not the views they were confirmed to support. It is amazing how that works….usually for the good. We will see how her decisions go. She was nominated to replace a justice thought to be a liberal influence and thus the Devil’s appointee to the mind of Republican/Conservatives (are there any Republican/Liberals?). It may be seen that she will decide on behalf of the law and the constitution with a little cultural insight thrown in.
There is precedent for cultural influence on the Court. Take any issue of cultural passion and follow it thru the centuries. Slavery and women’s right’s to vote and work to name just two, are decisions pronounced and later reversed according to popular beliefs. I can’t see any remedy for that but we cannot panic over a decision by Ms Sotomayor seemingly with cultural bias.
On to healthcare: That issue has become a firestorm with flames fanned by conservatives who are trying to defeat a Democratic congress and president and not to discuss the issues and work out a workable and livable plan for healthcare reform. The firestorm, created by the Republicans, is claimed by them as a sign that the people are behind them. It is SOOOOO transparent! To parody the Fox News slogan: “Fair and Balanced” is what was wanted, unfair and unbalanced is what we got. President Obama wanted Dems and Reps to get together and come up with a good plan. The president said what his parameters would be but then turned it over to Congress to come up with a plan like that or another plan they thought was better. Congress turned into a cage of animals feuding and marking their own territory. They raged and shouted, accomplishing nothing. Republicans, all thru the campaign were nasty and plotting. John McCain was not, but his campaign workers were. Now the administration is continuing to fight to overcome the wrath and venom of Conservatives who want nothing more than the defeat and humiliation of the President of the United States. It is a tragedy!
THIS should be a teaching moment. There should be non-partisan discussions of how we make a good plan. Conservatives seem to only want reform of regulations on the insurance industry. It seems that they want the insurance industry (the fox) to be involved in the reform process (in the hen house). The Democrats understand that a more radical surgery on the system is needed – BADLY. The most radical thing proposed is the “Public Option” that will be a government funded and regulated option if the Private and Commercial Options (what we have now) do not supply the needs of the poor or the dissatisfied of the population. The Conservatives are furious over the cost of the plan on top of the current stimulus plans. However, instead of working on a plan to manage the debt or create an option to cover the uninsured or underinsured Americans without raising the national debt they choose to promote a shouting match purporting to represent the majority of Americans. An oft quoted proverb: “Vox populi, vox Dei” does not mean it is best. If you follow the roots of that proverb it comes from Isa 66:6. It is criticizing the acceptance of the voice (noise) of the people versus the other voices mentioned. Sometimes we have to consider that the people may not have been exposed to all the information and have not been educated concerning all the issues and ramifications of things. Their priorities are their wallets and purses, alone. They want police, public works and teachers but don’t want to pay for them. Politicians work on their re-elections at the cost of the people’s needs. There needs to be “stewards” in America: statesmen who will be upright, of good character and full of charisma, to lead the people to a better America. So far we have bad tempered children who fight amongst themselves and create chaos and broken systems and then blame someone else for the ills of the nation. It has got to change! THIS is the teaching moment, NOT Justice Sotomayor!
My family hasn’t had insurance for 10 years. My diabetes has advanced and I am now disabled. With insurance I probably would still be working. My wife, without insurance had a stroke and was also diagnosed with high blood pressure and diabetes. She is also disabled, but until a fall last year was working a few hours a week. She is now recovering from that fall and surgery on her shoulder. With insurance she most likely would not have had that stroke and would have had her diabetes under control. We have suffered from great debt trying to take care of ourselves. We need help because we are unable to help ourselves. How many others are uninsured or underinsured who need help from somewhere? What are those of us to do?
Medicare finally covers me and my wife because of our “disability status” so we are not yet suffering from our current needs. Who knows if that will change? Medicare is an inadequate and corrupt system I am told…..so FIX it! The system purports to cover a group of a multitude of senior citizens and disabled people. It should be extended to cover all of the needy. The Veterans Administration is also a government run system and it runs pretty well….make it BETTER! The U.S. Military has doctors and hospitals who serve all in domestic as well as far flung places, and does it pretty well I understand. Figure out how we can use the techniques and methods to get civilians the same kind of care. These are the issues that need to be discussed and voted upon. Sure the funding is a horrible roadblock. So work on what to do about it, not draw lines in the sand to make negotiation difficult or impossible. We have got to talk civilly and effectively on a bi-partisan level.
So far we are not doing that and it is polarizing the people as well as the Congress to the point of a stand still or ending up with a debacle of at least inadequate or worse situation than we have. What say we quit feuding or being political as we are and reform our healthcare system to something that will work and that we can pay for. Everyone should be taken care of, be able to afford it and access it. The government should be able to afford it and keep tabs on it so that it works. I KNOW we have smart people in Washington SOMEWHERE! If not I know a few reporters, anchormen, and commentators who are a lot smarter than people I have heard talking who hold office!
There is precedent for cultural influence on the Court. Take any issue of cultural passion and follow it thru the centuries. Slavery and women’s right’s to vote and work to name just two, are decisions pronounced and later reversed according to popular beliefs. I can’t see any remedy for that but we cannot panic over a decision by Ms Sotomayor seemingly with cultural bias.
On to healthcare: That issue has become a firestorm with flames fanned by conservatives who are trying to defeat a Democratic congress and president and not to discuss the issues and work out a workable and livable plan for healthcare reform. The firestorm, created by the Republicans, is claimed by them as a sign that the people are behind them. It is SOOOOO transparent! To parody the Fox News slogan: “Fair and Balanced” is what was wanted, unfair and unbalanced is what we got. President Obama wanted Dems and Reps to get together and come up with a good plan. The president said what his parameters would be but then turned it over to Congress to come up with a plan like that or another plan they thought was better. Congress turned into a cage of animals feuding and marking their own territory. They raged and shouted, accomplishing nothing. Republicans, all thru the campaign were nasty and plotting. John McCain was not, but his campaign workers were. Now the administration is continuing to fight to overcome the wrath and venom of Conservatives who want nothing more than the defeat and humiliation of the President of the United States. It is a tragedy!
THIS should be a teaching moment. There should be non-partisan discussions of how we make a good plan. Conservatives seem to only want reform of regulations on the insurance industry. It seems that they want the insurance industry (the fox) to be involved in the reform process (in the hen house). The Democrats understand that a more radical surgery on the system is needed – BADLY. The most radical thing proposed is the “Public Option” that will be a government funded and regulated option if the Private and Commercial Options (what we have now) do not supply the needs of the poor or the dissatisfied of the population. The Conservatives are furious over the cost of the plan on top of the current stimulus plans. However, instead of working on a plan to manage the debt or create an option to cover the uninsured or underinsured Americans without raising the national debt they choose to promote a shouting match purporting to represent the majority of Americans. An oft quoted proverb: “Vox populi, vox Dei” does not mean it is best. If you follow the roots of that proverb it comes from Isa 66:6. It is criticizing the acceptance of the voice (noise) of the people versus the other voices mentioned. Sometimes we have to consider that the people may not have been exposed to all the information and have not been educated concerning all the issues and ramifications of things. Their priorities are their wallets and purses, alone. They want police, public works and teachers but don’t want to pay for them. Politicians work on their re-elections at the cost of the people’s needs. There needs to be “stewards” in America: statesmen who will be upright, of good character and full of charisma, to lead the people to a better America. So far we have bad tempered children who fight amongst themselves and create chaos and broken systems and then blame someone else for the ills of the nation. It has got to change! THIS is the teaching moment, NOT Justice Sotomayor!
My family hasn’t had insurance for 10 years. My diabetes has advanced and I am now disabled. With insurance I probably would still be working. My wife, without insurance had a stroke and was also diagnosed with high blood pressure and diabetes. She is also disabled, but until a fall last year was working a few hours a week. She is now recovering from that fall and surgery on her shoulder. With insurance she most likely would not have had that stroke and would have had her diabetes under control. We have suffered from great debt trying to take care of ourselves. We need help because we are unable to help ourselves. How many others are uninsured or underinsured who need help from somewhere? What are those of us to do?
Medicare finally covers me and my wife because of our “disability status” so we are not yet suffering from our current needs. Who knows if that will change? Medicare is an inadequate and corrupt system I am told…..so FIX it! The system purports to cover a group of a multitude of senior citizens and disabled people. It should be extended to cover all of the needy. The Veterans Administration is also a government run system and it runs pretty well….make it BETTER! The U.S. Military has doctors and hospitals who serve all in domestic as well as far flung places, and does it pretty well I understand. Figure out how we can use the techniques and methods to get civilians the same kind of care. These are the issues that need to be discussed and voted upon. Sure the funding is a horrible roadblock. So work on what to do about it, not draw lines in the sand to make negotiation difficult or impossible. We have got to talk civilly and effectively on a bi-partisan level.
So far we are not doing that and it is polarizing the people as well as the Congress to the point of a stand still or ending up with a debacle of at least inadequate or worse situation than we have. What say we quit feuding or being political as we are and reform our healthcare system to something that will work and that we can pay for. Everyone should be taken care of, be able to afford it and access it. The government should be able to afford it and keep tabs on it so that it works. I KNOW we have smart people in Washington SOMEWHERE! If not I know a few reporters, anchormen, and commentators who are a lot smarter than people I have heard talking who hold office!
Friday, August 7, 2009
Politics today seems to be a yelling match of opposing opinions! Originally in this country, politicians were elected (IE: hired) to represent their constituents. It was considered that the common people were not competent to represent themselves in a pure democracy so a “representative democracy” was formed by electing the rich, the famous, the prominent and others of such standing who were the brightest and best to understand issues and make decisions. Today we are no longer a nation of illiterate, uneducated, and isolated folk. We elect them and send THEM to congress! They are called Republicans and Democrats!
When I was in school in political science classes, I was taught that in Congress there were Conservatives, Moderates, and Liberals. The titles of Republican and Democrat made no difference. The Conservatives and Liberals would seek out there own kind from amongst the elected representatives and senators to support their causes and bills. It mattered not whether it was a Republican or Democrat who was approached it only mattered if it was a conservative or liberal. Moderates were the ones who could be swayed one way or another and help make up a majority of support one way or another. As I was taught, a Liberal was one who wanted change in the way the government was being handled and a Conservative was one who wanted things to stay the way they were. Today a Conservative is a Republican and a Liberal is going to Hell and taking the country with them, otherwise known as a Democrat.
What we have in this country now is a yelling match and a war between Conservative Republicans and Democrats who are labeled as “The Liberals.” I, for one, am a Moderate AND a Democrat by Registration. Our good Utah Representative in the House, Jim Matheson, seems to be a Conservative Democrat. He is so Conservative that I don’t know how he calls himself a Democrat at all! I liked the way he talked and spoke and saw him as the best of the candidates and voted for him. I get his emails these days and he seems to follow Republican leadership in the house and not Democratic. I am very disappointed in him. As a Moderate, I support and vote for whomever attracts me and sounds the most like the way I think. Sometimes that is a Democrat and sometimes that is a Republican, or even a Libertarian, etc. I vote on the issues, not on the party.
The polarization in this country is spurred on by the “religious right” which, admittedly is losing influence, but the monsters they created are going strong, still muckraking and blowing things out of proportion. Stalin and his thugs worked the Russian revolution by pretending to represent the common people and called themselves the Bolsheviks meaning “The Majority” while calling the rest of the people Mensheviks, meaning “The Minority.” In reality the Conservatives and Moderates in the country were a much larger percent of the population. The Bolsheviks succeeded because they shouted so loudly and were so violent that the name they made for themselves clouded out the truth of issues and independent opinion. When they were done, the common people came to realize the mistake they had made and were imprisoned behind an iron curtain of tyranny and despotism. Now, Conservatives are doing pretty much the same thing in shouting so loudly and pretending to represent the majority opinion on every issue with big money and prestige being wielded in their defense. We need more civility and calm discussion in this country. I don’t know how we will do that as long as we have Republicans trying to undermine the bi-partisan climate which was proposed by President Obama.
What can we do to get this country back on track and off of the shouting match?
When I was in school in political science classes, I was taught that in Congress there were Conservatives, Moderates, and Liberals. The titles of Republican and Democrat made no difference. The Conservatives and Liberals would seek out there own kind from amongst the elected representatives and senators to support their causes and bills. It mattered not whether it was a Republican or Democrat who was approached it only mattered if it was a conservative or liberal. Moderates were the ones who could be swayed one way or another and help make up a majority of support one way or another. As I was taught, a Liberal was one who wanted change in the way the government was being handled and a Conservative was one who wanted things to stay the way they were. Today a Conservative is a Republican and a Liberal is going to Hell and taking the country with them, otherwise known as a Democrat.
What we have in this country now is a yelling match and a war between Conservative Republicans and Democrats who are labeled as “The Liberals.” I, for one, am a Moderate AND a Democrat by Registration. Our good Utah Representative in the House, Jim Matheson, seems to be a Conservative Democrat. He is so Conservative that I don’t know how he calls himself a Democrat at all! I liked the way he talked and spoke and saw him as the best of the candidates and voted for him. I get his emails these days and he seems to follow Republican leadership in the house and not Democratic. I am very disappointed in him. As a Moderate, I support and vote for whomever attracts me and sounds the most like the way I think. Sometimes that is a Democrat and sometimes that is a Republican, or even a Libertarian, etc. I vote on the issues, not on the party.
The polarization in this country is spurred on by the “religious right” which, admittedly is losing influence, but the monsters they created are going strong, still muckraking and blowing things out of proportion. Stalin and his thugs worked the Russian revolution by pretending to represent the common people and called themselves the Bolsheviks meaning “The Majority” while calling the rest of the people Mensheviks, meaning “The Minority.” In reality the Conservatives and Moderates in the country were a much larger percent of the population. The Bolsheviks succeeded because they shouted so loudly and were so violent that the name they made for themselves clouded out the truth of issues and independent opinion. When they were done, the common people came to realize the mistake they had made and were imprisoned behind an iron curtain of tyranny and despotism. Now, Conservatives are doing pretty much the same thing in shouting so loudly and pretending to represent the majority opinion on every issue with big money and prestige being wielded in their defense. We need more civility and calm discussion in this country. I don’t know how we will do that as long as we have Republicans trying to undermine the bi-partisan climate which was proposed by President Obama.
What can we do to get this country back on track and off of the shouting match?
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