Political Hari-Kari

Political Hari-Kari

Nancy, Harry and Barack are drinking champagne, but their party is really a wake.  When you ram a piece of nation changing, unconstitutional legislation like Obamacare through Congress with bribes, threats, rule changes and all sorts of public corruption, you insult the American people.  When you pass a government takeover of health care that is supported by only 35% of Americans, the ultimate result is political disaster, the scope of which they can’t begin to imagine.  

They have drunk much of the Kool-Aid and convinced themselves that the stunning election victories in Virginia and New Jersey were just anti-incumbent.  They rationalize the Scott Brown victory in Massachusetts as part of the trend that swept Obama into office.  And now they are spouting the line that their Obamacare victory will lead to political victory in November.  

Cooler heads in the Democratic Party know better.  Pollster for both Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton, Pat Caddell, declared that, “this could be the end of the Democratic Party.”
The Democrats are counting on quick support for Obamacare based on the kickbacks and pork included with the bill.  They point to the support for Social Security and Medicare as confirmation that Obamacare will become popular.  However, they fail to note that both Social Security and Medicare passed by significant majorities with bipartisan support. 

There is little or no similarity.  Obamacare barely passed and without any Republican support.  And although the Democrats have overwhelming majorities in both the House and Senate, it barely squeaked through.  The fact is that Americans did not oppose Social Security and Medicare the way Americans oppose Obamacare.

In this case the radicalism of the Democratic Party has so clouded their vision and their political sense that they believe their own lies.  

Of course, Obamacare has absolutely nothing to do with health care.  It has to do with one thing and one thing only, power.  From the beginning of time man has sought power over others.  Some rationalize that they are nobler than other men and women and thus deserve power over them.  Others believe they are more enlightened and smarter than other men and women and thus deserve power over them.  Whatever their rationalization, the real reason is the oldest sin of all.  Men seek to be like God.

Our founders understood this and that’s why they did everything in their power to create a government with limited power over its citizens.  Today’s Democrat leaders reject the founders’ philosophy.  They seek to be like God.  They have convinced themselves that they are better and wiser and smarter and thus know what is better for you and me than we do for ourselves.  People like this don’t seek a little power, or some power, they seek absolute power.

But Pelosi and Reid and Obama have misread the political tea leaves.  The American people have overwhelmingly made it clear that they reject the Marxist philosophy of redistribution of income.  They still believe in freedom and that America is the land of opportunity and justice for all.

This November I predict that the Democrats will suffer the worst defeat in their Party’s history.  From City Hall to the Halls of Congress, the American people will be heard.  From the County Courthouse to the State House, Democrats will be defeated.
Their temporary triumph will indeed become their Waterloo.  The passage of Obamacare will prove to be a pyrrhic victory.

As for Obamacare itself, I rather doubt that it will ever take force.  There are too many unconstitutional aspects of the bill to withstand the many court challenges already in the works.  And if that fails, the tea party movement will rise up to force its repeal before it begins to deprive Americans of their freedom and to bankrupt our nation.

It looks like a victory for the far left, but it’s just a mirage.  In truth it is the beginning of the new American Revolution.

Down a Slippery Slope?

Down a Slippery Slope?
This week the US House of Representatives is to vote on the Senate passed version of the health care bill.  Some call it Obamacare.  The outcome of this vote could change the United States of America forever.

Frankly, it’s not about health care costs, or universal coverage, or any financial concerns.  One would have to be naïve in the extreme to believe that such a program would not be the first step toward socialized medicine.  President Obama has said on record before a union audience that his preference is for a one payer socialized medicine program like England or Canada.

Obamacare is simply socialized medicine on the installment plan.  Its passage would signal the end of free market medical care.  It would pass the baton on your health coverage from you deciding what is best for you, to government deciding what is best for you.

Inevitably it will lead to an English or Canadian system with dramatic health care shortages and an end to advances in medical care.  That’s simply the nature of socialism.

Your health care will be determined by “standards” having to do with how old you are, how healthy you are, and your value to society.  

You will eventually be assigned a doctor, you won’t choose your own.  Government created rules and guidelines will determine what care you are entitled to and what you cannot receive.  Like England and Canada, you’ll wait months for medical care, and even emergency medical care will take hours and days.  The quality of health care will deteriorate as bureaucrats make life or death decisions and as the cost of health care soars.  When has any government entity ever done anything more efficiently than the free market?

If you have not already contacted your United States Representative and your two United States Senators, drop everything and call or e-mail each one of them today!  

You can find your Senators’ phone number and e-mail addresses at http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm and you can find your Congressman’s phone number and e-mail address at https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml.

Freedom Solution to Medical Care Issue

     Freedom Solution to Medical Care Issue

Let’s begin by being honest.  There is no health care crisis in America.  It’s just another made up “crisis” to advance the liberal agenda.  The current proposal by the government would be a disaster for individual freedom and would lower the quality of medical care for everyone, while increasing the cost and increasing the waiting time for care.  There is nothing for anyone to like about Obamacare unless you are a politician or a bureaucrat that thinks he knows what’s better for you than you do.

    

But there are important things that could be done to make medical care better and cheaper.  This is a new look at things.

    

        1. Tort Reform.  Specifically let’s end punitive damages across the board.              The US is the only industrialized nation in the world with punitive
            damages and that’s the only reason you and I pay more for car
            insurance, and for other goods and services.  Tort reform is the starting
            point for lowering the cost of medical care and that’s what Americans
            care about.  They love their medical care, they just don’t love the rising
            cost of medical care.

        2. Individual Portability.  Individuals, whether they work for a company or
            not, should own their own insurance and be able to benefit from it
            wherever they work.  Competition will provide the best possible quality
            of insurance for everyone.

        3. Deductibility.  This is the most important and powerful reform that is
            needed.  I am not suggesting that each person should be able to deduct
            the entire amount they spend on medical and prescription from their
            taxable income.  Rather I’m suggesting that they be able to deduct
            100% of the amount they spend on medical care and prescription drugs
            from their taxes!  Consider the many positive benefits this would have,
            including putting more power and more freedom in the hands of the
            individual.

                    A. Each individual could choose what level of deducibility would be
                        best for him or her.  In a high percent of the cases, the only
                        insurance coverage a person would need would be for
                        catastrophic events and such insurance would cost just a
                        fraction of what that person is paying for medical insurance
                        today.  The only losers would be the insurance companies.

                    B. Reduced Bureaucratic Cost.  Under this plan you would pay cash
                        (check, credit card, etc.) when you visit the doctor, up to the
                        highest deductible amount.  This simplifies things greatly for
                        your doctor and dramatically reduces his costs.  Your doctor
                        would no longer need to spend tens of thousands of dollars on
                        malpractice insurance (tort reform) or additional tens of
                        thousands of dollars for staff to fill out forms and wrestle with
                        the insurance companies.  The result?  The size of your doctor
                        bills would decrease significantly.  In addition, such reforms
                        would actually encourage young men and women to enter the
                        medical profession, instead of Obamacare which would create
                        a shortage of medical professionals, especially nurses and
                        doctors.

                    C. Medicare Option.  Individuals on Medicare should be given the
                        option of simply deducting their medical costs and the cost of
                        their prescription drugs from their income instead of receiving
                        Medicare and prescription drug benefits.  This would ensure that
                        seniors who opt out would no longer have trouble getting
                        medical care and that they would be welcome as patients who
                        pay the full cost of their medical care.  Moreover, the quality of
                        medical care would also increase.  The taxpayers would benefit
                        greatly as millions of seniors drop out of Medicare and the
                        federal drug prescription program to gain direct deductibility
                        from their taxes.  This would be a big step toward saving
                        Medicare that is currently bankrupt.  It would also dramatically
                        reduce the cost of the drug prescription program.

        4. Medical Care for Those Who Cannot Pay for It.  The freedom solution to
            this problem is to allow taxpayers to make contributions to qualified
            nonprofit foundations that provide care for those who need it.  The
            deductibility (from taxable income) would be higher than a dollar per
            dollar donated.  In other words, your gift of $1,000 might allow you to
            actually deduct $1,500 from your taxable income.  The deductible
            amount could be adjusted annually up and down to ensure that there
            are sufficient funds available in qualified nonprofits to care for those
            who cannot pay themselves.  Such coverage should be limited to those
            who for no reason of their own simply do not have the funds to pay
            their medical bills and for their prescription drugs. 

The proposal I have outlined above would not expand government or its control
over your life or mine.  It would increase the quality and quantity of medical
care and it would shrink the cost of medical care dramatically.  This is the kind
of proposal the Republicans should advance to improve what is already the
greatest medical care system in the world.

John Finn, RIP

John Finn, RIP
I recently lost a long time friend, John Finn, to cancer.  John was above all things, a Christian gentleman.  I was blessed to have John as a friend.

The first time I heard of John Finn was when I was active in Young Americans for Freedom (YAF) in about 1965.  John, a proud Texas native, was living in the San Diego area and his business card listed him as some sort of regional director of YAF.  I believe it was at that time that John was working with Ted Loeffler on a special test project to move college students to the right by sending them a series of conservative books.  Throughout John’s life he was always open to new ideas.  Even when he reached his seventies, John was ahead of the technology and idea curve.

I probably first met John when he and his wife, Sherry, were living in the Los Angeles area.  John had started a company, INFOMAT, to market direct mail lists and to raise money for great causes.  Located on the Palos Verdes Peninsula, INFOMAT was always on the leading edge of using technology to raise funds for the conservative movement.  Of course, John gave me his card listing him as the President of INFOMAT.

But my very favorite card of John’s said simply, “John Finn, Entrepreneur” with his address and telephone number, of course.  And indeed John Finn was truly an American entrepreneur.  John’s fertile and creative mind led him “Edison like” to explore and dabble in a myriad of entrepreneurial ventures.  I’m sure I don’t know them all, but just a few of what I remember include brokering radio stations, construction of small hydro electric plants, selling gold mines, and my absolute favorite, selling a ship of cow manure to India!  Perhaps it was just fertilizer, but I remember it as cow manure.

When I would visit with John on my trips to see clients in California, he always came to the meetings with 40 questions or ideas.  It was never 39 or 41, always 40.  These were challenging questions and cutting edge ideas.  Yes, some were “out there” but all were thought provoking.

John always had his ear to the “railroad tracks” looking out to get on board the next great idea.  He also knew what was happening down the street from me in Virginia before I had any inkling what was going on.  Everyone I ever met who knew John Finn liked him.  He always had a smile on his face and words of encouragement.

He was not, in spite of his great inquisitive mind and tireless energy, a businessman or entrepreneur first.  His family came well before his personal ventures and his faith in God before that.  And there was always time for working on behalf of the causes he believed in.  He and his entire family strongly believed in the right of an unborn child to live and they were not hesitant to give their time and their treasure in support of that noble cause.  But no matter how strongly John believed in a cause, he always supported it with that special smile on his face.

I miss that smile.  And I look forward to enjoying it again when we meet in heaven.