I keep hearing about this "public option" and the "single payer health plan" and "universal health care" during the whole Health Care Reform debate. Being an ignorant housewife, I've found myself wondering; what exactly is the "public option" and the "single payer health plan" and "universal health care"? What do those words mean? Well, according to Wikipedia, they mean this: A public health insurance option (public insurance option or public option for short) is a proposed health insurance plan that would be offered by the U.S. federal government. It is present in America's Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009 (H.R. 3200) as a Qualified Health Benefit Plan.
Universal health care is health care coverage for all eligible residents of a political region and often covers medical, dental and mental health care. Typically, costs are borne in the majority by government-funded programs.
Single-payer health care is a public service financing the delivery of near-universal or universal health care to a given population as defined by age, citizenship, residency, or any other demographic. Single-payer health insurance collects all medical fees and then pays for all services through a single government (or government-related) source. In wealthy nations, this kind of publicly-managed health insurance is typically extended to all citizens and legal residents. Australia's Medicare, Canada's Medicare, the United Kingdom's National Health Service, and Taiwan's National Health Insurance are examples of single-payer universal health care systems. Medicare in the United States is an example of a single-payer system for a specified, limited group of persons within a country. Think about this for a minute. Obama and the liberal Senate and House are advocating a public option and, in some instances, have even come out to shill for this "single payer health care plan". You know, like the system we use for Medicare! - the very system Obama admits is so corrupt and poorly run that it enables millions of dollars in fraud, waste and abuse to slip thru the cracks every single year! Remember his address to Congress recently? Obama said fixing the broken parts of Medicare was how he planned to pay for the new health care plan. Yes, Obama has actually proposed to fix an obviously broken system while implementing an identical and yet even bigger system, all at the same time. Does that make sense to you? Let me put it to you this way...if you bought a house from a builder and found out that the plumbing leaked, the electrical work wasn't up to code, the woodwork was rife with termites and the foundation was cracked, would you make the decision to fix that house and, at the same time, hire that same builder to build you an even bigger house? No! You would figure out whether or not the first house was worth saving and, in order to do that, would go out and find a better, more knowledable and trustworthy builder to help you make that decision! (After first smacking around and/or suing the original bad builder first, I'm sure!) Then you would, hopefully, take the lessons learned from dealing with that bad builder and take pains to insure you didn't allow that sort of shoddy work to take place on your new house. The point is, you wouldn't logically think it'd be a good idea to throw good money after bad. After all, what's the definition of insanity? It's doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. It's time to tell your duly elected senate and congressional representatives to STOP THE INSANITY! I don't know about all of you, but I definitely would like to see the cost of health care in this country brought under control. But making bigger government is not the answer!
Go here to contact your senators and your congressional representatives. If you don't want this ridiculously inadequate and grossly misguided legislation to pass, let your voice be heard. Tell your elected officials that we need real health care reform and not just another program that will further bloat an already inefficient and incapable government system, particularly one that has already demonstrated such an amazing capacity for fraud, for waste and, most certainly, for abuse. DEMAND AN END TO THIS INSANITY.DEMAND REAL CHANGE! America can't afford the health care reform bills currently proposed by the liberal Democrats, America can't afford another huge growth in the size of our government and America can't afford to sit back and watch this happen without so much as opening our mouths to be heard.
Is there no end to the Obama "love wave" that's been flooding the lands across the Great Pond? Good to know he's so beloved over there. They are his target audience, right? Right? I mean honestly! I found the announcement of Obama's latest accolade to be ridiculous in the extreme. Think about it. Giving Obama the Nobel Peace prize this soon into his presidency is like crowning the Dallas Cowboys National Champions at this point in their season. After all, the Cowboys have, just this year, moved into brand new digs that the whole world finds pretty impressive, they call themselves “America’s team” despite the fact that not all of America loves them (no word yet on if that makes those people racists or obstructionists), they’ve had big difficulties achieving their goals and have even suffered a couple of losses due to poor leadership and bad performance. But hey – there’s plenty of people out there that HOPE the ‘boys can CHANGE the path they’re on and pull a championship out of the hat so why not crown them now? After all, expression of HOPE and the promise of CHANGE are what really count, right? The decision by the NPP committee leads me to believe that this is the case. Can’t say I find that all that inspiring….
Like many in Washington (make that most in Washington) Nancy Pelosi is guided almost exclusively by the party line, which in her case, is the Democratic party line. Doesn't matter what she's talking about, doesn't matter the import or the consequences, I promise you ol' Nance will tout the Democratic dogma with her last gasping breath. Bet on it. This woman disturbs me on so many levels. Her single-minded determination to put party above country frightens me to my core. Most politicians irritate the hell out of me with their rhetoric and party line BS, but Nancy takes it to a whole new level. If she disturbs you, too, I'd like to hear about it. I get e-mails here and there from people who seem to enjoy my "political" posts, but hardly any actual comments on those posts. My husband tells me to keep writing them, though, because he knows I'm passionate about politics and this is a subject I spend a lot of time researching. We were talking about it tonight and I told him that I felt the political stuff was a big turn-off for those who read my blog and, if that was the case, it was a waste of time to post them. I mean, geez. If I just wanted to rant and rave, I can do that in the comfort of my living room chair and save myself some heavy typing, right? So if these posts are something you're interested in, please let me know. I'm equally as interested in your views, if you'd care to share them. I think we probably learn more from discourse than we do from agreement so I wouldn't at all mind hearing your opposing views. Of course, I also welcome hearing from like-minded people, too. It's always good to find out that you have things in common with others! At any rate, here's some of my favorite soundbites from Nancy Pelosi. I hope you'll take the time to listen to them (they're all fairly short) and let me know what you think!
For those of you who don't know, Van Jones was hired by the Obama White House as the "Green Czar" (a job title that sounds so wonderfully benign but truly isn't). Jones was an avowed Marxist and even declared himself a real live Communist back in the day. He also was a person who signed the "9-11 Truth" petition - a petition that claimed there was evidence that the United States government may have been either responsible for or knowingly complicit in the September 11 attacks. He's also positively famous for making racist comments such as this: "it’s just very, very hard for white people to hear the pain of the subjugated people in this country." Jones apparently values a so-called minority's pain much more than your average white guy's. Anywho, not only does Obama's Senior Advisor Valerie Jarrett think the world of Mr. Jones and his methods, so does Nancy Pelosi. Boggles the mind. (Jones resigned amid controversy on Labor Day weekend.)
Hear that people? She's got no problem raising taxes. Ever. Because that's just what we need, higher taxes. How else are we going to pay for the ginormous, bloated, inept and corrupt welfare state that our country is fast becoming?
It's just plain "un-American" to roust illegal immigrants. You know, I have no desire to make anyone suffer needlessly. Really I don't. But somebody really ought to clarify the word "illegal" to me because I am obviously misinterpreting it. I mean I read an article the other day about illegal immigrants buying houses here in America (with the help of that fine organization ACORN and our tax dollars!) so it must not be too illegal to be "illegal", right? And a town in Texas got itself in mega-hot water a couple of years ago when it passed a law making it illegal to rent a home to an illegal alien. And now law enforcement in the country has been forbidden to question a person to determine their immigration status. So what exactly does it mean to be "illegal" in this country? I'd ask Nancy, but she's too busy preaching to her base to take the time to answer me.
Wow. Once again, Nance is pointing out us "un-American" folk. And here I thought we were making her proud with our willingness to be "disruptors". Guess she's gotten grumpier in her older years, eh?
No pork, Nancy??? Really? What do you call some of these (keep scrolling. The best ones are on the bottom!):
$1 billion for Amtrak, which hasn’t earned a profit in four decades.
$2 billion to help subsidize child care.
$400 million for research into global warming.
$2.4 billion for projects to demonstrate how carbon greenhouse gas can be safely removed from the atmosphere.
$650 million for coupons to help consumers convert their TV sets from analog to digital, part of the digital TV conversion.
$600 million to buy a new fleet of cars for federal employees and government departments.
$75 million to fund programs to help people quit smoking.
$21 million to re-sod the National Mall, which suffered heavy use during the Inauguration.
$2.25 billion for national parks. This item has sparked calls for an investigation, because the chief lobbyist of the National Parks Association is the son of Rep. David R. Obey, D-Wisc. The $2,25 billion is about equal to the National Park Service’s entire annual budget. The Washington Times reports it is a threefold increase over what was originally proposed for parks in the stimulus bill. Obey is chairman of the House Appropriations Committee.
$335 million for treatment and prevention of sexually transmitted diseases.
$50 million for the National Endowment for the Arts.
$4.19 billion to stave off foreclosures via the Neighborhood Stabilization Program. The bill allows nonprofits to compete with cities and states for $3.44 billion of the money, which means a substantial amount of it will be captured by ACORN, the controversial activist group currently under federal investigation for vote fraud. Another $750 million would be exclusively reserved for nonprofits such as ACORN – meaning cities and states are barred from receiving that money. Sen. David Vitter, R-La., charges the money could appear to be a “payoff” for the partisan political activities community groups in the last election cycle.
$44 million to renovate the headquarters building of the Agriculture Department.
$800 million to clean up Superfund sites.
$32 billion for a "smart" electricity grid to minimize waste.
$87 billion of Medicaid funds, to aid states.
$53.4 billion for science facilities, high speed Internet, and miscellaneous energy and environmental programs.
$13 billion to repair and weatherize public housing, help the homeless, repair foreclosed homes.
$20 billion for quicker depreciation and write-offs for equipment.
$10.3 billion for tax credits to help families defray the cost of college tuition.
$20 billion over five years for an expanded food stamp program.
Most of those seem to be either "welfare programs" or "green programs". Yippee. Those'll help the economy...or, more likely, not. But this next list is the REAL pork. Check some of these out:
$1.8 million for “Swine Odor and Manure Management Research."(Yo, Researchers! Pig poop stinks. Period. Now send me my $1.8 okay? I got bills to pay)
$200,000 for "Tattoo Removal Violence Prevention Outreach Program" to get rid of gang tattoos.(And paying for tattoo removal is the government's job WHY???)
$75,000 for the "Totally Teen Zone" that encourages teenagers to play Wii and X-Box, listen to a DJ, and eat at a snack booth.(Wow. I had no idea I had started a government program here in my own house. I'm bitterly ashamed. No more X-Box or Wii for Randey and the boys!!)
$473,000 National Council of LaRaza.(This is a private, non-profit and non-partisan organization focused on reducing poverty and discrimination, and improving opportunities, for Hispanic Americans. Oh. Guess that makes it just another welfare program, basically.)
$400,000 "to combat bullying."(Let's see...tie the teacher's and administrator's hands to discipline a bully in school and then throw money at them to fix the problem instead. Classic welfare tactic.)
$50,000 for midnight basketball through the "At the Park After Dark" program in Los Angeles.(Really? Midnight Basketball?)
$5.8 Million for the "Ted Kennedy Institute for the Senate... for the planning and design of a building and an endowment."(Ah. Another monument to a politician. Now that's sure to kick start the economy!)
$1.762 Million for "Honey Bee lab" research.(I can't even imagine why anyone thought this was so worthy. Really.)
$215,000 for PhD’s to learn to write press releases. It funds a program at “Stony Brook University to teach scientists how to communicate with press."(I'm sorry, but if you have a PhD and can't figure out how to write a lousy press release, I don't think this program is going to help. I don't think anything will. Turn in your diploma and step to the back of the line, please.)
$1.5 Million for the scandal-ridden Alaska Sea Life Center to study seals.(Those wily seals...I'm sure they bear watching!)
$250,000 for Maine Lobster research.(Ummmm. Okay. Are they trying to determine Maine citizenship for these lobsters or what?)
$2 million for "the promotion of astronomy in Hawaii."(Well, hello! Star gazing is BIG over there. It's like "puff, puff, pass, Dude. Did you see that shooting star? Cowabunga, Dude!)
Senator Reid earmark to make “Nevada eligible for the Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund."(Must be all that Pacific shoreline there in Nevada, eh?)
$4.4 million for "Center for Grape Genetics" & "Center for Advanced Viticulture and Tree Crop Research"(It's important to know about grape DNA. Many a crime could be solved in we could only determine where that last glass of wine came from....)
$657,000 for "Brown Tree Snake Management in Guam"(Obviously a top notch program. Managing the tree snakes. Or is the brown snakes in trees? Or is it the trees that are called "brown tree snake"? Whatever. It's important. That's all you need to know.)
$480,000 for "Urban Horticulture"(Another one of them, thar green programs. It's the future of Amerika, I tell ya!)
$1.75 million for "Mammoth Springs National Fish Hatchery, complete visitor center."(It's not so much that we need to hatch some leetle fishes. No, no, no. We need to visit the leetle fishes and do so in relative comfort. Therefore, a complete visitor center is obviously in order here!)
Republican leaders say the stimulus package will add 32 new government programs at a cost of $136 billion. They object that many of the programs, once established, are likely to continue indefinitely (as most "social" programs tend to do). Media outlets are reporting the cost of the package at $819 billion. However, the Congressional Budget Office calculated that the interest on the debt generated by the bill’s spending will cost another $347.1 billion, making the total cost approximately $1.17 trillion. Thank goodness Nancy held off on padding this package with pork, eh?
I decorated my house for fall weeks ago, but have been a little lax in getting pictures posted to my blog. I'm a slug, want can I say. Anywho, first let me show you this wonderful purse my sister made for me. I ADORE this purse. I love the colors and I especially love all the pockets she sewed into the interior (all around the insides - WAY COOL AND CONVENIENT!!) and the pockets she put on the outside that are perfect for holding my cell phone, my gum and all those other little things that I like having within easy reach. (The ghost is a lapel pin I've had for about a decade.) Now if I could just convince her to make me a Christmas purse just like this. lol And then maybe a "spring" purse and, of course, a "summer" purse.....Now here's our Halloween Witch tree. I like this little thing. It makes me smile when I see it. The first thing I do in the mornings is get my coffee and turn on the tree. Great way to start the day.
This is the dining room. (The fact that it's a picture of the dining room table probably gave that away, though, huh?)
Here's a closer picture of the table and you can see my laptop there in the background. This is where I do all my research into things like the Health Care Reform bill (Lord, don't get me started on that!), the War on Terror (I don't care what Obama's peeps call it, it's still the War on Terror to me) and various other issues that pique my interest.
This is our living room, where I do most of my reading. I'm surprised there's not a big ol' butt print in the one chair - I spend so much time in it that it's practically molded to my body.
This is the fireplace - this is the sort of picture you get when you're looking into the sunlight. Duh.
These are the pumpkins in the entry way.
This is the dining room centerpiece (some of you might recognize it from Hobby Lobby!). I bought those cast iron monkeys at an antique store somewhere around Ft. Worth for $10 last month. I had set them on the table when I was unpacking them and decided I liked the way they looked with the settings.
And here's a close-up of a place setting. Not very elaborate, I know, but I like it.
Okay, there it is. Our household draped in its fall glory. I'm already thinking about the Christmas decorations. I'll probably start on them before Halloween is even over with. I can't seem to help myself. I made the mistake of watching a Christmas movie earlier this week and now that's all I can think of. lol
These next two clips are from around 1987. Diane Sawyer, for those of you who don't know, actually claims to be a real, live "journalist". Give a listen to these clips and let me know what journalistic skills she demonstrates here:
Go ahead and say it...the word that comes to mind when you think about the Great Diane's Interviewing Skills is "sycophant". ABC World News is going to be so much more factual with her at the helm, you can just tell, huh? Now check out Whoopi Goldberg's words of wisdom regarding Polanski's crime.
The irony here is that Whoopi calls herself a humanitarian and an child advocate. Yeah. I'm not sure how you can advocate for children and still think a man can have consensual sex with a 13 year old. Those positions would seem to be diametrically opposed. But that's just me, with my uptight, judgmental thinking, I'm sure. I'm simply far too narrow minded and downright provincial to understand the highbrow workings of the media and/or Hollywood "artists".
(And people wonder why I'm so fed up with liberalism....)
By the way, if you'd like to read the transcript of Polanski's victim testimony, go here.
at least according to the likes of Jimmy Carter, Janeane Garofola and Vanessa Williams. Why are they calling me a racist? Because I attended a Tea Party Express rally. Yeah. I went to a rally to demonstrate my disagreement with the direction our country is heading, therefore I am a racist. Who knew? And here I thought I was simply being an involved citizen. Goes to show you just how misguided and ignorant I am, eh? Oh wait a minute…just because Carter and his ilk have declared something as fact most assuredly does not make it so. I think I understand my motives better than they do and I’m pretty darn sure…nay, make that completely positive, that my reason for attending the rally had absolutely nothing to do with race and everything to do with disagreement with many of our political leaders. I’m an American. Voicing my opinion is my right. It’s also their right to tell me they disagree. I’m okay with that. But I’m not okay with them attaching scurrilous labels to my reputation based on nothing more than their unfounded beliefs. Calling me a racist because I went to a Tea Party Express rally is as ridiculous as calling Nancy Pelosi a conservative because she favors matching pantsuits over tie-dyed hemp t-shirts. The propensity of those on the far left to wrap themselves so quickly and tightly in the cold embrace of racism is foolhardy at best and downright manipulative at worst. At any rate, as I previously said, my reasons for attending the rally were because I heartily disagree with the direction our country is heading. Our leaders are scaring the t-total hell out of me with their cavalier disregard for what is supposed to be an open, honest and well thought-out process. I’m referring to the development of laws in this country. Our lawmakers are, at this very moment, discussing the passage of a major, life altering bill that none of them even intend to read. Seriously. How can I say that? This is how: (please listen to this 36 second video. It will astound you !)
By the way, John Conyers is the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee. That committee is charged with overseeing the administration of justice within the federal courts, administrative agencies and Federal law enforcement entities. Additionally, John Conyers is a lawyer himself. The fact that he talks about not reading these bills before voting on them is scandalous. The fact that his attitude is more the rule than the exception is even more so. These people are supposed to be the ones writing our bills and here they are telling us that not only do they not write them, they don’t even read them. That, ladies and gentlemen, is one of the many, many reasons why I attended a Tea Party Express rally. I am disgusted with our leadership and their lack of accountability. Even more so, I am disgusted with us, the citizens of these United States, for tolerating it. Stand up, America! Do your job as a citizen of our country and demand our leaders do their jobs. I don’t care if you’re on the left, the right or smack dab in the middle; whether you are a democrat or a republican or a libertarian or an independent or anything else, for that matter . Blind allegiance and apathy are poor substitutes for freedom and knowledge. Whether or not we agree on certain issues is moot unless and until we all come to the table with full knowledge of those issues. We have elected certain members of our population to represent our views and opinions in our federal government and those people are letting us down! Not only are they letting us down, they’re doing it with casual contempt, as if we are the fools for expecting so much from them! When they start saying that the very bills they’re passing are too complicated for even them, the people who are supposed to be writing those bills, to understand then we have indeed reached critical mass. It’s time to put a stop to this. Stop hiding behind your cynicism, stop turning a blind eye to the obvious lethargy and partisanship of our representatives and stop pretending that your voice doesn’t count. Our country is all about We the people; let’s stand together to make those words mean something again.
