I miss Karen a lot. She's visiting family in Wisconsin for about 11 days so, in the meantime, I'm home alone. :-(
It's cool she's doing this because family is important but I'm counting the days til her return!
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Current Proposed Health Care Plan: The Real Story You Won't Hear From 'The Media'
70% of Americans rate their health care good to excellent. We’re not going to be able to pay for Medicare the way it’s set up but, overall, Americans’ health care is among the best in the world. (Even Canadians come here to get care they can’t ‘qualify’ for in Canada.) So, YES, we need to overhaul how Medicare is set up. But, NO, we don’t need an overhaul of our ENTIRE health care system!
Here are some facts about President Obama’s current health care plan:
He says it will only cost $1 Trillion. What he's NOT saying is that $1 Trillion is just part of the cost because the Congressional Budget Office can't figure out the other costs until the legislature has more details in their bills. Current estimates I'm hearing is that it'll cost around $4 Trillion over 10 years. (Keep in mind that isn't a one-time cost ... it keeps up at that rate and increases with inflation.)
The president says 46 million Americans aren’t covered. He’s not being truthful and it’s a transparently blatant attempt to mislead us. For one thing, at least 21% of those (ie, 10 million) are illegal immigrants … they’re NOT Americans. So the truth is 36 million Americans aren’t covered but for MOST of them it's not because they don't have coverage available already.
Another 14 million of those 46 million are ALREADY eligible for Medicare, Medicaid, SCHIR, and veterans benefits but they have CHOSEN(!) not to enroll.
Another 9 million of those 46 million have household incomes of at least $75,000 and therefore have enough income to pay for private insurance. (That also means that many people with less income than that need less help than others … a family with $20,000 income would need more help than someone with a $60,000 income.)
That leaves 13 million Americans out of a total population of 300 million who are inadequately insured. And many of them are well above the poverty level so they would need less help than those below it.
In addition, even the Congressional Budget Office agrees that the president’s plan will force around 30 million people off their current insurance and/or doctors (because of the impacts on insurance companies and medical care providers). That’s a net decrease or outright loss of medical care for at least 17 million Americans in order to provide medical care for 13 million Americans. AND we’re going to spend around $4 Trillion over the next 10 years to accomplish that feat? Huh?
Even if we agree to provide coverage help to illegal immigrants and the 13 million who are inadequately insured there has to be a better way to help those 23 million people. We need to reform Medicare so it’s more cost-effective but overhauling our ENTIRE HEALTH CARE SYSTEM at a cost of $400 BILLION per year is ludicrous!
Here are some facts about President Obama’s current health care plan:
He says it will only cost $1 Trillion. What he's NOT saying is that $1 Trillion is just part of the cost because the Congressional Budget Office can't figure out the other costs until the legislature has more details in their bills. Current estimates I'm hearing is that it'll cost around $4 Trillion over 10 years. (Keep in mind that isn't a one-time cost ... it keeps up at that rate and increases with inflation.)
The president says 46 million Americans aren’t covered. He’s not being truthful and it’s a transparently blatant attempt to mislead us. For one thing, at least 21% of those (ie, 10 million) are illegal immigrants … they’re NOT Americans. So the truth is 36 million Americans aren’t covered but for MOST of them it's not because they don't have coverage available already.
Another 14 million of those 46 million are ALREADY eligible for Medicare, Medicaid, SCHIR, and veterans benefits but they have CHOSEN(!) not to enroll.
Another 9 million of those 46 million have household incomes of at least $75,000 and therefore have enough income to pay for private insurance. (That also means that many people with less income than that need less help than others … a family with $20,000 income would need more help than someone with a $60,000 income.)
That leaves 13 million Americans out of a total population of 300 million who are inadequately insured. And many of them are well above the poverty level so they would need less help than those below it.
In addition, even the Congressional Budget Office agrees that the president’s plan will force around 30 million people off their current insurance and/or doctors (because of the impacts on insurance companies and medical care providers). That’s a net decrease or outright loss of medical care for at least 17 million Americans in order to provide medical care for 13 million Americans. AND we’re going to spend around $4 Trillion over the next 10 years to accomplish that feat? Huh?
Even if we agree to provide coverage help to illegal immigrants and the 13 million who are inadequately insured there has to be a better way to help those 23 million people. We need to reform Medicare so it’s more cost-effective but overhauling our ENTIRE HEALTH CARE SYSTEM at a cost of $400 BILLION per year is ludicrous!
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Thomas Paine's Common Sense - A Must Read For Our Times
A few days ago I bought Glenn Beck's new book, "Glenn Beck's Common Sense (The Case Against [Today's] Out-Of-Control Government)". Glenn included the complete text of Thomas Paine's "Common Sense". While the text of Paine's commentary is in the back of Beck's book, I began with that to get a sense of where Mr. Beck might be going with his 'case'.
About Thomas Paine's commentary: striking & startling in the context of today's political environment and temperament in America. What's amazing is that Paine makes a lucid and provocative case for us today(!), 233 years later. That's because his argument is timeless in it's definining what the human heart yearns for and how government ignores, if not destroys, that when it becomes self-serving instead of citizen-serving.
So far, all I've read is Paine's commentary and, for me, that may even be sufficient but I still want to read what Mr. Beck makes of it. I can imagine where Mr. Beck takes his argument based on that because, upon reading many of Paine's comments, I remarked to myself "that's us TODAY"! That was, no doubt, Mr. Beck's desire. Good call sir!
About Thomas Paine's commentary: striking & startling in the context of today's political environment and temperament in America. What's amazing is that Paine makes a lucid and provocative case for us today(!), 233 years later. That's because his argument is timeless in it's definining what the human heart yearns for and how government ignores, if not destroys, that when it becomes self-serving instead of citizen-serving.
So far, all I've read is Paine's commentary and, for me, that may even be sufficient but I still want to read what Mr. Beck makes of it. I can imagine where Mr. Beck takes his argument based on that because, upon reading many of Paine's comments, I remarked to myself "that's us TODAY"! That was, no doubt, Mr. Beck's desire. Good call sir!
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
I'm Baaaaaccckk!
Chris and I had a good time together last week camping in the McCloud CA area (@ Fowler Campground). He arrived late Sunday and left late Thursday. I had been worried about the weather but it was perfect while he was there. Stiffling hot the week before and rained each day after he left (until I got fed up with it and returned home Saturday, 2 days early). Fishing wasn't the best but it wasn't too bad. Chris caught quite a few more than I did and caught the biggest (pic above). I claimed one record ... catching the smallest. (That's all good with me!)
We also played rummy (he's the champ this time around, handily winning 2 of 3 games), took in some sights, BBQ'd steaks one night (with baked beans & potato baked in foil on the coals), cooked hot sausages over the fire pit another night, and Chris roasted marshmallows for smores. Saw some wildlife, including mule deer all over the place and even a bear. We made some new memories and had a good time together.
Next 'adventures' for me will be a camping trip or two with my sweetheart and one with my other son, Matt, in mid-September. Looking forward to it all!
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