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The Problem with Taxes: It's Not the Government's Money

7/31/2017

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It's that time of year when government bodies, be they local, state or federal, are looking at their requirements for revenue for the next tax year.  This means that they are looking at your pocketbook, figuring out how much they can take without you squealing so much that you won't accept it.  After all, have you ever seen a governmental entity that truly cuts taxes in a given year.  Oh, they might reduce millage rates while raising the property values or, in the case of the feds, they might say they are cutting when they are really only reducing the rate of growth.  After all, the feds always have an inflationary kicker within the system that eliminates the possibility of a true cut in taxes. But whatever the case, you can "bet your bippy" that there will be some special provision,  some special assessment or whatever else they creatively design that allows them to take in more of your hard earned money while telling you otherwise.

Look, I get it that there are some things that government must do that cost money, but the problem is that government today, even at the local level, has stuck its nose in so many places that were never intended. But, of course, with governments taking over the duties that traditionally were done by full time charitable organizations, including religious groups. we've secularized a program that was in its hay day very successful.  But it's much worse than that, for they often even work to attract people who are looking for a free lunch or refugees for whom we knos little. As seen in Europe and even in parts of the United States, these programs are not working well for they have increased crime rates, particularly violent ones, due to differing cultural values that don't fit the American mold. Just look at what is happening in Europe today and you see the American sanctuary city of tomorrow.  It's dangerous and it will also be expensive, requiring even more tax increases or enhanced assessments.

What is happening here in my local area is just an example of what is happening all over the nation as all levels of government look for new ways to bring in more revenue.  Stormwater assessment, changed calculations for funding fire services for rural residents, just to name two. will result in those least capable of handling increased tax-related bills: those on fixed income and those who are legitimately poor yet are trying to hang on to family property.  As the old saying goes, you can put lipstick on a pig and it's still a pig, and continually increased tax and fee assessments eats up private dollars like a big, fat pig.

How many of you have driven down the road and watched a public works crew in action where one person is working and multiple others are standing around? Or how often have you requested something easily accomplished by government where the agency spent excessive time explaining why it couldn't be done?  Often, they could have accomplished the request in half the time spent talking about it. And, of course, if you know the right person and the request is reasonable, it then gets accomplished when that person intervenes.  It shouldn't be that way but it is and it shows how the very nature of government becomes more and more disruptive of private life as it grows.  And it always grows, it never shrinks both in terms of size and scope and money.

Let's face it.  Government is bloated and that includes local, state as well as the monstrosity that is Washington.  But unless average citizens get engaged, challenge what they think is exorbitant and vote accordingly, things will never change.  The lure of power and money is always great and it takes great willpower to deal with it.  And remember that government never really produces  anything, only the private sector produces wealth.  But the government is always there to try and take more and more of it and with the power of force, they more often than not do so.

So when you think that budget hearings are boring and you don't want to be bothered, think about these words.  The only way to get government under control is to be informed and speak up.  It's what the Founders intended by citizen government and it's up to us to carry it out, if we truly care.


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SUNDAY MORNING COMING DOWN: Sometimes it Just Takes a Little Trust

7/29/2017

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Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. – Proverbs 3:5

The picture above is of yours truly with Flannel Jams, I call him Jammer, a new horse that came to us last Christmas as my wife's Christmas present.  It was taken about a month or so after his arrival and with the exception of a few such occasions as above, he has strictly been handled by my wife.  Recently we have started bringing him into the barn to eat and, accordingly, it has become necessary for me to handle him more frequently as I am the daytime caretaker of all of our animals.

And I know what you're thinking.  What does this have to do with the title of this Sunday Morning Coming Down and the verse cited from Proverbs?  Well, simply put, it's because both the horse and I have to develop a trusting relationship with one another in order for the duties of the day to get done without mishap.  If he gets finicky or frightened, he can be dangerous if only because of his size and his hooves, which can be lethal when he feels threatened..  And likewise, if I become fearful and lack understanding of his behavior, he's likely not going to get fed on schedule and what should be a fun and rewarding relationship turns sour.

It's kind of like our relationship with God.  He loves us and He wants us to trust Him for all things, not  our self-centered views which can easily lead us astray.  And that relationship. starting with faith and belief and then continuing through daily practice (worship, prayer and communion with others of like belief) builds the bonds of trust which are oh, so important.

Regarding my relationship with Jammer, a retired racehorse who came to us only understanding the commands go and stop, yesterday was only about the third day of my journey to make it work for both of us.  It required patience, a little bit of stubbornness and lots of love.  It started with feeding him in the pasture, graduated to being able to handle him ever so lightly and finally moved to me easily putting on his lead and having him follow me directly into the barn.  Now, after only a few days, I can walk him into the barn without the lead.  He knows that I am leading him where he wants to go, his feed bucket, and therefore I must be a good guy.  It's a simple thing, but it is built on trust and both of us must retain that standard or it will disappear.

So, what if I'm bringing him in just by walking and he decides to go somewhere else? After all, he will sometimes get off track as do we humans. Well, all that is required is to grab a bucket with feed, approach him slowly and shake it near him and he's on track again.  Of course, this only works at feed time and is only done when no strangers or distractions are present.  But it is a process based upon understanding the bonds of trust and it makes the entire feeding process easy and simple when appropriately carried out.

In the case of our relationship with God, our entire reason for being is on the line based upon our commitment to trust.  He loves us deeply and only wants what is best for us but we have to understand and trust that only He has the answers.  When we falter before Him, he understands that we are mortal and make mistakes, but He expects us to rebuild the trust He wants to have in us by responding accordingly.  We can earn it back, but it's up to us not to Him. But He does continue to work with us, just like I will continue to work with Jammer if he makes a mistake. It's a long term process and commitment.

Animals like Jammer are part of the wonders of nature that God provided us to have dominion over, requiring our proper care and direction.  One of the greatest things about having them around us is that they offer so much in explaining the existence and omnipotence of our Loving Father.  Will we open our eyes and hearts to see and listen?  That's a question that each of us must answer for ourselves.

Dear Lord,  We thank you for the wonders of nature like this beautiful horse, Jammer. We thank you for giving us such blessings to enjoy, care for and learn from.  And we ask that you always use them as a way to show us the glories that only you can create, for human life is a learning process to prepare us for eternal life later.  In Jesus' name we pray, Amen.





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General John Kelly (USMC-Retired) to the Rescue

7/29/2017

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The leaks and smears that have been passed around about the Trump Administration have exceeded anything I've ever seen in all the years I've watched politics.  Never before has a President and his Administration been subjected to such vile hatred despite his representing a huge percentage of Americans who are fed up with the poor performance of government and it's insatiable hunger for more money.  So just when thing in the stacked deck were starting to look insurmountable, Trump pulls out an Ace.  Chief of Staff Reince Priebus is out and current Secretary of Homeland Security John Kelly is in.  No better choice for Chief of Staff could be made to bring the West Wing in line to support the man they work for.  The retired Marine Corps General has a penchant for organization, no nonsense and straight talk.  It's what is needed in the current atmosphere.

Now Reince Priebus is a decent man, but he was no match for the unfaithfulness of people both in the Administration and out who claim to be Republicans but have done all they can to support the fake news Russian dossier story.  And at a time when Hillary's email travesty, Loretta Lynch's malfeasance in office with her meeting on the tarmac with Bill Clinton and giving questionable directions to James Comey, and Comey's own illegal action in releasing confidential information, the West Wing must be the center of order and diligence in handling the leaks and lies abounding.  It's a tough job and it must be done well or the nation will further sink into the mire of hypocrisy and double standards.

General Kelly is an organizer, a master of strategy and an excellent multi-tasker who can keep order and loyalty in place in the White House.  Look for identification of leakers and law violators, both in and outside of the White House, to be identified and charged.  The Democrats can't have it both ways; they can't lob shots without evidence at the White House untouched when they have so much that is abhorrent in their own closet.  And the RINOs, well, they must be dealt with directly and learn that by bucking their party's President they are putting themselves in dangerous political territory as well. Kelly's job will be to keep the White House running smoothly while investigators and others unpeel the rotten onion that the Democrats, their mainstream media supporters and even some cowardly Republicans hold.  From Fast and Furious, to leaks of classified information, lying under oath and illegal unmasking of private matters, Hillary, Lynch, her predecessor Eric Holder, Comey, Susan Rice and Samantha Power, all active participants in this sordid game of politics need to be investigated by a second Special Counsel and this has already been requested by the House Judiciary Committee this past week.

The Presidential staff has a lot to do and it will be General Kelly's job to see that they do it smoothly, efficiently and within the proper bounds of the law.  He's just the right choice to make it happen as he leaves Homeland Security better organized with the high morale necessary to keep that entity doing what it was created to do: putting American citizens first in America.   Let's see what the future will hold.  It should be very interesting indeed.




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John McCain Needs to Look in the Mirror

7/27/2017

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Poor, angry John McCain.  He comes back to Washington, too soon I think, so that he can vote for the Obamacare replacement bill.  No, wait, he comes back so he can vote to allow debate on the floor about the bill, allowing Vice President Pence to cast the tie breaking vote.  But McCain couldn't stop there; he just couldn't hold his tongue or his anger, hence, the volcano.  He used his appearance to tell his colleagues that they needed to stop listening to all of the "big mouths" on the internet and talk radio.  Why? So they could listen to each other in the Senate and come up with a compromise medical care bill that will please everyone. Hey, John, wake up and smell the roses for you guys have accomplished nothing except fattening your wallets.

Poor John McCain, he just doesn't get it. But with a life of living in the cocoon known as Washington and the Senate, he can't stand to listen to anyone but his colleagues, because they are all in cahoots on producing a product that just continues more big government, more meddling in the personal affairs of citizens they are supposed to represent, and in the process enriching themselves with favors from the lobbyists they support.

And think about it, McCain never saw a Republican that he wouldn't prefer to criticize over a Democrat, excepting his true RINO buddies like Lindsey and his ilk.  The man hasn't truly represented the people of Arizona for generations but, then again, when the people don't pay attention to what he does but instead believe what he tells them only at election time, they have no one to blame but themselves.

The sad thing about this whole episode is that it has made clear that like the Democrats, there are enough Republicans who oppose their own constituents to maintain the new status quo for healthcare, and those constituents will pay dearly for it.  The program is not healthcare, it's welfare, and it has nothing to do with healthcare.  It has to do with politicians pandering to a large group of voters who are not intelligent enough to see what it is.  It is nothing more than a vast expansion of Medicaid, a program that huge numbers of doctors won't even accept and why should they?  It pays pennies on the dollar and is totally out of control, thanks to those like McCain in Washington.  And that's the real travesty of the situation.

And one other point needs to be made.  John McCain and his ilk constitute the "big mouths", not the patriotic talk radio folks.  They have failed to deliver on their promise which they never intended to deliver on and truly believe that with their blather they can provide a smokescreen of cover.  Those days are over, John, and it's way past time to send the geriatric set of Senators home to play with their grandchildren and great grandchildren or live their memories from their home on the range.   Will that ultimately happen? Only if Americans wake up and pay attention, for the healthcare problem is merely one of many that have been kicked down the road for generations.

Start paying attention, America. Your very life might depend on it.


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Don't Lose Your Best Man, Mr. President

7/26/2017

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PictureAttorney General Jeff Sessions
I want to be very clear from the outset of this commentary that I continue to be a big supporter of President Trump.  If Hillary Clinton had been elected, I think the future of America would already have been destroyed as she and her Democratic cronies would have immediately instituted the unfinished disaster that was the Obama Administration.  We would be on the direct route of becoming a much bigger disaster than what we are seeing unfold in Venezuela.  Tyranny by the state on behalf of those who defile the concept of freedom never turns out well.

Today more than ever, it is important that the President retain solid Conservatives in his Administration in key positions.  The Obama Administration repeatedly defied the Constitution and the rule of law as it attempted to complete his transformation of America from a productive and free state to one of rationing, government control and decision-making based upon who most closely adhered to its governmental dogma.  Nowhere was that violation of our Founders intent more prevalent than in the Department of Justice (DOJ), where over eight years two Attorneys Generas, Eric Holder and Loretta Lynch, worked overtime to subvert the rule of law into the law of man in support of their Left Wing ideological leader, Barack Obama.

So, today we find ourselves with the President, angry at his Attorney General Jeff Sessions over his earlier recusal from the Russia-Hillary situation, thereby allowing the derelict media and their Democratic supporters to turn nothing into something which set up the Robert Mueller sham of a legal witch hunt against the President.  And while I don't think there was any reason why Sessions should have recused himself, I understand why he might have done so and it was the mixed signals sent by the President in some of his tweets and public announcements.  Put yourself in Sessions' shoes and it becomes clear that Sessions was concerned about the proper way the DOJ should deal with issues according to the law.  He has a long history of believing in the rule of law and his oversight of the department to date makes it clear that he wants legal actions to be beyond reproach and validated should any court challenge be filed, of which some already have met that fate. Sessions is a mild and soft spoken man, unlike his boss, but he is one of the strongest adherents of constitutional government in this land. His steady hand is needed to guide the department through the maize that Obama set up therein and which takes time to unwind it.

There is no man who has been more loyal to the President concerning his agenda and taking action to right the wrongs of state.  He is doggedly going after graft and corruption, immigration and sanctuary city violations, yet he is stuck with large numbers of Obama holdover due to Democratic stonewalling of replacement nominations.  It's as if Trump thinks he can do things by the flip of a switch when the President himself faces roadblocks at every turn of the switch. I understand his impatience, but it took eight years of Obama with a compliant Republican Congress to get us here and it will take more than six months to undo the damage.

Sessions was the first Republican Senator to openly support the President when everyone expected him to support Ted Cruz and Sessions is pushing hard to carry out the new President's agenda. So, instead of firing a good man, the President should put down his tweet machine, meet with Sessions and bury the hatchet and give this man the opportunity to clean up the injustice in the Justice Department.  The President needs to understand that the mild mannered Jeff Session is not a bomb thrower, but he fully understands what needs to be done in the DOJ and there is no man better suited for the task he has.  And what if he did make a mistake, somehow the issue would have found itself forward since the Democrats, the Deep State holdover intelligence minority and the mainstream media would have found their way forward some other way.  Until the White House has eliminated its internal leak problem and those holding positions who are fighting the President from within, the problems won't go away. And even then, he still has to fight the RINO Republicans who play "patsy" with the Democrats against Trump on a daily basis.  Seriously, how can the President never find fault with the likes of Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski while singling out Jeff Sessions?  It makes no sense.

And who is the President going to find to better understand the problems in the DOJ and more vigorously pursue what needs to be done than Jeff Sessions?  This much I know, it won't be a lawyer from New York City who is oblivious to what the vast majority of good Americans think in flyover country.  Sessions represents what you campaigned on, Mr. President, so do the right thing. Work it out with Attorney General Sessions and let him focus on the job he was selected to carry out.


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Oh, The Transparency of Maxine Waters

7/24/2017

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PictureMaxine Waters in one of her less agitated political moments.
Ladies and Gentlemen, Maxine Waters is in the news again and this one is a real "gasser".  After last week saying she intended to run for the Democratic nomination for President in 2020, she then said she wasn't serious but, instead, issued a notice to President Trump by way of a meeting in New Hampshire. Old "Auntie Maxine", as some of the Democratic millenials call her, stated that she is organizing to take Donald Trump down. Wow, Maxine, you were in the news but that's not news. That seems to be your message everywhere you go.

But the funny thing is she made the statement at the annual picnic of the Stratford County, New Hampshire Democratic Party where the press was uninvited.  Or maybe it was just another example of just how serious Democrats are about transparency.

It's truly amazing, Maxine wants press coverage, actually craves it, but I guess the organization which invited her to speak was concerned about what she might say.  And well they might be since she could call for riots in the streets, start talking about things in Russia which she badly mispronounces or has not the slightest understanding of, or get confused on where she is and what she's supposed to be talking about.

Known for her idiotic comments and singularly focused hatred for the President, the seventy-eight year old representative of a congressional district in which she doesn't even live shows daily so much of the thinking that consumes her party these days.  Even Chuck Schumer can't take it anymore, now even saying that the "Russia thing" is not why the Democrats lost.  But not to worry, Maxine, as long as you have party leaders like Tom Perez who throws foul language around like bird shot you'll always have a home.  You fit right in.

And please, Maxine, reconsider your decision and run.  I think a ticket of you and Uncle Joe  would be a great team. It wouldn't matter who ran for which office, we'd have a ticket of "Mr. Touchy and Feel" and "Mrs. Foot in Mouth", a perfect combination to alienate good Americans more than even Hillary Clinton could do.  And at least it would be entertaining; we could laugh instead of cringing at the shrieking of Elizabeth Warren, war paint and all.

Come on, Democrats, wise up and realize what you're doing to yourselves.  If you want to run for office in America, a good first step is to love your country, not hate it.  Otherwise, you will sink into nothingness while you can't even figure out why.  But, hey, do what you want to do, just be ready for the circumstances.


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SUNDAY MORNING COMING DOWN: Teach Them the Truth

7/22/2017

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Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.  – John 14:6 ESV

John 14:6 is one of the most remembered verses in the New Testament.  In that short verse is a powerful statement attesting to who Jesus is, what He stands for and why believing in Him and following Him is so critical to the real meaning of life.  He offers a road map to truth and through truth to life eternal.  And realizing the importance of that statement is the key to transitioning from our temporary and developmental period of earthly life to a greater, unbelievably beautiful and permanent life with God the Father, His Son, and the inner Holy Spirit in heaven above.

But to reach the prize, we have to open our hearts and believe that He is who He says He is and be willing to put Him first. To believe requires faith and if we are parents, we are tasked with instilling the foundation for this same belief in our children.  There is no more important task that a parent can have than  this, yet so many of us fall so short in carrying it out.

Now there is no question that most parents want what they perceive is best for their children?  But what if riches, materialism and the like is the principal focus?  After all, we see more and more younger Americans with no grounding in morals and the concept of right and wrong, lacking decent manners and operating under the mantra that "I am the only thing that matters."  And you can't blame it all on the parents or even the kids themselves when we see the emphasis in advertising on what you "deserve" and you don't need to wait for it.

In real life, folks, no one truly deserves anything.  But with hard work and willpower, we can be successful, we just need to make sure we understand what success is.  And if you are one like me who believes that we human beings were made in the image of God, then isn't it automatic to figure that in such case we should also be living in His image?  And taking it to the final conclusion, since He gave us the Ten Commandments and sacrificed His only Son, Jesus Christ for us, He expects us to live up to it.  And besides, if Jesus died on the Cross to give us the opportunity to live forever with Him (herein referring to the Triumvirate of God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit), we should be devoting our life to attaining that goal and teaching the foundation of the belief to our own children.

Oh, a few material things are nice and God wants us and our children to enjoy life, but it's all in the perspective applied and determining what is really important.  What is really important is believing in Him through faith and living your life in a way worthy of that faith.  It's not easy in a material and increasingly secular earthly world, but the best things in life are never easy but they are worth it.  So, what could be more important than doing what is necessary to guarantee an eternity of life in a setting that is so grand and so glorious that we can't even imagine it?  And the answer is clearly that there is nothing more important.

Consider what's important and what can make you happy and contented forever. If you choose Him over "stuff", your future will be assured.  But don't wait too long to make your decision.  Why? Because human life is uncertain and short in length, and once it is over it is too late.  There will be no second chance.

Dear Lord,  We thank you for the gift of life that you have given us and the gift of salvation if we only believe and follow your Son, Jesus Christ. Fill our hearts with the Holy Spirit to keep us on track to eternity and to live our lives as you would have us do. It's the least we can do for the opportunity you have given us.  In Jesus' name we pray, Amen.





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The Reality of Medicaid: IT ISN'T INSURANCE!

7/20/2017

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I put the cartoon up for this commentary since it is a good way of showing the real truth about today's Medicaid, the Great Society-developed program which has never been health insurance, but which so many have been duped into thinking that it is.  Medicare is a welfare program;  it was originally designed for those people who were truly deserving of assistance and had no alternative if they were to receive needed medical care.  It was never designed to be a guarantee for millions who have not given it their best shot before seeking assistance with a health issue.  Like it or not, nothing is free, and the idea that the rich can take care of not just the sick, but the lazy, is not only preposterous, it is flat out immoral. And if the growth continues unabated, the average working family is likely to find out one day that what they earn is now categorized as being rich be a money-hungry federal leviathan.

When Lyndon Baines Johnson set up the program as part of the Great Society, a social action process called the War on Poverty, no one expected that by 2016 it would have resulted in expenditures of nearly twenty-three trillion dollars with little to show for it in terms of societal improvement. Medicaid initially back in 1964 had four million citizens enrolled.

Twenty years later during the Reagan Administration, despite his efforts to curb it, the number had grown drastically to nineteen million and now it is almost seventy-four million.  This monumental growth far exceeds the increase in population of the country. Why?   Because Congress has consistently raised the financial stake by adding people with higher income, people who shouldn't even be eligible, and huge increases in fraudulent payments to buy votes.  These factors have been reported over and over by investigators and auditors yet nothing to change the program ever is proposed.  The only thing Congress knows how to do is to throw more money at a problem that won't be solved by money.

On the other side of the coin, despite the huge outlays, allowances for payment for services is so slow and so low that most medical practitioners have no interest in accepting the program.  Think about it carefully for a moment.  Medicare, the program from which Medicaid has received funding in the amount of seven hundred and fifty million dollars in transfer in recent years, has depleted many of the dollars for Medicare, a program which workers are required to pay into.  And while even Medicare payments to doctors are very low, the Medicaid payment rate ins approximately forty percent of the Medicare rate. No wonder the doctors don't want to accept it. They didn't spend long hours and many years in training to learn skills that would earn them little in their execution.

So, the Medicare eligible retiree, not wanting to end up the poorhouse, has to by a good and expensive supplement to cover his out of payment costs which grow and Medicaid assumes more and more of the dollars that were stolen fro Medicare.  Only a body like Congress could dream up such a program and, of course, they exempt themselves from most of the consequences. 

Why do I write about this?  I do so because of the fact that it is Medicaid that Obamacare uses to provide what they call quality healthcare for those in need.  The program is a sham, it is not healthcare insurance, it does not provide quality care and millions who think they have coverage will only find out when they have a problem and seek to use it.

Politicians and bureaucrats don't have the knowledge and skills to create a medical program that will be both cost effective and workable.  The only think they know how to do is grow government and increase their power.  And since power generally results in more money, as long as man is prone to worshiping the Almighty Dollar this will continue. 

There are so many ways to develop good and affordable systems if we let those who have the skills to do so take a leading role.  Affordable concierge services for routine care on a flat rate basis, tailored plans to fit the need of the citizen customer, and good catastrophic coverage insurance plans don't need to be one size fits all.  And then, those who truly can't afford the coverage, fully meeting citizenship requirement and showing solid effort to find and retain work when they are physically able, can be covered under a  "need basis" categorized separately from those who want to pay a reasonable price for healthcare.  Such programs are already in place in some states and the states are the place to test marketplaces.

Yes, there needs to be some regulation to avoid fraud, but to bury America in a system that sucks our resources dry and requires paperwork of monumental proportions that no one understands, will continue to result in just more of the Obamacare syndrome, a failing system.  And if instead of a completely different direction with an initiative designed to put the emphasis on the doctor-patient relationship, we end up with a single payer system operated by the same old bureaucratic malfeasance, American healthcare will be doomed.

Wake up and stand up, America. Demand that Congress gets out of the way and allows real reform using the ingenuity that is America.  The same old, same old will never work for America.


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Now is the Time to Finally #DitchMitch

7/19/2017

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I hate to repeat a recent history lesson but it's necessary at the beginning of this commentary, and it goes like this.  First the Republicans said they needed the House.  We gave it to them in 2012 and they did nothing. Then they said just give us the Senate. We gave them that, too, and still nothing.  Finally, we also added the White House and a President who wants to do what the voters asked for, and still the Congress does nothing.  The Republican Party in Congress can't agree on anything and when an organization become rudderless you have to blame the helmsman, and in the case of the Senate, that's Mitch McConnell.

Old Mitch has been said to be a master legislative tactician, yet the only thing I've seen is him caving to the other party repeatedly, more concerned about comity in the Senate (to coin John McCain's laughable term) than the agenda that he has been repeatedly elected to accomplish while instead huddling in the back room with his cronies and lobbyist masters.  The only thing he has accomplished is finally agreeing to the nuclear option on the Supreme Court and that was questionable to the end.  He is a creature of Washington, he's been there too long and he has been too corrupted by its perks and privileges while the down home people back in Kentucky, the state he represents, suffer under a healthcare system that is sucking the lifeblood out of those who work hard for a living to pay for those who don't.

Now in all fairness, Mitch can't do it by himself, but as Majority Leader he has lots of tools to help him get it done and he uses none of them.  And after promising repeatedly that he will get it done, his credibility is deservedly on the line, for real leaders who know how to lead accomplish their objectives.  If they don't, they are replaced, and that's what should happen to Mitch if he can't deliver the goods.  Or is the problem really that he doesn't want to deliver the goods, that he actually wants the major components of Obamacare retained?  Frankly, it looks more and more like it every day.

But if he wants to do what he promised, he needs to play hardball instead of stammering and stuttering in his speeches which certainly don't build any confidence in the man.  A well known talk show host had a suggestion that I liked and I think Mitch should employ it right now, so here it is with a few slight modifications.

The Majority Leader should schedule a Senate Republican caucus meeting with required attendance.  In that meeting he should announce that the caucus will find a solution to the problem and all hands will agree to that solution or there will be no recess for vacations until Christmas.  Input will be allowed for everyone and it will all be discussed, but at the end of the day they would settle on a plan that all can buy into. The sooner it gets done, the sooner they get to go home and then make it clear that anyone who doesn't pitch in and make it work will be identified publicly for the press. 

There will be no big money sweeteners to get compliance, just give and take on the issues with the object being a free market, doctor-patient centered plan. During the meetings cell phones will not be allowed nor will any lobbyist representative or other outside personnel be allowed in the room.  Water and sandwiches, not the fancy Senate dining room fare, will be brought in and they'll work each day from 10 a.m. until 11 p.m. daily until the job is done.

Leaders like Lyndon Johnson used such strategies but, of course, he also employed blackmail on occasion, which is not recommended.  But the point is that the Senators made a pledge to their constituents, they are paid to fulfill that pledge and it must be done. No is not an acceptable answer.

Would such an approach work? Well, there is only one way to find out and that is to try it.  And I'm sure that President Trump would be more than supportive of such a tasking and it's time for the Senators to work for a living.  I think the self-important Senators, when faced with missing vacation time, including possibly even Thanksgiving and Christmas, would get off their keisters and get to work. Is that too much to ask?


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Political Polls: Don't Accept Them at Face Value

7/17/2017

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So the Washington Post and ABC News have been touting for over twenty four hours the result of their poll which says Donald Trump has the lowest rating at this point in his Presidency of any recent President except Gerald Ford after pardoning Richard Nixon.  There are two problems with this poll.  First, it is just another example of a news organization trying to create its own news and secondly, unless you dig down into the demographics of the sample of respondents polled and understand the thrust of the questions used, it is impossible to attach any credibility to the results.   Let me explain.

Remember the lead up to and the night when Hillary found out she was not going to be the Forty-Fifth President of the United States? Although she still won't admit that she was at fault for running a poor campaign, the polls were also wrong.  With the exception of a few, such as the Investors Business Daily poll which was remarkably accurate, all the mainstream media polls predicted an easy win.  The pundits early on election night were giddy, yet even when the trend was showing clearly that Trump was going to win, they delayed and delayed the call that they hated to make.

So now looking at the polls assessing Trump's favorability or as they report the lack thereof, one has to be skeptical of what is used as its basis.  Well, for one thing, the WAPO/ABC Poll shows a gain of net +12%  for Democrats and -15% for Republicans as of late last week, a mere eight months following election day.  It is just not feasible and now we also find that the numbers believing the "Russia thing" about Trump are falling off since no solid evidence of any collusion or obstruction has been found, only pundit hearsay.  Furthermore, since much of the furor today is over healthcare, any poll which uses as part of its narrative healthcare is generally looked at negatively.  Both parties have bungled it so badly that a high school government class could probably come up with a much better solution. Oh wait, I forgot, most of our students today aren't even required to take American Government.

Be you a Republican, a Democrat or an Independent, look at all polling skeptically. Look at the slant of the organization providing it, look at who funds those organizations and look at the slant of the questions and the breakdown of the sample.  By and large that will give you a good clue as to what the findings are likely to be, with a few exceptions.  And never forget that today's news media is not investigative in nature, it is lazy and corrupted by bias which governs what and how it reports and it is largely turning Americans off in record number.  Can anyone say Jeff Zucker and CNN?

Why else would Americans be tuning it out in record numbers?  Newspaper circulation is dying, TV news is usually void of content that is really important. But, of course, I guess we get what we ask for. Who cares what is happening to Christians in the Middle East or Africa or what corruption is directing action in Washington when we can be enamored with the latest outrageous saga concerning the Kardashians?  But have a wonderful day anyway.


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    Hi, I'm James, a writer who studies nature,  animals and all things created by God. I also write from time to time about what I think God expects of us.  I would love to hear your thoughts on these subjects. I hope you enjoy my comments.

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