Healthcare - The Cure

I wrote the following on my Facebook wall yesterday in response to several in Congress saying the Federal Government was the best means of determining health care and its delivery:

"Man's political freedom is illusory if he is dependent for his economic needs on the State." B. Goldwater.

I say, "Man's actual or REAL freedom is illusory if he is dependent for his HEALTH needs on the Federal Government." The right of SELF DETERMINATION is paramount, not FED DETERMINATION.

A high school classmate - Tripp, who I have not heard from in quite a few years, responded on my "wall" with the following:

Hey Jim.

Question, would that be self-determination of the individual? Or would that be the self-determination of Blue Cross and Blue Shield? Example, $1,100/mo premium, 60/40% co-pay prescriptions (only generic), $10,000 deductible?

Where is out self-determination? Should health-care be provided based on ability to pay?

What about group ... Read Morecoverage. Why should an individual be discriminated due to lack of group coverage? In these days of moving employment out of the US, and Walmart indirectly setting wage rates, where is individual self-determination in the US today?

What gives?

All good questions, which gave me pause, for about a minute. I then responded with the following:

Trip, to me it is very simple - personal choice.

I chose the college I went to based on my ability to pay. I paid for it, not my parents - no money. I chose my career path, based on its satisfaction & economic benefit. I chose my house based on my ability to pay the mortgage, which is the result of my choice of careers, savings & investments. It is the same with my car, furnishings, children’s education, retirement and HEALTH CARE!

I don’t expect you, my community, the Federal Government to pay for my choices. They are my responsibility. Any success or the lack there of is a result of my choices - or in a word, self-determination .

Specifically regarding health care, increasing competition, expanding coverage and reducing cost is simple.

1. Eliminate “Group Plans” and market individual plans which could be paid by an employer. The tax benefit would pass through to the individual.

2. Eliminate pre-existing conditions clause.

3. Eliminate non-portability, once covered - always covered.

4. Individual plans can be marketed nationally.

5. Tort reform by capping attorney fees. No cap on awards to plaintiffs. Let’s limit the profits to attorneys, like the Fed wants to do with bankers, doctors, CEO’s, etc.

6. Federal Government sponsored plan for “basic coverage” (Wellness, catastrophic, emergency) to those who fall below an established “poverty line” or floor. Also, US citizens above the “floor” can opt in the Fed plan for a fee. The unemployed can port over to this plan and port back when they are no longer unemployed.

This would increase competition immediately, thus reduce cost. Also, all could choose the level of coverage that is adequate and affordable for them.

PS: I am self employed, after being layed off 5 times in the last 20 years by company buy outs and plant closures. Self employment is my choice, my responsibility, my “self determination.”

This is my take on what is missing in the debate regarding Health Care - Personal Responsibility and Self Determination.

Tweet me at jtstl, or contact me on Facebook. I answer all.

From the Right Side of Mid-America,
JWT

Barbara Boxer - A Tool for Divide & Conquer

This accurately shows the difference between conservatives and liberals concerning race. Conservatives, while labeled racist by liberals, really don’t care about color. We are concerned with the individual person themselves and how that person can freely realize their full, God given individual potential.

To liberals, division/class is everything - by race, economics, education, sexual orientation, etc. Divide and Conquer - that is tactic the liberals use to gain power and control. And that's what they want - total power and control of every aspect of yours and my life. They truly believe Americans cannot succeed without keeping us dependant on Big Government our entire lives - never allowing us to individually stand freely on our own.

"vir quisnam sacrificum libertas pro salus mos perdo utriusque " is my motto. Translated to English - “men who sacrifice liberty/freedom for security will lose both.” Ben Franklin said this warning and I believe he is right, in his time and in ours.

I truly believe Congress, led by Barak Obama and his liberal allies are trading our individual liberty and freedom for imaginary security. If we allow this to happen, we will have neither freedom nor security. Don't let them Divide and Conquer us and acheive their goal.

For more on how Big Government must save us from ourselves, check out my brother's blog - My Windows on My World: http://mywindowonmyworld.blogspot.com/2009/07/only-thing-we-have-to-fear-is.html

For another example on a liberal's view point on race, check out Scientia Media and Walter M's blog on a Maureen Dowd Op-Ed: http://www.scientiamedia.com/?p=127

From the Right Side of Mid-America,

JWT

Let's say I break into your house (sent to me by my neighbor)

My neighbor sent me the following and I now share it with you:

Recently large demonstrations have taken place Across the country protesting the fact that Congress is finally addressing the issue of illegal immigration.Certain people are angry that the US might protect its own borders, might make it harder to sneak into this country and, once here, to stay indefinitely. Let me see if I correctly understand the thinking behind these protests.

Let's say I break into your house. Let's say that when you discover me in your house, you insist that I leave.

But I say, "No!"

I like it here. It's better than my house. I've made all the beds and washed the dishes and did the laundry and swept the floors. I've done all the things you don't like to do. I'm hard-working and honest (except for when I broke into your house).

If you try to call the police or force me out, I will call my friends who will picket your House, carrying signs that proclaim my RIGHT to be there.

According to the protesters:

• You are required to let me stay in your house
• You are required to feed me
• You are required to add me to your family's insurance plan
• You are required to educate my kids - even college
• You are required to provide other benefits to me & to my family

It's only fair, after all, because you have a nicer house than I do, and I'm just trying to better myself.

I'm a hard-working and honest, person, except for well, you know, I did break into your house and what a deal it is for me!!! I live in your house, contributing only a fraction of the cost of my keep, and there is nothing you can do about it without being accused of cold, uncaring, selfish, prejudiced, and bigoted behavior.

Oh yeah, I DEMAND that you learn MY LANGUAGE!!! So you can communicate with me. Why can't people see how ridiculous this is?

Only in America.

From the Right Side of Mid-America,
JWT

"Knock Knock" by Daniel Beaty

My brother sent the following video to me. It was of Daniel Beaty’s slam poetry “Knock Knock”, a thought provoking discourse of the effects on this man, when as a young boy his father’s choices denied him of the love and guidance he needed. After viewing it I was in awe. View the video and see if you concur:



What struck me was not only what Daniel said, but what he did not say. What Daniel said to me was:

• A father’s love and guidance is needed in a son’s life
• The son is a product of his father but not a product of his father’s choices
• Take responsibility – for your choices, not your father’s choices
• All people, all races, have value, worth and contribute to society
• Be self reliant, learn for yourself
• Freedom, it’s an “individual” choice

What he did not say was:

• He was entitled to anything
• Government programs were his “empowerment” to overcome his situation
• Blame anyone or anything for his situation

On his website (http://www.danielbeaty.com/), Daniel says,"I have been interested in what it means to be free, how we can be more free, and what are obstacles to our freedom." He defines freedom as the ability to lead a joyful and peaceful life.

Contrasting this message from the "street" with the message from "D.C.", I have great hope. It shows me that the values being shouted by this poet and my conservative values shouted here are nearly, if not completely identical.

So thank you Daniel Beaty. I agree with you when you say, “We can change this world, one little boy and one little girl at a time.”

From the Right Side of Mid-America,

JWT

Dear Joe

I want to share the following letter I wrote to The Honorable Senator Joe Liebermann on October 10, 2009. I am sharing this for one specific reason - To answer those who say folks like me said nothing when the former administration was spending money like "a drunken sailor on leave." This is not true. We did.

As background, I was returning to St. Louis from Washington, D.C. Senator Liebermann was traveling to St. Louis for the Vice-Presidential Debates and was on the same flight. He was traveling in coach (take note Rep. Pelosi) and refused the flight attendant's offer to upgrade him to first class. This made him "First Class" in my book.

I felt compelled to share "one man's views" of the Bush Administration's plan to bail out Freddie, Fannie, various Wall Street firms and the banks. I typed the below letter on my laptop (for spell check reasons - yes, I am a very poor speller) then hand wrote it on a legal pad. I then left the following on his tray table while he was napping.

As we were disembarking from the plane, while holding up the letter, Senator Liebermann asked me if I was the one who "left this" on the tray table. I said, "Yes." He acknowledged with "Thanks, I hear what you and a lot of others like you are saying."

In the gate waiting area this picture was taken (Thanks goes to Candy Crowley of CNN). I am the one with the "I don't know how to act around a Senator" look - on the left...

Senator Liebermann:

I am writing this short note out of respect for your time and privacy during your flight to St. Louis. I must admit I was in a bit in awe when I looked up and saw you standing in the aisle. It is not every day I have the privilege of meeting a United States Senator.

The message I want to convey is the following:

• I am a husband of a nurse, father of three, Navy veteran and a small business owner providing consulting services to the transportation industry. My wife and my combined average income for the last 5 years was less than $95,000.00.
• My in-laws are in their 80’s as is my mother – who taught high school for 40 years. They rely on their retirement savings and investments enabling them to live on their own in, each in the houses that my wife and I grew up in respectively.
• Our oldest 2 sons are college graduates – one a high school teacher in Fairfax, VA; the other a film production major looking for work. We continue to pay the loans for their education totaling $150,000.00. Our daughter is a freshman in college and we directly pay for this currently - no loans. She had to decline attending her 1st choice for college – lack of funding sources.
• We own a modest home, on time with our mortgage, built 50% equity.
• We save via our IRA’s & her 401K plan.
• When I file my quarterly taxes, I generally write a check, a few thousand dollars.
• My wife and I love our family, our work, our country. We feel we have done the right things to provide for our children and our parents. However, we feel our government is now punishing us for doing the “right thing”, meeting our responsibilities, honoring our commitments and rewarding those who don’t.
• My message – my plea is simple, stop punishing those who are responsible citizens, who honor their commitments, pay their bills, who employ people, who do the “right thing”.
• My message – my family cannot afford a tax increase to pay for any bail-out legislation, our parents cannot afford a capital gains tax increase to pay for any bail-out legislation. We are running a “$0 balanced budget” now. We have nothing extra.

Thank you for your service to our great nation. Thank you for putting principle over party.

Best regards,

Jim Taylor

So, there you have it. A plea to a Senator to "stop the madness" and let those who sowed the seeds of greed, fail. But it was not to be. Now we, and our children, and their children, and their children are saddled with a national debt and deficit that is immoral, enslaving, just plain wrong. More on this latter and thanks for reading!

JWT from the Right Side of Mid-America