Congressman John Spratt
Congressman John Spratt (D-SC, head of the House Budget Committee) was being interviewed on Charlotte’s Morning News on WBT (1120 AM) yesterday morning while I was driving in the car. He made a statement that, to me, was so shocking that I just had to listen to the podcast when I got home to make sure I heard it right. In the course of the conversation, he mentioned that the federal government presently pays for about half of all the medical care that’s delivered in the United States. Half! Jaw-dropping! Naturally, I wanted to know just how much that is, so I googled and found at the National Coalition on Health Care that total spending was $2.4 trillion in 2007, or $7900 per person, and they expected expenditures to rise by 6.9% in 2008. That’s about $2.6 trillion. If it increased by the same amount this year, that would be about $2.8 trillion. Getting pretty close to $3 trillion! So, this year the federal government is paying for nearly $1.5 TRILLION dollars in health care expenses. Wow! That’s a lot of money, folks!
Congressman Spratt had been at a meeting on Thursday of “Blue” Dog Democrats (fiscally conservative Democrats – an oxymoron if I ever heard one!), pressing Democratic leaders to make significant changes to the health care reform bill. He said that there was a good deal of disagreement among them, but the one thing they could agree on was that whatever is done “must be paid for and must be affordable.” Okay, that sounds good, but just who is going to pay for it, I ask? You know the answer – all of us taxpayers, that’s who!
According to Spratt, the reform is not going to be a complete overhaul of the system, but “a change in the system so that we can reach the 46 million people that don’t have coverage. And I would say to those who do have coverage, don’t you want your fellow Americans to have the same total security you have with medical insurance if we can afford it?” Way to try to heap condemnation and make us feel guilty, Congressman Spratt! Well sure, it would be nice if everyone had insurance, but I shouldn’t be forced to pay for anyone else’s insurance. The Congressman obviously thinks otherwise. And who is this “we”? “If we can afford it?” I don’t recall joining hands with him or anyone else to pay for this program. And anyway, we can’t afford it. Remember the huge deficit and the economic crisis?
Okay, then Stacey Simms read a question from a listener to Congressman Spratt: “Congressman Spratt said that the President wanted a revenue neutral health care bill. Now the Congressional Budget Office says it will cost trillions of tax dollars and will require the same rationing of health care that we see in Canada. How can Spratt justify these spending increases and takeover of health care in these economic times?” Good question, I thought.
Spratt’s answer: “The issue is not revenue neutrality. It’s deficit neutrality. Whatever we do has to be fully offset. If you’re going to expend the benefits, then you’ve got to pay for them. You’ve got to cut out other benefits elsewhere. The reason we can do that without having to pay completely for the total cost of it is that the federal government today pays or provides for about 50 percent of all the medical care that’s delivered in this country anyway. With some move-arounds amongst those different elements of care – Tricare, Medicare, Medicaid, FEHB – with some move-arounds, as we call it, from coverage that’s provided now to coverage that’s extended to others, we can pay for a significant portion of it.”
Way to evade the question, Congressman Spratt! What does “a significant portion” mean? Just how much money are we talking about? And what about the other portion? How’s that going to be paid for? Lots of questions and, unfortunately, no real answers from the Congressman. Politics as usual, I’m afraid. Whatever they end up with, it’s going to be bad news. Unless, of course, they decide to drop the whole idea, but you know that’s not going to happen. These power hungry politicians are dead set on destroying our economy and our way of life. House leaders are pushing to finalize the bill by the end of July. I don’t know about the Senate version. So keep sending those emails and making those phone calls!
Cartoon by Michael Ramirez
Wanted to post something today, and I thought this was pretty good. Michael Ramirez is one of my favorite political cartoonists. I don’t always agree with him, but I do on this one!
Want to have your mind boggled by some big numbers? Take a look at Recovery.org, a website which exists to keep us informed of how the billions of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) dollars are being spent. I clicked on the “For Taxpayers” page and read this:
The President and the Federal government are asking the American people to trust them with an unprecedented level of funding to address the economic emergency. You need to know that your dollars are being invested in initiatives and strategies that make a difference in your communities and across the country. This site will help you track these funds to see how and where recovery dollars are spent and allow you to vote if a project is worthwhile or wasteful.
Oh, yeah, they want us to trust them with an unprecedented amount of money. Isn’t that a joke? Oh, but we can vote on whether we think a project is worthwhile or wasteful. Doesn’t matter that the decision has already been made. It’s going to be done whether we like it or not. Doesn’t that make you feel good? And my dollars are being invested? Gee, I always thought that investing my money was a personal, private decision.
If you click on the link to Recovery.gov, you can see much more detail about all the different projects being funded by ARRA. So you can have a better picture of just how the money the federal government has brazenly taken from your pocket is being spent. Did you know that nearly $8 billion has been earmarked for “weatherization”? Huh? That’s what I said, too. That’s to buy lower income folks insulation and seal up their windows and update their heating and a/c and to make government buildings more energy efficient, too. It says that this program “allows low-income families to reduce their energy bills by making their homes more energy efficient, reducing heating bills by an average of 32% and overall energy bills by hundreds of dollars per year.” It all sounds so sweet and charitable, doesn’t it? But think about it – the federal government is essentially forcing one group of citizens to pay for another group’s home improvements. This isn’t charity; it’s robbery. It’s no different than if I came up to you on the street and said, “give me $10,000 so I can remodel my bathroom.” Only difference is that I can’t make you give me the money, but not so with the government. It has the political power to force us to hand over our money to be given to things like home improvements for other people. If we resist, we go to jail. This, my friends, is tyranny.
(Addendum: Just to clarify, I believe that Recovery.gov is to tell you what is planned, and Recovery.org tracks what actually happens.)
Reason.tv asks, “What if government ran health care?” Humorous, but unfortunately accurate.
Scary, huh?
A wise and frugal government, which shall restrain men from injuring one another, which shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. This is the sum of good government. – Thomas Jefferson, 1801
I wholeheartedly agree with Jefferson. Based on this definition of good government, clearly our federal, state, and local governments are unwise and – dare I say? – evil. Why evil? Because they do not obey the Higher Law – the two fundamental laws: 1) do all you have agreed to do, and 2) do not encroach on other persons or their property. We need to understand that most of what our government does is not just inconvenient for us. It is fundamentally immoral and must be opposed.
For the first time today, I made a comment on an article at the 9-12 Project. Just a short little statement that I think that the United States should not interfere in Honduras, but rather let the people there determine their own destiny. I was not prepared for the hostility that ensued! One person asked “what kind of liberal bootcamp” I had been to. (Isn’t that hilarious?) Another said that I need to get my “head out of fantasyland.” One said that I “don’t know squat about the Founding Fathers.” And, my favorite: “Your point is mute (sic) and weak at best. I suspect your character follows suit.” If you’re going to insult me, at least spell the word correctly, okay? I was shocked because I expected to find compassionate conservatives who can debate issues intelligently and civilly. Boy, was I wrong! Now, just to be clear – I do not consider myself a conservative (more about that another day) and I’m certainly not a liberal. No, not a moderate either – yuck! Lukewarmness! Pitooey! I think it’s a shame that people on both ends of the spectrum and everywhere in between can be so unreasonable. Well, it certainly has been a learning experience, and I’m going to try to make the effort to be more civil myself.
I’m still here. Just haven’t posted for a while. I’ve been trying to decide what direction to take with this blog. My day to day activities, pictures, and so forth are posted on my Facebook for my friends (and most of my family) to see, and I don’t really want to be redundant by posting the same thing in two places. I’ve had a lot on my mind lately – trying to figure out where I stand on a lot of issues, especially in the realm of politics, liberty, government, and how to relate to it all as a Christian. It seems to me that a lot of Christians just ride the tide of the current conservative popular opinion without much serious thought. I don’t want to be like that. I think these things are important. I’ve been having lots of discussions with my dear husband about all this. So thankful to have him to talk to. We’re hoping to find some like-minded people to talk to. I’m sure they’re out there. I just don’t know where. So, anyway, I might just start blogging more about issues rather than my personal life. To give me an outlet and also – who knows? – maybe have some kind of positive influence on somebody else. Maybe I should change the name to “Your Mind Matters!” Meanwhile, if you’re interested in personal updates on me and my family, look us up on Facebook!
Yesterday North Carolina Governor Beverly Purdue signed into law a ban on drivers sending text messages or emails while driving. Now, don’t get me wrong – I think that texting while driving is a stupid thing to do, but do we really want to make it a criminal offense? If no one else’s life or property is encroached upon, why should I be branded as a criminal simply because I sent a text message? If my texting were to cause an accident where I injured another, then some kind of reparation should be made, but there is nothing inherently criminal about sending a text message. Why not let insurance companies impose a stiff penalty for drivers who cause accidents while texting? Wouldn’t that do just as much – if not more – to discourage the practice than making it illegal? How often do you hear people say that they don’t want to get caught speeding because they don’t want their insurance rate to go up? The one-time fine for speeding isn’t nearly as much of a deterrent as the prospect of paying higher insurance rates over a period of months or years.
What about other practices that distract drivers – like lighting up a cigarette, or eating, or turning on the radio? Should those be crimes, too? What about noisy, cranky kids fighting in the back seat? Should we ban children from riding in cars? Where does it all end? And just how is this ban going to be enforced? Is the government going to install surveillance cameras in our cars to make sure we’re not texting? Or maybe they’re going to monitor everyone’s cell phones. Just think of the bureaucratic mess and expense that would be! Not to mention the downright wrongness of such an intrusion of our privacy, although I wouldn’t put it past them.
I know that the intentions of the people supporting this ban are good, but I don’t think they have really thought through the ramifications of such a law. And so we are slowly but surely losing our liberty.
Today I found this little bug sitting on a butterfly bush leaf. I think the markings are so cool. What color! Isn’t God amazing?
Wow, this is powerful. What else can I say? Watch and weep and pray.
