Going into Sunday’s debate in the house, the Democrat Party still sat with uncertainty on whether or not they would have the 216 votes necessary to pass their bill. This was primarily due to language in the bill that would allow the Federal Government to pay for abortions. In response to this, President Obama drafted and passed Executive Order 13535 to address the concerns that house Democrats and Republicans had over the language that would allow for state sponsored abortion, repeal previous laws concerning funding of abortions, and reignite a powder keg of an emotional issue.

The only problem with buying the votes needed through the use of an executive order is that Executive Orders, regardless of which President authored them, can not be enforced in contradiction to the law of the land. The bill that was passed has the specific language that would allow for government funding to abortionists. Funding that, by the language of the bill, existed outside of the Roe v Wade decision that the government is prohibited except in instances of rape, incest, or risk to the mother’s life.  This is only one of the many flaws in this health care bill.

Among other concerns raised by citizens are the disparities in the costs, coverages, and impacts on our industries, states, and economy. The CBO made claims that 940 billion dollars would be used to fund our national health care initiative. Others claimed anywhere from 1.2 to 1.4 trillion. These numbers do not present a big difference and are perhaps a semantic argument. If a person were to calculate the costs associated with providing every American with the same level of health care as the most basic option available to government employees,  over a 10 year period, the cost would be closer to 6-10 trillion dollars. This leads to the next issue in which the taxes will begin to pay for this coverage immediately and no benefits would be available for the first 4 years. Even at 940 billion, this bill was a long way from a solvent or fiscally responsible solution. Americans will be paying for the bill for 10 years and receive only 6 years worth of services.

The services to be provided by the bill were so watered down that it is hard for me to imagine that a person could be excited about this bill. The only things that this bill actually accomplished (and even that is debatable depending on who you ask) is that you could not be dropped for pre-existing conditions, could not be denied coverage, that you would still be eligible to buy your health care should you become unemployed, and that the same people who are at the root cause of our health care problems would have their pockets filled by the government’s strong-arming of citizens into purchasing health care. Many are still concerned about the impact that these strong-armed tactics would have on businesses, especially small businesses that are on the brink of failure in these poor economic times. Destroying small businesses and overburdening the captains of industry in our nation will only lead to further economic hardships for a nation that is already at risk of losing its triple A credit rating.

Many states, hit especially hard by these trying times, worry that this is just another in a long line of unfunded mandates that will further damage their fragile economies. Just one day after the bill was passed, 22% of our states joined together in an effort to sue the Federal Government for the constitutional violations and infringements on individual liberties. Two other states have laws against federal health care while Arizona has a state constitutional amendment to on the ballot to block the initiative. This would put the total percentage of states, one day after, to 28%. Among these states are several “blue” states who feel that if a citizen of our nation chooses to not participate in commerce as directed by the bill, that the government has no constitutional grounds on which to regulate those entities. Other states have claimed that this is in direct violation to the 10th amendment which has the specific language that; “powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states”.

Perhaps the most troubling is the attitude of our government to force citizens to “buy… or else”. They make this argument out of the belief that the supremacy clause, which states that Federal Laws trump other law, entitles them to pass any unconstitutional act, even unilaterally, and have that law stand as constitutionally sound. This is, in my opinion, a bad faith argument that leads to a very slippery slope of future infringements on civil liberties and the rights of our citizens. With this precedent being set, as long as the government has a vested interest, based on the common welfare of citizens, that the government can dictate what can and can not be done by the people of this great nation.

Lets all look forward to the day when the jails are filled with otherwise law abiding citizens who simply refused to purchase healthcare as an act of civil disobedience. A future where our government has grounds to outlaw the consumption of red meat because their scientists were paid to do a study that demonstrates how unhealthy it is. After all studies do show that a person who consumes red meat can drastically reduce their individual life span. Could there be a future where political dissidents can be jailed for inciting others to violence just because they disagree with the official government stance? It is hard to imagine that future for the United States of America. It may never come to pass but it is certainly possible with the types of infringements that are present by this bill’s passing and the precedent that they set for future rulings. I, for one, am whole heartedly behind the states who stand unified in opposition of Obamacare and hope that others will begin to voice their dissent before it is too late for us to do so.

Daily, veterans from our military pour into the Veterans Administration Hospitals around the country to register for their benefits. The rose colored paintings of quality affordable health care for the rest of their lives are quickly replaced with bureaucratic systems, continuing resolutions due to budgetary constraints, and a tiered/rationed approach to such health care. This is hardly the ideal to these individuals who earned these benefits through shedding their blood, sweat, and tears at the expense of their youth.

Upon returning from my service in the Marine Corps I was one of these unenlightened veterans who actually believed, momentarily, that the government would make good on these promises. I spent hours registering in the system, filled out countless forms, and got shuffled to a dozen offices only to be greeted with a letter indicating that due to my level of health, a job that was making me a whopping 16K a year, and the current budgetary constraints that the VA was forced to operate in, that I was to be classified into the very lowest tier to receive health care. In this tier I was not entitled to be seen by doctors because they were too busy seeing patients and their families from the other tiers. I would need to be 100 percent disabled to even be scheduled for any hearing tests, eye tests, or dental care and nearly 50 percent disabled to be considered for getting an appointment within 6 months for basic outpatient care. This obviously did not apply to me because I came out of the service with all working appendages, only a slight, clinically significant hearing loss, and a couple of scars.

The waiting list to be considered for the Disability was between 12 to 24 months and then the “unofficial” policy of the bureaucratic system was to deny the first request and send it back to the local facility only to tie up more time and effort of all the parties involved in appealing the system.

I was only slightly irritated because, even in the military, my theory was that I should treat health care as if I were the one paying for it and should only go to the hospital at the threat to life or limb. I have also classically felt that it was my duty to my less fortunate military brethren to not take up valuable resources that could be better put to use on their health care. Even with a job that put me dangerously close to the poverty line I found a way to get private health insurance to cover me in case something bad was to happen. It would be hard for me to put a brand new car or big house before my personal well being and still make claims that health care was important to me.

This was years before I really saw the realities of the Veterans Administration. When I first started analyzing the local VA there were only 300 employees see a growing patient base. The few doctors that were there had panel sizes that were half of the size of other VA’s across the country. A panel size is the number of patients that the doctor is assigned to provide care for. These panels at the local facility were about 850 patients where other facilities had panels of over 1700 and 2000 per doctor. I should also point out that this panel size is probably somewhere in the neighborhood of a sixteenth to a thirty-second of my private practice doctor who could always get me in within a day even when he was really busy instead of several months like the VA.  

It was not long before the government went into a continuing resolution because it did not have the necessary funding for the VA’s budget. Supplies and services had to be stretched to meet the needs of the customers. Somehow, within 5 years the employee population doubled, collections on services failed to meet set goals to support its own weight, budgets continued to be on continuing resolution, and major infrastructure project spending boomed. It was necessary to have larger staffing levels and facilities to meet the growing needs for the patients however the number of unique visits did not raise. More doctors, more nurses, more bureaucratic garbage and no increase of unique visits. This to me indicates that the VA is suffering from a diminishing marginal product, no money, and doing less with the limited funds. But since the government does not have to show its gains and losses to receive its funding, and because there is no punishment for being poor stewards of tax payer dollars, the government doubled down and allocated a lot of money to increase the size of its Mental Health Services through the creation of a lot more FTE for staffing in those areas, the creation of more outpatient tele-mental health facilities, and Vet Centers.

Currently the wait for paperwork for consideration of disability is 12-24 months, unique visits are down, Stimulus money is being spent to further build onto infrastructure and staffing, small bureaucratic empires have been built by those savvy/self serving enough to erect them, and I still can’t get an appointment for my hearing unless I have a DAV determined 100% disability for my hearing. At least the appointment times are down to within a few months for basic outpatient care services though (of which I still don’t qualify for because of my career and general health)!

I hear a lot of people talking about how they don’t think it right for the people that they love to die because they can’t afford health care. This, in and of itself, is a ridiculous notion with the oaths that doctors have taken and indigent programs at our health care facilities.  The problem is that instead of having to die due to being poor, as they clam, they will die waiting to be eligible for care or waiting to get in for their appointment under a rationed health care system that can not afford to operate anywhere but in the dreams of our nation’s leadership. Just wait until the entire national health care system is on a continuing resolution because of budgetary constraints.

No one is saying that health care is not important or that only the rich should get it… except for maybe those pitching the bill and making paper villains of their opposition in the government. I do have to ponder how health care in its current state can be taken away from 74 million to give it in a lesser state to 42 million. Of that 42 million some 20 million are estimated to be in this country illegally.  

It is odd to me that this health care model, Medi-Care, Medicaid, and social security, all of which are failing to support their own weight, are somehow the models of health care in our nation. It also astonishes me that the NHS and France are also touted as a defense of the position that the model works when they are both in financial turmoil and more cases are coming out daily in which they are showing that you are likely to die waiting for care in these systems.

Perhaps I am as stupid as the left continually claims because I say things like, I don’t agree or I think Obama is wrong here, but I hope beyond hope that if this is the case that I remain this stupid for the rest of my life. Especially if I get to keep my money, private healthcare, free speech, land, and firearms close by.

You have already been re-elected so stop pandering and trying to appear to be non-obstructionist. I say that it is the duty of any elected official to vote the will of the people that appointed them as their representation. That means that it doesn’t matter if you are obstructionist, it only matters if you don’t vote the will of the people.

What will happen if the government gives money to these mortgage companies? The same thing that happened in the first “bankrupt America” bail-out. The money will be distributed to the companies who will use it to cover their liabilities, without providing any of the services required in the bill. In the first bail-out plan, the money was extended to the companies so that they would again grant credit to qualified individuals while loosening their lending practices after all but cutting off their lending. The organizations used the money to cover their losses and continued on, business as usual. Mortgage companies will benefit especially because they will be granted the money to cover their bad debt, owning the properties outright so that they can sell them at full value when the market returns to normal. This is free enterprise and is a brilliant part of our economic system, but free enterprise should not mean that it is funded by the government.

Under no circumstances should the GOP reverse themselves when it comes to their vote on the stimulus. Let the dems fail on their own accord so they can not blame the GOP as they have come to do every chance they get.

This brings up a lot of questions that just seem too ironic for words. First is the question of global warming in the worst winter storm in memory. Did Kentucky not get the memo on global warming or are they some of the nay sayers who should be “brought up on charges”?

Echoing the Bush criticisms “Where is FEMA”? It has been more than 24 hours and they can’t get these guys power? Maybe Kanye should get on TV with Mike Meyers and talk about how Obama feels toward his subjects in Kentucky.

The article in the NY Times goes on to mention that it could take two more weeks to bring power back online, and that more ice was on the way. The difference between this incident and Katrina is that responsible local governments took action before the crisis, so the people haven’t cried about what they are entitled to. It is amazing to me that people taking responsibility for themselves and those around them proves to be a much better way to deal with a crisis than wollowing in self pity and sticking out your hand for “what you are owed”.

Fema does have a  plan for the 600000 without power though. They are going to send 50 generators to the places hardest hit. Good job FEMA, way to hustle. Good thing they replaced the last guy who did his job a great deal better.

 The first of these events is a US President who committed US Troops to foreign soil without taking the time to consider that nation’s, or global, sensitivities and feelings on the matter. This president committed these troops without seeking approval from congress. This was an act that was unilateral in nature. It was an act of war based on a horrible tyrant that needed to be removed because he was attempting to commit ethnic cleansing. It is a war that continues to cost tax payer dollars a great deal of time after this president declared mission accomplished.

 For those who think that I might be referring to George W. Bush and Iraq; you are wrong. I am referring to William Jefferson Clinton and his war in Bosnia. How the left can claim that George W. Bush is some kind of criminal is beyond me. He conferred with foreign countries for support. He achieved support of other countries in this. He put the motion to congress. He achieved congressional support. Sadam Hussein had used weapons of mass destruction to kill a million Kurdish people along his northern border. This was an act of ethnic cleansing that is well documented. Sadam Hussein ignored and made mockery of more than a dozen UN resolutions and several attempts to inspect his country. These were inspections that were necessary because he had a well documented doctrinal capability to produce and utilize these weapons of mass destruction.

 To this I say I am amazed that so many people didn’t see through the many rouses and parlor tricks of Sadam. He repeatedly kicked the weapons inspectors out for weeks on end before allowing them to come back and inspect the facilities that they were scheduled to inspect before they were ousted. It is the equivalent of a police officer being duped by someone that he was searching for drugs by the suspect saying “hey look over there for a second” while he disposes of any incriminating evidence.

 As for the “mission accomplished” vilification of the W. which was stated, and is often misrepresented by the progressives, on a carrier that had accomplished its mission for that tour and was returning home.

 Maybe the progressives ought to stop and take a good long look at themselves before pointing fingers at others.

“This is my rifle.  There are many like it, but this one is mine.  It is my life.  I must master it as I must master my life.  Without me my rifle is useless.  Without my rifle, I am useless.       

I must fire my rifle true.  I must shoot straighter than the enemy who is trying to kill me.  I must shoot him before he shoots me.  I will.  My rifle and I know that what counts in war is not the rounds we fire, the noise of our burst, or the smoke we make.  We know that it is the hits that count.  We will hit.

My rifle is human, even as I am human, because it is my life.  Thus, I will learn it as a brother.  I will learn its weaknesses, its strengths, its parts, its accessories, its sights and its barrel.  I will keep my rifle clean and ready, even as I am clean and ready.  We will become part of each other.

Before God I swear this creed.  My rifle and I are the defenders of my country.  We are the masters of our enemy.  We are the saviors of my life.

So be it, until victory is America’s and there is no enemy.”

Rest in peace- National Pride, Freedom, Liberty, and Greatness

Congratulations go out to newly found moral turpitude, fear, servitude, and idolatry. All under the new Reich under King B. Husein Obama.

The old adage of “the more things change the more things stay the same” has never been truer in America. We have a President elect who just 1 year ago came out with a strong conviction about how the days of lobbyists setting the agenda being over. I found this interesting when last weekend I read this New York Times article concerning the transition team for our future Fuhrer. The article begins by stating that President Elect Obama has set stricter conflict of interest policies than any other president in history but goes on to identify that “Among the full roster of about 150 staff members being assigned to government  agencies between now and Inauguration Day at dozens of former lobbyists and some who were registered as recently as this year. Many more are executives and partners at firms that pay lobbyists, and former government officials who work as consultants or advisers to those seeking influence.”

Add these appointees with the recently appointed Clinton and the other suggested liberal dream team (movie reference not sports reference), and you have me sold on the idea that the only change to come out of this election cycle will be those of long term negative linear trend of political missteps propagated by the left.

Russia learned a hard lesson at the hands of their “practicing intellectuals” and I can only Hope that we won’t have to learn the same painful lessons from the Change promised by the Obama administration.

-Double Agent

In the brief article from Government Computer News The intent of “The One” is referenced. I refer to such statements as “the vision document also promises that the new administration will look for ways to bring more transparency to government interactions”. They have also identified that they have big future plans for the National Science Foundation (NSF), DARPA, and the Patent Office.  I can see the Patent office and the National Science Foundation but why in heck should they be poking their hands into the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency? I think that the government had such big motivations before and came out with the bomb. (yes the same DARPA that brought about the nuclear age is what the current administration wants to get more involved with)?

Perhaps the most chilling is a government sponsored roll-out of broadband for everyone nationwide. You belong to our network collective now and shall only have access to what we want you to have. As if the allusions to a United States version of Pravda were not scary enough without this measure’s goal to “establish net neutrality and media diversity and developing a set of safeguards for online privacy”. Throw in a healthy dose of the fairness doctrine and multiple generations of pandering to the masses of broken people and we have our very own state sponsored propaganda machine (outside of the one currently in place in american televisions, movies, newspapers… ).

Would you like to see this Vision Document? So would I. The only issue here is that the website is not currently available for this enlightening “vision” document. Just like many of their other plans it is all just smoke and mirrors to obfuscate that there is too little experience, too little planning, and too much big government.