Hey everyone,

Well, you know I will want to add my two cents to a thread on politics. Yes, we have been very involved concerning this issue and I certainly have info on it. I won’t give a diatribe on the importance of getting involved but I will say this……

Many of you are correct about the abundance of information and it becomes very hard to disseminate between reality and propaganda. I say first and foremost, yes, it’s always important to remember that all of this is ultimately in God’s hands. That is not to say that he intends for us to sit by ignorant and uninvolved until the day he returns. There are MANY instances in the bible where God had people prepare for dire times and fight……It’s hard to get Americans concerned and involved about the world we live in…..we take our liberties and freedoms for granted and just blindly believe they will always be there for us and our children……they are ONLY there because of the foresight, diligence, determination, fighting spirit, and perseverance of the founders of our great nation. Don’t be fooled……we are loosing them!

For those that aren’t sure about the speculation on the “mobs” at the town hall meetings…..I can tell you as a participant at those town hall meetings and as both a participant and organizer of recent Tea Party’s…….we are not being encouraged or paid by anyone!! We are regular, working Americans who have decided enough is enough and we aren’t going to sit back and let our country be high jacked and our liberties taken away!

The problem in the current health care system is not cost per se but excess cost. Excess cost occurs from under-utilization and over-utilization of services. In fact, the proposals would worsen the already bleak outlook on health care costs. Because the overall cost of health care is not being reduced, expansion of coverage--largely through new government programs--will require even more taxpayer subsidies (taxes!)…………Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security are already broke (n), how the heck is this supposed to work?!!!

AND……

Though House Democrats don’t know (or won’t say) how much their government takeover will cost, here’s what we do know: the plan will make health care more expensive and hit the middle class particularly hard with higher taxes, rationed care, and new health care costs. As millions of families and small businesses are struggling to make ends meet while making responsible choices, this plan forces those that make responsible decisions to foot the bill for those who don’t!

Also, this legislation represents a tremendous increase in the power of the federal government, that might not seem like much to some folks, but they are inching in......private companys (car companies), banks, insurance, healthcare......they aren't going to knock the door down....they are going to come in the back door......rather unassumingly.....

I’m just going to give a couple little highlights of the bill………the entire thing is available online at many different sites…..they are betting, however, that the same number of Americans who have never taken the time to pay attention….will still just stick their head in the sand!

Also, be aware that because the public plan is a political creation, political decisions would overrule ALL OTHER considerations concerning key items: benefit levels, premium levels, co-payments, the kinds of medical treatments that could or could not be included! A Lobbyist field day!!

A few facts:

Pg 30 Sec 123 of HC bill – a Government committee (good luck with that!) will decide what treatments/benefits a person may receive.

Pg 29 lines 4-16 in the HC bill - YOUR HEALTHCARE WILL BE RATIONED! (We all knew this, because health care is rationed in Canada and Britain, but Obama kept saying it would not be).

Pg 42 of HC Bill – The Health Choices Commissioner will choose your HC Benefits for you. You will have no choice!

PG 50 Section 152 in HC bill - HC will be provided to ALL non US citizens, illegal or otherwise. OMG!!!!

Pg 58 HC Bill – Government will have real-time access to individual’s finances and a National ID Healthcard will be issued! (That’s super comforting!)

Pg 59 HC Bill lines 21-24 Government will have direct access to your bank accts for election funds transfer.

PG 102 Lines 12-18 HC Bill - Medicaid Eligible Individuals will be automatically enrolled in Medicaid. No choice.

pg 124 lines 24-25 HC No Company can sue Government on price fixing. No “judicial review” against Government Monopoly…….Hmmmm

pg 127 Lines 1-16 HC Bill - Doctors/ AMA - The Government will tell YOU what you can earn. (That should certainly encourage people to become physicians!)

Pg 145 Line 15-17 An Employer MUST auto enroll employees into public option plan. (AGAIN, NO CHOICE.)

Pg 126 Lines 22-25 Employers MUST pay for HC for part time employees AND their families.

Pg 149 Lines 16-24 ANY Employer with payroll $400k & above who does not provide public option pays 8% tax on all payroll. (OF COURSE!)

pg 150 Lines 9-13 Businesses with payroll between $251k & $400k who don’t provide public option pay 2-6% tax on all payroll. (AGAIN, OF COURSE!)


Pg 167 Lines 18-23 ANY individual who doesn’t have acceptable HC according to Government will be taxed 2.5% of income.

Pg 170 Lines 1-3 HC Bill Any NONRESIDENT Alien is exempt from individual taxes. (Americans will pay.) (Really?...that’s a shocker!)

Pg 195 HC Bill -officers & employees of HC Admin (the GOVERNMENT) will have access to ALL Americans’ finances and personal records.

PG 203 Line 14-15 HC - “The tax imposed under this section shall not be treated as tax” (Yes, it says that!)

Pg 239 Line 14-24 HC Bill Government will reduce physician services for Medicaid. Seniors, low income, poor affected.

Pg 241 Line 6-8 HC Bill – Doctors – doesn’t matter what specialty – will all be paid the same. (that should encourage competition and ultimately mastery of skill…NOT)

PG 253 Line 10-18 Government sets value of Doctor’s time, professional judgment, etc. Literally, value of humans.

PG 272 SEC. 1145. TREATMENT OF CERTAIN CANCER HOSPITALS – (Cancer patients - welcome to rationing!)

Page 280 Sec 1151 The Government will penalize hospitals for what Government deems preventable readmissions.

Pg 298 Lines 9-11 Doctors who treat a patient during initial admission that results in a readmission - Government will penalize you!

Pg 317 L 13-20 OMG!! PROHIBITION on ownership/investment. Government tells Doctors what/how much they can own!

Pg 317-318 lines 21-25,1-3 PROHIBITION on expansion - Government will mandate hospitals cannot expand.

Pg 321 2-13 Hospitals have opportunity to apply for exception BUT community input required. (Can u say ACORN?!)

Pg 341 Lines 3-9 Government has authority to disqualify Medicare Adv Plans, HMOs, etc., forcing people into Government plan.

Pg 354 Sec 1177 - Government will RESTRICT enrollment of Special needs people!

Pg 379 Sec 1191 Government creates more bureaucracy - Telehealth Advisory Committee. Healthcare by phone. (Fantastic!!....that should be very helpful)

PG 425 Lines 4-12 Government mandates Advance Care Planning Consultations - Think Senior Citizens end of life prodding.

Pg 425 Lines 17-19 Government will instruct & consult regarding living wills, durable powers of attorney. Mandatory!

PG 425 Lines 22-25, 426 Lines 1-3 Government provides approved list of end of life resources, guiding you in how to die.

PG 427 Lines 15-24 Government mandates program for orders for end of life. The Government has a say in how your life ends.

Pg 429 Lines 1-9 An “advanced care planning consultant” will be used frequently as patients’ health deteriorates.

PG 429 Lines 10-12 “advanced care consultation” may include an ORDER for end of life plans. AN ORDER from the Government to end a life!

PG 430 Lines 11-15 The Government will decide what level of treatment you will have at end of life.

Page 472 Lines 14-17 PAYMENT TO COMMUNITY-BASED ORGANIZATION. 1 monthly payment to a community-based organization. (Like ACORN?...again, big shocker)

The really scary thing folks, is this is only a speck at the top of the iceberg……and unfortunately as Americans continue to just sit by and say….."Yeah, it’s probably not going to be a good thing", while they play their little computer games, watch their TV shows, etc……..our country and lives as we know it is going to drastically change forever!

The country that you envision your children growing up in……wrong, it’s not going to be what they end up with. But as usual, why get involved? Let someone else fight that fight or just continue to throw out lame excuses as to your lack of involvement or ignorance to the issues. Do us all a favor though,……..don’t complain later!

By the way.......Congress voted AGAINST putting themselves on Gov't Healthcare!!........Hmmm.

Tent Cities.....where are their families??

So, I'm watching all these You Tube videos
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KbOyDD4swRw
on the all of the tent cities popping up around our nation. Many in California and Michigan.....then I found one in Florida.....that hit really close to home http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obho7uBg3-A
So, then I get thinking......I wonder if anyone I know is coming close to this. Fox news mentioned yesterday that 1 in every 8 homeowners are behind on their mortgages! One in Eight! Statistically, that would mean that I know someone......several in fact. What would I do? Why don't the people in these videos go live with family? Maybe that's why I don't really know of anyone right now......is it the area and culture that I live in? Pretty much everyone I know has family that they could move in with or family that they might be taking in. I know it is very real possibility that my mother, brother and his two sons will be living with us if my mother ever looses her job. Given that she works for the retail chain Home Depot.....I'm sure that likely hood increases as unemployment and inflation go up!

I guess what I'm saying is, I know that there were a lot of tent cities during the great depression, but I wonder about the volume of tent cities 60 years later as 1) we have an increase in population and 2) we have such a huge destruction in the family unit.

Stored food ideas

Ok, so for those storing food in preparation for the collapse of the dollar/hyperinflation/job loss or just in case.....of anything.....I thought I would give a few suggestions on things to store that would be either little luxuries later or just make your life easier instead of pulling flour, grain, rice, sugar, etc out of your 5 gallon buckets or just constantly eating your canned goods.

One idea is beef jerky. For those of us who do not have farm animals or access to them, having meat protein will be important. Of course, make sure you are stocking canned meats now, ie., salmon, chicken, tuna, spam, ham....I've even found canned roast beef. It's really good over rice. Anyway, beef jerky can store for long periods and you won't need to freeze it. You will need to invest in a dehydrator and vaccum sealer if you don't already have them.

Also, fruit roll ups. Especially if you have kids.....this would make a nice healthy treat when treats become harder to come by. Apple fruit roll ups are really good...you can add any additional fruit to them. Make sure your dehydrator has leather trays. Simply pour apple sauce (any flavor) onto the trays. I like to sprinkle some with cinnamon sugar too! Don't pour it too thin or it becomes super thin once dehydrated and not really much of a fruit roll up :) Anyway, vaccum seal in bags and stored correctly they should store for a very long time.

I got a great idea of making homemade granola from a friend yesterday! By all means, granola and trail mix would be ideal to vaccum seal and store because they are full of protein, fats, and all kinds of vitamins and minerals depending on what you put in yours. I'm going to make some granola today and let you know how it turns out!

By the way....even if you don't store food, these are great just healthy snacks for your family and fun to make!

Arrogance

The problem with people infested with true arrogance is that they don't even know it. It's frustrating, but all most amusing to me at this point! The real laugh is that they are also the people that think they posses a great deal of humility and conversely don't have the ability to see their arrogance.....they know the answer to everything, they always know what others should do, they always try to one up you and of course they are always the same people that never share anything personal or intimate out themselves or their lives.....

Being trained as a Counselor I can see these people, their actions, the things they say and don't say and usually know why they are the way they are........but it's friends, family, etc.......not a random client, so it's a lot harder to take and be understanding of.

My rant for the day!

You can't become a success at family life just by having a family!

I'm going to have to take a play from my friend Annie and just write a book! Dr. Laura Schlessinger has many enemies for her views on motherhood, fatherhood, the family.....and I know I've already made quite a few, but I just have to say it!

If you're not going to raise your children, why have them? It sounds so cliche to say that 'the most important job you'll ever has is raising your children', but it's so completely true. I was on vacation last week and caught a couple minutes of some movie called Baby's Mama...my friend in the room with me commented on what a funny movie it is, so I thought I would watch. Only minutes into what I saw, the SINGLE WORKING woman was at a fertility clinic and was asked if she was going to hire a Nanny. The woman quickly responded, " of course, I have my career"...........I was so enraged, that I had to change the channel!!

Why have them if you are so willing to put them in daycare or hire a nanny at 6 weeks of age, for 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, and have someone else to bond with and raise them? I read a really nice illustration of this when a speaker was at a dinner discussing the issue of a two parent working household, when a belligerent women stood up in the back of the room and angrily challenged the position that a parent actually needs to be physically present to parent adequately. The speaker wondered aloud how she could be considered a good employee if she rarely showed up at work. "If one is not actually there doing the job, as a parent or a painter, how does one qualify as doing the job, much less as being good at it?"

I hate that the feminist movement has taken so much from women, men and the traditional family. You can't always have your cake and eat it too. Something will always suffer. Maybe a scale down in house size, maybe one vehicle, maybe no satellite television or nice vacations.......
This idea of the two parent working household with extended daycare hours, long after school programs, hiring drivers to shuttle our kids to extra curricular activities and video their activities........PLEASE!! Our children need us! They need their parents PRESENT!

What is a Libertarian vs a Neoconservative (Republican)

Well I was asked by someone on a site I belong to called Smart Girl Politics to give her an outline of what a Libertarian/Ron Paul Republican is. So I wrote this and thought I might add it to my blog in case others are wondering the same thing. So, just to give you an idea of what a 'Ron Paul Republican' (Paleoconservative/Liberartian) is:

#1 - Pro-Life, because Libertarians believe in a nonaggresion philosophy. That means you don't make acts of aggression against someone else. Therefore, when a mother kills her baby (i.e. murder) it is an act of aggression. Now some Libertarians take the individual right of the mother as paramount over the life of the child, but this is where I part ways with the traditional Libertarian Party and so does Ron Paul.....after all he has delivered 4000 babies!

#2 - The individual is soverign. Not withstanding the above argument regarding individualism, Libertarians and 'old school conservatives' such as Ron Paul, Pat Buchanan, and Barry Goldwater, believe that the individual is soverign over the state in all aspects of our daily lives. This is where the current Republican party and Libertarians part because Republicans are statist. Libertarians believe we get our soverignty from God and not from the state/Gov't or man.

#3 - Anti-war/nonintervention foreign policy: Again, the neo-cons who have hijacked the Republican Party are very much trigger happy war mongers who would like nothing more than to expand the American Empire with the superior American military. We have over 130+ bases/installations across the world. We meddle in the foreign affairs of those in the middle east all in the name of 'democracy'. We try to shove a concept of democracy down those people's throats and all it does is build resentment against the United States. Hence, the blowback of 9/11. Of course many Liberals hold this similar view, but it is true nontheless. Furhthermore, the US should follow what the Founding Fathers intended for our foreign policy, which is "free trade and associations with all, entangling alliances with none". If we just get back to that basic concept we would never have been the world's police dept. Also, as far as the United Nations go, we should leave. They hate the US and we fund a third of their budget and they have the audacity to call us 'deadbeats' and continue to spew anti-american rhetoric......they forget the hand that feeds them!

#4 - FREE MARKETS for ALL: Libertarians and true conservatives are procapitalist. Many people have forgotten what a true Capitalist is. What it is not is the merging of corporations and Gov't to set national policy and agendas. Where I come from....that's called Facism. Furthermore, we need free markets amoung banks and sound money by first eliminating the Federal Reserve System. If you study the history of the Federal Reserve System, it is nothing more than a dirty cartel that taxes the american public through a system called inflation. This is done easily for them because our money is based on the 'faith and credit' of the US which is not backed by Gold, which IS real wealth. The free markets should be left to reign and meet the demand of the public and should never be squashed for the benefit of a few. Of course in order to do this, everyone has to act in a moral framework. If we don't operate with honesty and integrity than the market breaks down and we are seen as greedy americas/evil capitalist. This just invites all the Marxist, Keyensians, and Obamakins.

This is what I believe in a nut shell. If we could just stay true to these four things than America would be on the right track to becoming once again the greatest country. Unfortunately, the current main two parties have left these ideas at the way side. I believe the new blood for the conservative movement resides in the Libertarian party and not in the Republican party.

First Harvest!

Well, it was little but we were able to harvest our first veggies yesterday. We cut the broccoli, rinsed it, put it in a bowl with some dressing and we all sat on the deck and snacked! It was sooooo good. Very rewarding I must say! There are several other things growing now, so we'll see what comes next!