Through the Eyes of Others

Sometime I wonder about our national press. Neither the Conservative nor the Liberal press are able to discern between reportage and editorializing. Even our local paper, the Dallas Morning News publishes unsigned editorials that, in my mind, are either harmless, by writing about the opening of the newest snack attraction (Fried Butter!) at the State Fair or the more harmful, bemoaning the mindlessness of the local and regional Tea parties and how they encourage the fringe people to violent comments and actions.

I've been looking at a couple of British media sites, the BBC and the Telegraph, hoping for a bit more of a picture of the USA from a foreigner's viewpoint. Little did I know where those unbiased views might come from. How about this from a Romanian writer that was sent to me by a special friend.

Read this excerpt from a Romanian Newspaper. The article was written by Mr. Cornel Nistorescu and published under the title 'C'ntarea Americii, meaning 'Ode To America ') in the Romanian newspaper Evenimentulzilei 'The Daily Event' or 'News of the Day'.~An Ode to America ~

Why are Americans so united?

They would not resemble one another even if you painted them all one color! They speak all the languages of the world and form an astonishing mixture of civilizations and religious beliefs.On 9/ll, the American tragedy turned three hundred million people into a hand put on the heart.

Nobody rushed to accuse the White House, the Army, or the Secret Service that they are only a bunch of losers. Nobody rushed to empty their bank accounts. Nobody rushed out onto the streets nearby to gape about. Instead the Americans volunteered to donate blood and to give a helping hand. After the first moments of panic, they raised their flag over the smoking ruins, putting on T-shirts, caps and ties in the colors of the national flag. They placed flags on buildings and cars as if in every place and on every car a government official or the president was passing. On every occasion, they started singing: 'God Bless America !'

I watched the live broadcast and rerun after rerun for hours listening to the story of the guy who went down one
hundred floors with a woman in a wheelchair without knowing who she was, or of the Californian hockey player, who gave his life fighting with the terrorists and prevented the plane from hitting a target that could have killed other hundreds or thousands of people. How on earth were they able to respond united as one human being? Imperceptibly, with every word and musical note, the memory of some turned into a modern myth of tragic heroes. And with every phone call, millions and millions of dollars were put into collection aimed at rewarding not a man or a family, but a spirit, which no money can buy.

What on earth can unite the Americans in such a way? Their land? Their history? Their economic Power? Money? I tried for hours to find an answer, humming songs and murmuring phrases with the risk of sounding commonplace, I thought things over, I
reached but only one conclusion...

Only freedom can work such miracles.

Keep the faith. Bill

Out of the Ivory Tower and Into the Sunlight

The Senate Finance Committee has just released its recommendations for the revision of the US health system. This committee, headed by Senator Max Baucus, has commonly been called the Gang of Six, made up of 4 Democrats and 2 Republicans.

The committee has avoided the Federal government-run health system and instead is endorsing the establishment of non-profit, member-owned co-operatives. (Some days ago, I reported that Kay Bailey Hutchinson had warned that she believed that this would be an end run by the Administration and that after this idea fails (as it is expected to) the White House will ride in and be the White Knight that will take over! I believe Kay.

The proposed bill was described as follows:

• Everyone must buy insurance. If they don't, they will be fined
• Insurance companies must accept everyone regardless of health and cannot reject anyone.
• Insurance companies, after enjoying "great increase" in profitabiliy due to the new lives becoming insured under the new system will be taxed $6,000,000,000 per year.

I would love to know what expertise this committee drew on to come with these proposals. Very quickly here are my responses to this brief synopsis of the proposal:

If one of the most publicized reasons for people not owning health insurance is affordability, does it make sense to put an even greater financial burden on these same people.

Presently if an applicant has health issues, the insurance company prices for that additional potential claims risk. Taking that pricing ability away means that the healthy lives will subsidize the premium of the bad risks (the smokers, the overweight, those with serious pre-existing conditions).

One of the ways this program would be paid for would be by placing a $ Six (6) BILLION fee on the health carriers because of the "additional profits that the Committee believes will go to the carriers from the large influx of new, taxpayer-subsidized customers. If history is any guide, we know how profitable Social Security and Medicare has been since they were established. A wide open system like this one will cry out for further subsidizing by the Government!

The direct cost of this proposed program over the next 10 years is $856,000,000 savings (?) from cuts in government health programs of $507 Billion and 349 Billion in new taxes and fees!

Will There Be Peace in Our Time?

After months of debate and confrontations, there seems to be some light shining in the East. Must be light bulbs coming on! Based on what is being discussed in each of the camps, a middle ground seems to be emerging. The most recent broadsides I seen seem to show this. If we can accept Thomas Sowell as the Conservative voice and David Brooks of the New York Times as the Liberal, here’s what seems to be happening.

Mr. Sowell’s most recent comments questions not so much the need for health care reform but, instead, Obama’s basic honesty and leadership. Brooks, on the other side, dissected O’s health care speech and noted each point that he, Brooks, believes will need to be modified or abandoned in order for the proposed health care bill to be acceptable.

After all the rhetoric, here seems to be the common ground that each side can agree to.

• It’s true that the Health Care system here in the United States is broken and neither side is happy with it.
• 45 Million may not be the right number but the United States does have too many uninsureds.
• The Tort system may be poorly functioning, the jury awards too generous and the legal system may need overhauling, which will, in turn, reduce the cost of malpractice coverage to the doctors.
• The benefit payments under a proposed Government mandated plan, if similar to Medicare reimbursement in amount will probably drive many healthcare professionals out of business.
• There is waste and inefficiencies in the current Medicare administrative system.

Each of these discussion points have advocates and detractors lobbying for their own positions. It will be interesting to see if the newly recognized strength of the Tea Parties and their own awakened constituency will drive our elected officials to “do the right thing”, ignoring the lobbyists and demands of their political party and, instead, support a bill that is best for the United States.

Kay Bailey Speaks Out Against Co-ops!

Kay Bailey Hutchinson has just responded to an email that I sent regarding the Administration's attempt to establish a single payer health insurance system (controlled by the Fed) in the United States. The response was what you and I would expect from a politician.

However, Congressman Hutchinson did point out a "stealth" approach that apparently the Obama gang is going to try instead of the "In Your Face, ram it through" approach introduced earlier. Instead of the out-of-favor terminology of Government plan or Single Payer plan, the term, "co-op" is being floated as the system of the future. Here's what Ms. Hutchinson had to say about co-ops-

After hearing from constituents over the last several months, some members of Congress have now learned that using the term “government plan” elicits a strong negative response from voters, so they have now latched onto a new way to describe the same thing: a co-op. Texans should not be confused by this new packaging of the same idea. The co-op is a back door to a government takeover of our health care. The co-op would be started with federal funds, and it remains unclear whether taxpayer dollars would be used if the co-ops began to fail. The Administration has tried to bail out the banking, housing, and auto industry; would these co-ops be next?

Ms. Hutchinson has been doing her homework, at least in the case of co-ops. The State of Texas has tried them as a panacea for an absence of insurance companies willing to take on people that the company's underwriters say are bad risks and are uninsurable. Unfortunately, in practice , potential healthy prospects continue to avoid the co-op or "pool" as the claims experience tends to be bad and rate increases a regular feature, guaranteeing that a co-op will be a loser. At that time, I believe that Obama may claim the "mandate of the public" to "take over the co-op system" and make it work! With patience, anything is possible.

Two items of note today; Rememberance of September 11, 2001 and a couple of comments regarding Obama's health care speech. The easier one first:

Obama's Health Care Plan-The speech Mr. Obama gave may have been a bit more forthcoming in details but after watching him over the first 100+ days of his administration, I'm still unsure about what this appetizer has to do with his final entree. Many in the United States do not trust this man and with all due respect to the office of President, we feel that he will take as many liberties as he can with facts and and will assume privileges that he believes are his and as much as he can get away with! Some time ago Ronald Reagan said it best, "Trust but verify."

Bill O'Reilly was quite charitable concerning the speech, saying that there were two items that he believes Obama is trying to "finesse" past us at this time; The actual cost of the mandated program which O'Reilly quoted as being $2.7 Trillion in about three years after the plan is established. The second item is where are the Doctors and other Health Care professionals needed to handle the expected additional 40+ Million participants? O'Reilly says that this has to lead to rationing of health care. Newt Gingrich has developed a plan that has five stages of incorporation that has practical aspects that the Obama plan does not. I would suggest that if you have time to look it up, this might be a good alternative. (We need him back!)

The Matter of 9/11

Being older is sometimes a blessing and sometimes a curse. This is the case with the 9/11 attack by the Islamic terriorists on New York, Washington, and Pennsylvania. As we remember the heartache of those incidents, I'm struck with the way some have moved past the solemnity of the destruction and on to the negotiations for advantage by the players in New York, the way that the day has been claimed by Obama as a day of "Freedom Day of Service and Rememberance", whatever that may mean. We still don't know how the Pennsylvania day will be "used".

The Dallas Morning News pushed any articles relating to the 9/11 anniversary to the Second section of the paper, save one, a story outlining concerns of the area's muslims saying "that for the younger generation of muslims, the tragedy can even seem like a distant memory". "Time marches on," said Souha Azmeh Al-Samkari, a 22 year old student at the University of Dayton in Ohio.

Nice to hear that 9/11 did not leave any permanent scars on these young muslims but it would still be good to hear some rejections of this horrible act from the so-called peaceful muslims here in the United States or anywhere for that matter.

Give Me 30% More or Else

For us Texans the recent phenomenon of selling our major highways to the highest bidders has caused an unsettling effect. We've seen the ECSTASY of significant funds coming to the State Treasury with "little or no downside?"

For us in the Dallas-Ft. Worth-McKinney area, the time has come to pay the piper and experience the AGONY of the state's decision of auctioning the rights to build and COLLECT TOLLS on Highway 121 from the entrance of DFW airport to McKinney. The bidding war between the Spanish firm who had bid and apparently won the competition and the North Texas Toll Authority resulted in a last-minute victory for the NTTA. Their bid must have been a bit high, too high to sustain! We are now paying a third (30% plus, Folks) on ALL TOLL ROADS IN THE NORTH TEXAS REGION for their foolishness and reckless bidding! This increase was applied without any approval or in reality, any discussion! At the risk of creating another bureaucratic stumbling bloc, we need to have input into the bidding process or at least a way of protecting the public against these rate changes. Someone (the public, maybe)should have significant input to keep un-elected executives from 1)making these unreasonable and un-sustainable bidding mistakes and 2)the ability currently available to them of making the public to pay for their mistakes.

Well, tonight Folks, we get to hear what the REAL health care proposal is that the Administration is proposing and we will probably see a fine speech (unless the tele-prompter breaks down). Now why did I take that cheap shot?!

My best advice today is to record the speech, not for its historical significance but because of the way the president will check the wind blowing and take that position as his own.

The Defining Moment

Here is one of America's Greatest Heroes, speaking one of his most famous phrases. Watch:

Deja Vu, all over again, huh? The Democrats still pushing the same agenda as they were with Mr. Carter. I read that now is the defining moment for Mr. Obama and what will be his legacy and that he is going to push back hard against the neighsayers and critics who are rejecting his Single Payor Health Care proposal. If he is successful or he's not, I believe that he has already written, in his deeds, the legacy he will leave for history.

Unfortunately Mr. Obama has a hard time with the truth. If it doesn't fit his agenda, he prefers to ignore it. Consider the Lockerbie terrorist release and our President's statement that the US did not know of the Scotish government's plan. Yesterday's blog entry documented the British government's reaction to his avowal of innocence. Consider the "harmless" address he plans to present to the school children of America encouraging them to stay in school and study. We were assured that this is totally apolitical, right? Unfortunately the study guide to be furnished to the students by the White House asked the children to give ways of how they can help Mr. Obama. We've all seen clips of Mr. Obama discussing universal Health care with seemingly different ideas each time he speaks. Has anyone seen what we are expected to buy?

Our country has already had a president we called "The Great Communicator" and you just heard him. I think that the title, "The Great Prevaricator" may just have a home!

On September 2, I questioned our continuing relations with Britain in view of the release of the Libyan responsible for the Pan American bombing in Lockerbie, Scotland without our government's knowledge and approval. According to everything released at that time our President was totally surprised, disappointed and outraged by this unexpected action.

Here is how the Daily Mail reported the Obama administration's knowledge of the transfer of Megrahi:

British officials claim Mr Obama and Mrs Clinton were kept informed at all stages of discussions concerning Megrahi’s return.

The officials say the Americans spoke out because they were taken aback by the row over Megrahi’s release, not because they did not know it was about to happen.

‘The US was kept fully in touch about everything that was going on with regard to Britain’s discussions with Libya in recent years and about Megrahi,’ said the Whitehall aide.

‘We would never do anything about Lockerbie without discussing it with the US. It is disingenuous of them to act as though Megrahi’s return was out of the blue.'

Viva La Watchdogs

Just got back from an interesting and educational gathering of the Collin County Tea Party. I'm no good at estimating crowds but it was substantial and people were still arriving as we were leaving. I was impressed with the organization of the morning and despite the summer-like heat, the attentiviness of the crowd.

The gathering was much more systemic than just a pep rally against Obama and his policies. We were reminded that there are people at every level of government who are happy to spend money as long as it’s someone else’s. We heard an excellent speech from the CEO of EmpowerTexans (www.empowertexans.com) reminding us of this fact. There was a great sense in the crowd of taking back fiscal control and calling to account those people we elect, no matter at what level of government they serve and having them do that, serve our needs and desires.

I was reminded of the following article that appeared in the Dallas Morning News a few days ago-

“Welcome to the modern American high school, Texas style. Prosper High School is a $113.5 million, 590,000-square-foot behemoth, complete with a medical tech lab, a restaurant-worthy kitchen, a greenhouse, a broadcast studio and, of course, an indoor football practice facility. All this in a still-sleepy town of just 7,000 people.”

I wonder who made the decision to build that facility and, more importantly, who is going to pay for it? Can someone say, “Trustee Recall Election”?

Folks, it’s time for us to stop voting “straight ticket” and being ignorant of the issues in the Local and Statewide races. As one political junkie friend of mine once said, “Politics are the Most Fun you can have without Laughing Out Loud!” I’m diving in-care to join me?

Are Bumper Stickers the Eyes of the Soul?

I receive a blessing this morning even before arriving at my church for Sunday Worship services.

I saw a bumper sticker and it read:

"Impeach Obama!"

Have to say, it started my day off right.

Saw one of the chief organizers for the Collin County Tea Party happening tomorrow. Got some powerful speakers and it appears that there's going to be a strong turnout. I'll report how the rally goes in my next entry.

Is Honesty the Best Policy?

I’m still disappointed in the way the al-Megrahi release was handled by the Scottish legal system with the tacit approval of the British government. I believe that I would have been able to accept a more honest comment from these folks, simply stating that this release was being made to improve or solidify their relationship with Libya.

As Americans, we have already lost our innocence concerning matters like these and, in today’s world, Commerce seems to always “trump” National Honor. This has been proven in numerous events that have taken place and will continue to take place here in the States.

How can we condemn other countries for these strategies while currently families and government officials are still trying to locate the remains of military personnel still missing from the Viet Nam war while, at the same time, we are actively importing merchandise from that one-time enemy? My family just bought a nifty little table from a local shop that, when we got it home, "Made in Viet Nam" was shown as the country of orgin.

There will be one event that will disprove my suspicions about the release of al-Megrahi. If he will hurry up and DIE in a timely fashion, I'll have a nice lunch of crow and move on.

Unfortunately my wife and I saw Humanitarian Release abused first-hand when we were volunteers at the federal prison in Ft. Worth, Texas. Some years ago, a convicted swindler apparently found a doctor that would certify that the prisoner was in the final stages of cancer and would die soon. The prisoner was released, with his predicted death a few months in the future, but to this day, some 5 years later, he is still functioning fully.

Another thing is causing my stomach to churn. As a dues paying member of AARP, I receive a periodical called the AARP Bulletin. I just received the September issue where its headline reads THE HYPE, THE LIES, AND THE FACTS.

This issue purports to “Tune out the fear-mongering and misinformation and make sense of the health care reform debate".

I’m still in the process of reviewing what this Obama-favoring publication has to say, but I was struck by the statement signed by the CEO and the President that “THE COST OF DOING NOTHING IS UNACCEPTABLE. WITHOUT REFORM, A FAMLY’S PREMIUMS FOR HEALTH INSURANCE WILL ALMOST DOUBLE BY 2016 TO OVER $24,000!

I can only believe that the $24,000 is in Obama Dollars (current dollars adjusted for Runaway Inflation). Till next time.

Will Our Anglo-American Ties Be Broken

A friend gave me a report outlining the recent release of Abdel Baset al-Megrahi, the convicted terrorist. He is the Libyan responsible for the bombing of Pan American Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland which killed 270 passengers, many of whom were college students returning to the United States for Christmas.

His release points up two things that apparently have changed with the inauguration of our new president. Al-Megrahi was released without the approval of the U. S. government and without regard of the possible diplomatic fallout with the United States.

It’s clear from the furor created by al-Megrahi’s release, his flight home to a hero’s welcome, and his personal welcome by Gadhafi, complete with his warm embrace, that this was beyond that expected by the Brits and outrage is being seen both there and in the U.S.

It is also clear that Britain has chosen to cozy up to Libya at the expense of its relations with the United States. While Britain’s Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, continues to stress that the decision to release the terrorist was Scotland’s alone, there were numerous letters exchanged between Britain and Scotland, stressing the importance of the growing relationship between Britain and Libya. Britain imported 1.6 Billion (that a B) pounds in Oil and other goods last year. As relationships grow, the imports are also expected to grow.

At what point did the normally warm relationship between the leader of the United States and the Prime Minister of Great Britain fall apart? Did the erosion start with the shabby treatment Gordon Brown received when he came to Washington to offer his personal congratulations and those of his people to Obama. Or, could it have been when Mr. Brown was given, as an important, ceremonial gift, 25 of the best movies made in the U.S. on DVD, in a format that could not be played in Britain. Of course Mr. Brown went home with more than the discs. He was given the bust of Winston Churchill that had been displayed in the Oval Office for many years after being told that there was no longer any space there for that item!

Somehow I don’t think that anything described above would have happened if Tony Blair and George W. Bush had remained in office.