COMMON CORE & OBAMACARE - BIRDS OF A FEATHER

Birds of a feather flock together.  What do Common Core and Obamacare have in common?  Lots.  Both are huge programs that started out as ideological theories foisted onto the states by way of deception.  Governors were placed in the cross hairs to implement both of these monoliths of control over citizens' lives.  

Common Core came into the states with a bribe.  "Play our little game of winning grants called Race To The Top and you will win a Federal curriculum to be implemented in every school in your state."  The states who took Race To The Top money had to agree to this Federal curriculum called Common Core.  Sound familiar?

Obamacare was to waltz into the states with Federal Healthcare Exchanges (bribes) with the attached Federal spending on those.  Take the money for the Exchanges and your state can "win" by having more Federal monies for Medicaid.  Same methodology of bribes.

In both situations, governors of the states had to make a decision.  Go for the Federal money?  Or stand for state sovereignty and remain independent.  (North Carolina did not accept Federal Exchanges for Obamacare.  Thankfully.)

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, most citizens have been left out of the decision process and in the dark on what exactly Common Core and Obamacare are.  As usual, the devil is in the details.  And the Federal mob of money pushers don't want citizens to know exactly what is in these two gems being foisted upon them.  Americans are finally finding out "what is in it."  (as Pelosi would say.)

What else to these two giant atrocities have in common?  Data collection is at the top of the list.  The Federal government wants to know everything about everything about everyone's life.  As Mark Steyn said today on Rush Limbaugh's show, they want to know how many bisexual drug addicts you've been having sex with and if you own guns.  Can there be a good reason for this?  No.  But teachers and doctors are now being tasked with collecting data on you, your children, your family life, your sex life, your eating habits, your energy use, your transportation choices, ad infinitum. 

Both, Common Core and Obamacare, are illegal under the Constitution of the United States.  The Federal government has NO authority to compel curriculum for public schools.  In fact it is forbidden for the Federal government to do so.  They make it seem "voluntary" by wrapping it in Federal funding with poison strings.  Take the money..and bingo bango...they have you by the you know whatsits. 

On Obamacare, every aspect of it is illegal from the process of passage to the implementation of it.  The bogus argument that we are hearing from legislators and the media that "this is the law and we have to follow it," must be beaten down with the light of Constitutional truth.  

The other thing I would mention they have in common is reduction in quality and standards.  Both, Common Core and Obamacare, are intentionally designed to lower the quality and standards that Americans have been able to access.   Both programs have been rolled out without due diligence to the results.  Both programs have been designed by globalist factions who are determined to bring Americans down to the level of either European socialism or the third world.  Both programs are designed to force people to look to government for all of the answers in life.  And the answers both programs provide are illogical, unaffordable, and filled with Marxist ideology. 

Here is a difference in the two programs: 

In the case of Common Core, state leadership is key.  With Common Core, the legal authority is still there, with the states, to comply or not.  It is still slightly possible to avoid Common Core by taking your children out of the public school system.  However, the testing and materials in curriculum are gearing all toward Common Core.  It isn't easy to avoid, but it can still be done somewhat. 

In the case of Obamacare, Washington leadership is critical. In healthcare, we have only one choice and that is to get representation in Washington to call off the dogs.  Because Obamacare is designed to kidnap every individual citizen, we are at the mercy of our representation to get rid of it.  And you can see where that went with the debt ceiling vote.  So far we are up the proverbial creek without a paddle.  There is no escape route short of Washington representation.  I hope those of my readers are very busy working toward changing that representation to Constitutionalists. 

The same "progressive," "globalist,"crew of one world government is bringing both Common Core and Obamacare into America, no matter which political party is doing it.  These two programs are part of the same package.  We WILL get rid of them.  Yes, I mean the rid of progressives as well as their horrific programs.  If not, America bites the dust.  I'm not ready to bite the dust yet.

( Note:  In case you are wondering what is slowing down my posts again here lately, I am fine.  But I am busy.  I have been working hard, networking with our state legislators on issues.  Two issues in particular lately; Smart Meters and proposed toll roads.  I've been attending events for these legislators to continue to develop relationships with them.  We are very fortunate to have some locally elected legislators who are on our side and who truly are working hard for us.  Also, a Lt. Governor who is admirable in his efforts and his convictions.  I attended a 'meet and greet' fundraiser for our Lt. Governor Tuesday with Rick Santorum as guest speaker.  I've also been working with our Tea Party, creating resolutions and planning our work on local issues.  We have a candidates' forum next month for contenders in the race to gain the Senate seat currently held by Democrat Kay Hagan.  Last Thursday evening we had our Tea Party meeting and three of our state legislators came as well as two city councilmen and a candidate for sheriff.  I am proud of our Tea Party here.  It's tough work, all volunteer, and the people on our board are giving it the best they've / we've got.  The Tea Party is hardly dead where I live, thankfully!  All of this is hardly what I thought was going to be my job description for this time in my life....but here we are!  It never seems enough.  Am reporting this for Jim G., my buddy in Venezuela....so he knows we are not giving up! )

RANDOM THOUGHTS FROM THE RECOVERY ROOM

UPDATE ON MY ABSENCE -  Over the last several weeks I have had some crazy health issues.  First of all, a neighbor's dog bit me in the face on August 7th.  Fortunately, this dog had its rabies vaccinations, but unfortunately, has a habit of doing this to people.  I was healing nicely from that when I came down with a very high fever.  I discovered several insect bites on my legs, swollen ankles and feet, and spent a week of misery with those symptoms, plus more.  I couldn't eat by this time and had horrendous leg cramps that would not allow me to sleep.  I went to our Doctor who shot me full of antibiotics and said he thought maybe I had a sinus infection???  Say what?  Still sick a week later they sent me for a battery of blood tests and a sonar-gram.  The outcome of that was it must be a virus, and oh by the way, I have a gall stone.  The gall bladder was not infected or inflamed, but they sent me to the surgeon who said he'd be happy to take out my gall bladder anyway, but he didn't think that was the cause of all of these symptoms.  I went home to contemplate this.  The high temperatures by this time were going down.  Then I was sent to an infectious disease Dr. who said he thought I had some mysterious unnamed virus and it would go away in a few weeks.  Suffering three more days, I decided that if the gall bladder was causing the eating problem, I'd better get that fixed...so back to the surgeon.  And he is a good one at that.  Two days later...voilá...the gall bladder was out and I could eat again.  Now, I am a week beyond that.  The swelling and cramps in my legs are gone, things are slowly getting back to normal.  BUT, I am as weak as a kitten and going to take a few more weeks to regain my strength.  So that's the story on me...just letting you know what happened.  I must have looked like a delicious target to something(s) evil.  Do you suppose it was a communist plot?  LOL

O.K...so....before I was hit with all of that, I started to write this:

Random thoughts as I witness the theft of freedom and the most idiotic, stupid, moronic, lying, and evil people in leadership in this nation who ever lived.

Gee, do you think the House of Representatives has control of the purse strings?  Not if you listen to some of the GOP who swear they cannot defund Obamacare. But...but...wait....Obama knows how to get Congress to stay with the program!  Exempt them all, their families, and their staff personnel!  That way they can't deny the funding because they won't care anymore!!  Great idea....

Since when is Charleston, South Carolina on the Gulf coast?  Since the Emperor with no clothes says so on late night entertainment?  But the audience applauded.  Who is dumber?  The Emperor?  Or the audience? 

Let's keep cheap available energy away from the third world nations so they can continue to live the poverty life.  Yep, great idea.  We wouldn't want the third world to be too comfortable, now would we?  They might actually be able to produce something of value for themselves and rest of the world if they had available energy.  We can't have that.

And while we're at it, let's put the American coal industry out of work for good.  What have they done for us, anyway?  Really.  Just keeping us in productive comfort for years and years...that can't be a good thing, now can it?  Yeah.  Shut 'em down. 

Oh, how about putting low income housing into every neighborhood in America?  That's the ticket!  Let's do that.  Everyone should live next to or in a ghetto.  It's only fair.  We can all be like Chicago and the crime rate there...or like Detroit where no one can live anymore.  Perfect!! 

Here's great idea!  Let's make every road a toll road.

 Oooooohhh, I really like that one.  That'll keep those slippery citizens from moving around!  You know.  They use those very bad cars to get to work and school and ...the grocery and the mall.  Sometimes they are really indulgent and drive on vacations.  Make 'em pay even more to even try to do those things.  That'll show those bad Americans what it's really like to live.  Bicycles and sidewalks, subways and light rail, bullet trains and greenways...."these are a few of my favorite things!!"  (I think I feel a song coming on.)

Meanwhile, back at the school system:  Let's make sure those little munchkins get it through their little minds full of mush that whatever they do will kill the planet! Global Warming is the ticket!! How dare they consider growing up, having more children, owning homes, eating hamburgers...those bloodsucking parasitic kids.

Now let's move on to the Smart Grid, shall we?   The good Dems have put a bill forth that will make sure EVERY citizen will be attached to the Smart Meters we spent so much money on as we subsidized the high tech energy companies. We can radiate everyone and at the same time we'll be able to control every appliance and HVAC system in the nation!  Whoo hoo....that is going to be sosoooo much fun!!  When Suzy goes to turn on that washer, BINGO, we can turn it off...or turn her refrigerator off while she washes her clothes. 

Black boxes on every car by 2014!!  Of course!  That way we can hijack anyone's car at will.  We can control the speed, too! 

Oh yeah, don't forget to instruct the kids how to be homosexuals.  That ought to fix things.

Today:

On top of all of this chaotic destruction, by all means let's bomb Syria!!  Yeah, that'll get our minds off of Obamacare, Common Core, Amnesty, Benghazi, the NSA, and all of the other corruption in Washington DC.  Keep the focus elsewhere.  Let's bomb Assad without any concrete proof that he is responsible for using chemical weapons and let's, by all means, arm the same Al Qaeda that is our known enemy.  What a great idea!! 

You can't make this stuff up.   

Those are just a few of my random thoughts as I went through the trials of this last month.  I am going to be taking it slow and steady to get my strength back.  As the Dr. reminded me after the gall bladder surgery, "Lady, you have four very deep stab wounds.  You need to take time to heal."  

All's well that ends well.  I'm going to rest again now.  Back later!!

Thanks for stopping by!!

A LETTER FROM AN OPPOSING VIEW

This must be a week for letters.  Today I received an email from a fellow who read one of my posts (2009) that was republished at Freedom Outpost recently.   The subject was Obamacare and health insurance, but I think he landed on it because he refers to my quotes from Ayn Rand as well.  For the sake of revealing how someone of Socialist ideology thinks, I thought it might be educational to post his email and my response to it for you.  If you wish to see the original post, you can go here: My Tea Party Chronicle

His email:

Ms. Pass:

Having read your blog about Ayn Rand and the execrable parasites known as health insurance companies, I would appreciate it if you would kindly explain why we should mourn their demise.

The good capitalist steals the best ideas of competitors, and the rest of the world has proven beyond cavil that socialized health care is more efficient than our bloated system, producing equivalent outcomes for a third of the cost.  Why is this such a bad thing? What value do these bureaucratic behemoths add?

The short definition of a modern Republican is a man who is more faithful to his dogma than his wife.  I would counter with a line from one of my other favorite atheist authors, Isaac Asimov: "Never let your sense of morals prevent you from doing what is right."

Regards, Dissenter

My reply:

Dissenter,
The piece re: Ayn Rand that you have just seen was republished recently by Freedom Outpost.  I am assuming that is where you saw it.

From the tenor of your comments I am sure your question is not an honest one. From what you say in your email, your mind is made up and you have demonized not only insurance companies, but capitalism and Republicans as a monolithic group. Nevertheless, I will give you my best answers if you will take the time to read and study this issue.

Your statement here for instance: "The short definition of a modern Republican is a man who is more faithful to his dogma than his wife."
To which I would ask you if the same applies to FDR, Kennedy, and Clinton...each Democrats with mistresses and peccadilloes.

You ask me to defend the insurance industry and then you proceed to defend socialism, which is responsible for the direct and indirect murders of millions of people throughout its history.  Efficiency in killing people would be attributable to the purveyors of totalitarian control, not capitalism.  Do you really need proof of this?  If so, I will give you documentation to read.

The concept of the insurance industry is the creation of a "risk pool."  Replacing the private insurance industry with socialized insurance by government is, nonetheless, a "risk pool." Whether or not you agree with a third-party payer system, you must decide if you wish the force of the government to control your healthcare providers or whether you would rather choose your own insurance and healthcare providers.  Private insurance by choice? Or government insurance by force?  I can only conclude from your email, your response is that you think force is better than choice.

You ask this: "What value do these bureaucratic behemoths add?"
If bureaucracy is your objection, replacing one bureaucracy with an even larger, less personal, government bureaucracy cannot be your solution.  In what universe does that make any logical sense?

As to this statement: "the rest of the world has proven beyond cavil that socialized health care is more efficient than our bloated system, producing equivalent outcomes for a third of the cost."
I'm assuming from that you must have been locked in a room watching Michael Moore's movie "Sicko" in a repeating loop ad infinitum for you to say such a thing. A different question to ask yourself would be: Why do socialist government officials not have to live under the same health care laws that they have put in place for everyone else? If Obamacare is so great, why have our politicians exempted themselves from it?   

To answer this presumption of yours, I refer you to several links which I hope you will take the time to read. The first one is regarding Ezekiel Emanuel, White House health care policy advisor to Barack Obama and author of much of Obamacare.
 

Wall Street Journal post on Ezekiel Emanuel

The Guardian - UK - on rationing healthcare

Below is an example of Canada's Socialized Health Care which you say is "more efficient?"

Canada Free Press

The typical wait for hip surgery in Canada is 14 months.
In Canada’s Province of Quebec, patients in need of a 30 minute procedure to cure urinary tract infections are on a three year waiting list!
Children with significant hearing problems are denied access to cochlear implants.
Arthritis treatment in the United Kingdom has a waiting period of up to nine months.  Also in the UK, a 22 year old man just passed away because the government refused to allow him to receive a liver transplant.
Patients across the spectrum are denied access to thousands of necessary medications, which are deemed “too costly” or “unnecessary” by non-doctor bureaucrats.

Article by Ileana Johnson on Communist Health Care in Bucharest, Hungary

In closing:  Prior to Lyndon Johnson's Great Society, the medical industry was providing adequate and accessible health care to all and at reasonable costs.  Insurance was a catastrophic safety net, while normal health care was an out of pocket expense, affordable to most all Americans.  Pro-bono work by hospitals and doctors took up the rest for the needy.  Churches and community charities took care of those who could not pay.  After Lyndon Johnson involved the government as a third party to the elderly and the poor, the entire situation devolved into a more corrupt money grab.....which tells you exactly what government intervention does to pulverize reason and sanity, care and due diligence, compassion and charity. 

Americans have been blessed with the best health care in the world which is now going to be degraded into the lowest common denominators due to socialism by those who think government is the answer, not the problem.  I take the opposite view because I have lived through the success of a substantial amount of freedom.  Moving toward totalitarian control over our every personal decision is not going to bring prosperity and happiness ....or good health care...to anyone but the political elitists who eliminate the inferior outcomes of socialism from their own lives.  In case you haven't noticed, they vote the best for themselves and the least for the society they govern.  Not much different from the monarchical rulers of the past, eh?

So, Dissenter, march along to your masters' drum beat.  You contacted me with questions and statements.  I hope you understand why I took the time to answer you.

Sincerely,
Cheryl Pass

P.S. I notice you quoted Isaac Asimov.  I'm sorry to say your favorite "atheist,"  also a Fabian Socialist, would only view you as a "useful idiot."  If you are trying to equate Ayn Rand with him and with Socialism due to atheism, that would be a canard.  Rand lived in and saw the horrors of Socialism and hence decided to warn Americans of the possible harm that ideology would bring upon us.

KNOW THY ENEMY - OBAMACARE FINING HOSPITALS

I opened the newspaper today to read an AP report: 

"As of Monday, Medicare will start fining hospitals that have too many patients re-admitted within 30 days of discharge due to complications."  

The article goes on to say: 

"About two-thirds of the hospitals serving Medicare patients, or some 2,000 facilities will be hit with penalties averaging around $125,000 per facility this coming year, according to government estimates."

According to AP: 

"The penalties are part of a broader push under President Barack Obama's health care law to improve quality while also trying to save taxpayers money."

"Improve quality while trying to save taxpayers money?"  Who is AP fooling?  You better have a good supplemental insurance policy folks, because hospitals will not be financially able to admit you on a second health episode within 30 days if you are on Medicare.  That is assuming the hospital you go to will allow you to just use your supplemental.  And that your supplemental will be allowed to cover whatever the need is under the Obamacare rules.  And that the hospital will even take a chance on admitting you at all.

So who is pushing granny off the cliff in a wheelchair?  Do you think it is Paul Ryan?  Obama claims he is "saving Medicare?"  Sure.  Saving it by fining hospitals or forcing hospitals to not allow a re-admittance for the elderly?  

What is the hospital supposed to say to patients?  "Oh, sorry."  "We can't let you in our hospital because ....because....well....hmmm....because Lyndon Baines Johnson set up a socialist program that ruined medical care in this country...and oh, by the way, Obama won't let us take care of you because Johnson's program is another failed socialist program."

This is all very nice since the Federal government requires you to sign up for Medicare at age 65.  You don't sign up, they take your first born child or some disastrous such penalty will be paid.  So they force you into a system you may not want in the first place, and then you are facing the mercy (lack thereof) of the Federal government punishing your hospital for taking care of you.  How does that work, folks?  

Let's say you are 70 yrs. old and admitted for surgery.  They send you home.  15 days later you are battling an infection from the surgery, because you are 70 yrs. old and your immune system is just not quite as great as it used to be.  Let's say your mom is 80 yrs. old and comes down with pneumonia.  They treat her at the emergency room for breathing difficulties and send her home.  A week later the pneumonia is not cleared up and she relapses.  She needs more care.  Hmmmm.....what do you think the hospital will say?  Sorry, lady, Obama won't let you back into this hospital?  There are any number of scenarios you can imagine with this.  The bottom line is that Obama has decided the elderly are not worth the care under Medicare.  

In case you missed it, please go look up Ezekial Emanuel's book, "The Complete Lives System."   (Yes, that is Rahm's charming brother who advises less or no care for the very young and the elderly.)  Ezekiel Emanuel wrote a large part of Obamacare.   Below is a chart showing Emanuel's level of spending per age of patient.  And look what happens as the patient arrives at 60 yrs. of age. 

Quoting the article:  "Dr. Emanuel concedes that his plan appears to discriminate against older people, but he explains: "Unlike allocation by sex or race, allocation by age is not invidious discrimination. . . . Treating 65 year olds differently because of stereotypes or falsehoods would be ageist; treating them differently because they have already had more life-years is not."

 What did he just say?  What planet are we on?

We are being ruled by evil in the United States of America.  Lying evil.   And to those former friends of mine who voted for this evil....good luck with your parents and yourselves when you need hospital care.  You asked for it.  You got it.  Pure evil.  The only thing I wish is that each of you would pack your bags and move right now, immediately, to socialist Europe where you belong.

IT'S BOTH A MANDATE AND A TAX...SO STOP THE SEMANTIC BICKERING

Out here in the hinterland of realityville, I am really sorry to see this argument over whether Obamacare is a mandate or a tax.  For crying out loud, folks.  It is a "mandated" tax on a "mandated" activity, and/or non-activity.  Got that?  Yeah, me, too.  So it is both, is it not?

First, every citizen (except those favored who got waivers) is required to have health insurance under Obamacare.  Bingo. That is a MANDATE!  Next, as I have read the last few days in several credible articles, citizens are required to pay taxes on their newly mandated insurance policies.  Bingo.  It is a TAX.  

If it isn't a tax, then why is the IRS tasked with collections?  If it isn't a mandate, then why must we all comply with this gross exaggeration of government power?  If it is a penalty for inaction....oh wait a minute....now that is both a "fine" and a mandate. 

So Romney sides with Kennedy and Scalia and says it is a mandate, not a tax? Quote from The Hill  And the Obama administration says it is a mandate, not a tax?  The Chicago Tribune   And the Chief Justice Roberts (or is that the Dread Pirate Roberts?) says it is a tax, not a mandate? I can just see that argument in the national presidential debates.  Romney: "It's a mandate."  Obama: "It's a mandate."  

 Man in Black: All right. Where is the poison? The battle of wits has begun. It ends when you decide and we both drink, and find out who is right... and who is dead.
Vizzini : But it's so simple. All I have to do is divine from what I know of you: are you the sort of man who would put the poison into his own goblet or his enemy's? Now, a clever man would put the poison into his own goblet, because he would know that only a great fool would reach for what he was given. I am not a great fool, so I can clearly not choose the wine in front of you. But you must have known I was not a great fool, you would have counted on it, so I can clearly not choose the wine in front of me.

Oh, so they both agree with each other, but disagree with the Dread Pirate Roberts?  "No, no, it's a tax!"

(Westley: Roberts had grown so rich, he wanted to retire. He took me to his cabin and he told me his secret. 'I am not the Dread Pirate Roberts' he said. 'My name is Ryan; I inherited the ship from the previous Dread Pirate Roberts, just as you will inherit it from me. The man I inherited it from is not the real Dread Pirate Roberts either. His name was Cummerbund. The real Roberts has been retired 15 years and living like a king in Patagonia.'
Fezzik: [pretending to be the Dread Pirate Roberts] My men are here! I am here! But soon *you* will not be here! )

Is your head spinning yet?  I think we are dealing with Rodents of Unusual Size about now.  Death panels soon to follow.

Westley: Where am I?
The Albino : [raspy voice] The Pit of Despair! Don't even think...
[clears throat]
The Albino : ... don't even think about trying to escape. The chains are far too thick. Don't dream of being rescued, either; the only way in is secret. Only the Prince, the Count, and I know how to get in and out.
Westley : So I'm here till I die?
The Albino : Until they kill you, yeah.
Westley : Then why bother curing me?
The Albino : Well, the Prince and Count always insist on everyone being healthy before they're broken.
Westley : So it's to be torture?
The Albino : [nods enthusiastically]
Westley : I can cope with torture.
The Albino : [shakes head enthusiastically]
Westley : Don't believe me?
The Albino : You survived the Fire Swamp, so you must be very brave, but no one withstands The Machine. 

(I love "The Princess Bride." I guess you can see that now.)  You can laugh while they are killing you, and me, and oh, the nation, too.  Bickering will get us everywhere...just ask Obama!

IS HEALTHCARE PERSONAL OR NOT? YOU BREAK IT - YOU OWN IT!

I don't usually find it necessary to divulge my personal life decisions to back up my opinions here on this blog. Usually I can find lots of other examples, facts, and opinions to support what I would like to share. But in the case of healthcare, I am going to share what this one woman's (my) life experience is to help support my argument. I'm doing this because I want the government to get out of my healthcare and stay out forever, amen.

Backing up a long way to when I was raised in a thriving middle class family in a small town, I will just say this: medical care was accessible and affordable, insurance was mostly for catastrophic circumstances, nursing care was wonderful, medical care was personal, and we knew who our medical professionals were. People did not go to the Dr. or the hospital unless there was a real need. By real, I mean something that could not be fixed with homeopathic remedies. The only checkups required had to do with schools for athletic participation. Vaccinations were required to participate in schools for the sake of eradicating infectious diseases. I knew of no one who could not afford or access healthcare if they needed it.

Flash forward to the 1970's. After Johnson in the '60's enacted Medicare and Medicaid, insurance rates rose and government regulations began to intervene in the medical profession. Granting that medical technology advancements would cause prices to rise somewhat, and inflation would effect the prices as well, the costs to families was still mostly within reach. The birth of my first child cost $185.00 for three days in the hospital in 1973. The entire price of bringing him into the world, including the preliminary pregnancy checkups was under $500.00.

Flash forward to 1986 when I had two young children and went through a divorce. From that point on, for 13 years, I lived without health insurance. By 1991 I owned a small business with 3 part-time employees, 2 full-time employees, and 50 independent sales reps who were commission only reps. There was no way at that time my business could afford a health coverage policy for such a small pool of employees. Insurance rates were escalating yearly. Even then, one could still afford, out of pocket, regular checkups. As I recall, during those 13 years. it was $18.00 to $24.00 to see the Dr. for a virus or a cold with a nasal infection. During those years I had a broken leg (can't remember the cost of that with emergency room and follow up care) and a minor surgery that cost around $2000.00. The most difficult of costs for me at the time were dental crowns that cost $300.00 per. I needed 3 of them during those years. I would have loved to have a "catastrophic" insurance policy with a high deductible of $5,000.00, or something like that, but could not find one that either existed or that I could afford. ( Being a person of faith, I'm sure the Good Lord protected me from that "catastrophe," so I could continue to raise my children and take care of my family.) Other than that concern of an unaffordable catastrophe, I was perfectly willing and happy to pay for all of my medical care out of pocket. I would still be happy to do that if the costs were still as affordable as they used to be.

Flash forward again to the early 2000's. The cost of going to the Dr. for a cold, infection, virus treatment, or non-life threatening events had gone up to over $60.00. (Now I think it might be $80.00 or more.) I married in 1999 and due to my husband's employer policy, I once again had insurance coverage. Dental crowns today are $800.00. (From $300.00 to $800.00 in less than 20 years' time. Whew!) Insurance rates are high and higher. What I could not pay for insurance earlier in my life is now only affordable because of employer co-pays in a larger insurance pool.

So what has caused the cost of medical care to go out of reach for most people? Someone please tell me? I'll give you my opinion.

One would expect some inflationary rises in medical care just because that exists in all of our monetary policies. You could look at supply and demand, with more people and fewer medical professionals. Those two aspects would increase prices to some degree, no doubt. Nothing costs the same as it did even a few years ago. But what would make healthcare unaffordable for most people. As you can tell from my story above, insurance was already out of reach for a relatively young small business owner by the 1990's. But in the 1950's, 1960's, and 1970's my Dad was a small business owner with under 4 employees and he could easily afford health insurance for his family.

Throw in all of the advances in medical technologies, the increasing population (demand), but then, throw in Medicare and Medicaid. Every medical bill you and I pay has built in it an increase to cover the costs of patients who are under those two programs. Every use of equipment has that built in cost as well. Yes, you might say, wait a minute, "Aren't people paying into those programs through taxes and withholding?" Obviously government programs have skewed the patient cost ratio because the answer to that is, "Yes, paying, but not covering enough." Why? We were in much better shape on medical expenses before Medicare and Medicaid. The government (Lyndon Johnson and Co.) wrecked the system. Medicare is a disaster in much the same way Social Security is a disaster due to demographics. The government socialist program of Medicare has done what all socialist programs do, i.e. intervene in the market in such a way as to make everyone miserably poorer.

Article from the Clinton era debate on government run healthcare.

"Let's go back to 1965, when Congress passed Medicare and Medicaid.

Most of the elderly already had health insurance. The poor were treated at city, county and charity hospitals. The right to emergency treatment, regardless of insurance, had been enacted under Eisenhower. Medical care was available to only slightly fewer people than now. But medical costs were less than half today's level - 5.9% of the economy.(1)

Since 1965, health costs have more than doubled, to 14% of GDP, and are projected to triple by the year 2000 (2). Government now pays over 43% of all medical costs (3) - and shifts billions more to private insurers. From a 1991 CBO report: Medicare was underpaying hospital average costs by 12%. Medicaid was underpaying hospitals by 12%., and paying doctors 31% less than Medicare rates. (4)

When government underpays, providers shift their costs to private insurers and cash customers."

Reason TV article on how Medicare and Medicaid caused the rise in health care costs.

"The rapid rise in health care costs is primarily the consequence of government policies."

It makes me think of the shopping admonition: "You break it, You own it." The progressive leftists live by that phrase. They break everything and then they own everything. But my healthcare is mine. I don't want some progressive leftist government bureaucrat making those decisions for me, or even knowing anything about me. They broke it. They should never be trusted with your healthcare or mine. Ever. They break everything. And they will break you and me and our nation with government run healthcare. They already have. The answer is to get them out of it. Pray for the Supreme Court to at least begin dismantling Obamacare and the progressive leftists' take over of your life and mine.

HOW GOVERNMENT HEALTHCARE MAKES YOU POOR -HOW MEDICARE MADE US WORSE OFF

If you are young, you might not understand the comparison I'm about to present. But, if you are young, you are already paying the price of communism in healthcare, whether you know it or not. Below is my simplistic explanation of how Americans are paying three times more for healthcare because of Medicare. Socialism ruins everything. Just wait as Obamacare gets implemented.

In the early 1960's, before the federal government inserted itself into our healthcare. Doctors were considered middle class or upper middle class, depending upon their specialties. Surgeons made more than general practitioners, for instance. Doctors were not in the stratosphere of income levels as they are today.

In my life up until then, I remember no one being denied healthcare. Health insurance for a family of four was under $50.00 per month, on the high side. Ours was $35.00. Most Dr.s visits were $15.00 to $20.00. And people didn't go to the doctor for every little hangnail, but went to the doctor for necessary treatments. Families took care of each other and their elderly relatives, and when medical care was needed it was usually affordable, barring some really long and dreadful circumstance. If the long and dreadful circumstance occurred, there were nets in place for the indigent to be cared for. The patient paid. Or the family paid. And if funds were depleted, local or state facilities were available. It is true that a long term disastrous health situation could financially hurt quite a lot. Families, churches, and charities stepped in and helped. In a smaller group of indigent patients with no support, the local and state tax supported hospitals took over.

Obviously, in any population some tragedies occur when it comes to health issues. Health insurance in those days was affordable and covered most all contingencies. People could cope. And they did. For the most part, we grew up knowing we could manage. That is how I remember it.

Enter Lyndon B. Johnson with his socialist "Great Society" schemes. Enacted in 1965, Johnson expanded the Social Security Administration to include healthcare for the elderly, adding the new Medicare program. The impact of this, as with most government socialist programs, came gradually. (The frog in boiling water analogy applies.) Immediately a new tax was added to payroll taxes for Medicare. Like Social Security, Americans now had to pay their entire lives into a system to cover healthcare when they turned 65 yrs. old. (now you can be in the U.S. for only 5 years and receive Medicare benefits.) History of Medicare

As implementation of Medicare permeated the healthcare industry, Dr.s receiving payment for Medicare patients did not get reimbursed by Medicare at the same costs as patients who were not on Medicare. In order to make up the difference, patient charges for all other patients were increased to cover the discrepancy. So you, as a working citizen began paying into Medicare, but also then began paying higher prices to go to the Dr. Voilá. You are, at that point, paying twice for Medicare...the payroll deduction and then the higher price at the Dr.'s office.

Oh, but that is just the tip of the iceberg. Medicare expansion continued. The government agency began covering equipment and all manner of other services. A lot of suppliers wanted in on the Medicare payments for healthcare. The price of equipment escalated right along with the Dr.s charges, nursing charges, hospital services, etc. Soon, as the Dr.s, hospitals, and equipment suppliers charged more to cover the discrepancies, health insurance rates began to increase for all others. All of these players felt justified increasing their rates and prices due to the government Medicare program insertion into the system.

Imagine the pebble thrown into a pond with ever expanding ripples. While Medicare covered X amount of a medical service, the doctors and service providers charged Y, so the insurance charged Z in order to cover both X, Y, and Z. Now you are paying three increases over what healthcare used to cost in America. And as this price escalation occurred exponentially over time, fewer and fewer people could afford health insurance and Dr.s charges for care. Dr.s are now in the income stratosphere, as one consequence. (aside: You are also paying for malpractice insurance that your Dr. is hit with thanks to the litigation happy society we live in.) Thank you Lyndon Johnson and your socialist Great Society Program. Wasn't that nice of him?

In short, Medicare caused healthcare prices to go out of reach for many, created an opportunity for fraud and abuse, made us all poorer, created an entire new dependency class, and generally made healthcare affordability worse for everyone. But wait, but wait...the socialists aren't done ruining things yet.....

(Personal anecdote: My son's birth cost a total of $185.00 in 1973. As Medicare costs filtered over the years down into the mainstream medical costs across the board, my son's first child cost $11,000.00 in 2003. In 30 short years the cost of bring a healthy baby into the world "necessarily skyrocketed, would you say?)

Not to be outdone by Lyndon Johnson, Obama magnified the cost of healthcare by such astronomical amounts that most Americans will be financially decimated by the weight of it.

Even prosthetics are taxed heavily as "medical devices." Wounded warriors are going to be taxed for artificial limbs. "If you have a fancy health care plan and pay as an individual, $10,200 or $27,800 for a family, you get to pay a 40% annual tax on those health care plans." Run Down of Tax Increases Because of Obamacare

Just as Medicare threw many people out of the insurance pool due to rising health insurance costs, Obamacare will throw more countless numbers of people out of the insurance pool and into poverty. Obamacare forces employers to stop healthcare benefits for employees due to the increased cost of it. The new cost of paying for employee healthcare is preventing employers from hiring. As more people are thrown into unemployment, more people are forced onto government programs, costing the American taxpayer even more. Obamacare taxes and fees for healthcare impact other aspects of our lives and makes the cost of living climb even higher. Our young heirs to our country have just been added to the dependency list and are made to pay for that privilege. Our heirs will have little chance of accumulating any wealth whatsoever as a consequence of Obama's nasty plans for them, and passed by a Socialist Democrat congress. Obamacare is just one of his guarantees of that. Believe me, Obamacare is not the only economic rape of this country, but it is one of his biggest.

Obama doubled down on Lyndon Johnson in the area of healthcare. Medicare was the tip of the sword, the camel's nose under the tent, the beginning of the end for affordable health care. Communism is so much fun, now isn't it?

Added information:
Heritage Foundation Obamacare Research
Reason.com on Obamacare
Obamacare Watch

THE CHIP HAS ARRIVED - OBAMA HEALTH CARE NIGHTMARE

Yep, I said "chip," not ship. Maybe God heard us wrong when we were asking for our ship to come in. Maybe He thought we said "chip." Oh wait...that's Obama, not God. It's just that he thinks he is God and he thinks ship means "chip." Yeah, that's it.
So here we go folks. The ground work is laid and we are all going to have to make some serious decisions. Way back in 2004 MSNBC published this news release from AP....read below.

News Release from MSNBC

WASHINGTON - "Medical milestone or privacy invasion? A tiny computer chip approved Wednesday for implantation in a patient’s arm can speed vital information about a patient’s medical history to doctors and hospitals. But critics warn that it could open new ways to imperil the confidentiality of medical records.

The Food and Drug Administration said Wednesday that Applied Digital Solutions of Delray Beach, Fla., could market the VeriChip, an implantable computer chip about the size of a grain of rice, for medical purposes.

With the pinch of a syringe, the microchip is inserted under the skin in a procedure that takes less than 20 minutes and leaves no stitches. Silently and invisibly, the dormant chip stores a code that releases patient-specific information when a scanner passes over it."

__________

Now you might be thinking, "Oh big deal." You might say to yourself, "Well, that doesn't mean everyone is required to get micro-chipped." Not so fast dodo breath. You have to consider our illustrious Marxist in Chief and his Science Czar, John Holdren. Between the dark and scary Dr. Emmanuel and John Holdren, it's hard to say who is the most sinister. Put the two of them in the same room with The Marxist in Chief and Nancy Pelosi and you've got yourself a horror movie, more horrifying than Alfred Hitchcock could conjure up. Add in there Kathleen Sebelius as Nurse Ratchet and welcome to "One Flew Over the Cuckoos' Nest." But I digress.

Anyway, fast forward to the Health Care Bill we are so deliriously happy about passing. Stuck inside that behemoth of death panels and bureaucratic interference is this cute little clause:

“The Secretary shall establish a national medical device registry (in this subsection referred to as the ‘registry’) to facilitate analysis of postmarket safety and outcomes data on each device that—‘‘(A) is or has been used in or on a patient; and ‘‘(B) is a class III device; or ‘‘(ii) a class II device that is implantable.”

Below is a pdf document from the Ways and Means committee and is included in the House Bill HR 3200 discussing "medical device provisions:

http://waysandmeans.house.gov/media/pdf/111/AAHCA09001xml.pdf

Now you decide for yourself. You could take this to mean certain devices such as pace-makers and knee implants, or you can extrapolate this to mean that the class II or III device that has been approved by the FDA in 2004 is now part of the medical device registry.

Approved by the FDA, a class II implantable device is a "implantable radiofrequency
transponder system for patient identification and health information." The purpose of a class II device is to collect data in medical patients such as "claims data, patient survey data, standardized analytic files that allow for the pooling and analysis of data from disparate data environments, electronic health records, and any other data deemed appropriate by the Secretary."

So I'm reading more on this and finding that in the past few years some experimental projects with micro-chip human implants have taken place here in the U.S. and elsewhere. In Florida some elderly people were implanted supposedly to keep them from wandering off the reservation......i.e people with dementia and alzheimers. In Spain some folks were implanted with chips that held their credit and ID information to be used to enter an exclusive resort. This technology is fast upon us. It is already used to track all kinds of inventory and objects, besides our dear little four footed friends. So I guess our government officials figure we'll get used to it...sort of like we got used to the "progressive" income taxes and the "imminent domain" abuses.

Here is the scenario I can envision going forward. A young mother gives birth to her child and the hospital or attending medical personnel put the chip into the child immediately. The mother is told that the only opportunity for her child to receive medical care in his or her life is if the chip is implanted....and isn't it just so great because everyone will be able to know instantly everything they want to know about the medical history of that child. If you refuse the chip, then the medical community which is now run by the government will refuse to treat you. Period. You want medical care? You get the chip. Amen.

Well, there's one more reason to despise the bill and the people who are forcing it down our throats. Try to stop them....

EXPOSE OBAMACARE

What is the difference between "futile care" and rationing? None!

Are you noticing the word "futile" coming up lately with regard to health care? "Futile care" is the new buzz phrase...all over the newspapers and coming from reports supposedly created by the Federal government. I can tell you whose words these are. They are coming from Tom Daschle and Ezekiel Emanuel, the two geniuses Obama appointed to create the new health care paradigm. "Cost effectiveness" is the new criteria for all decisions regarding health care. O.K. fine, but who will be making the decisions on "cost effectiveness?" Who decides who is "futile" and who is not? Who decides how old is elderly? Not your Doctor. Not you. Not your insurance company, which has been problematic in some cases, to be sure. But rather, a panel of bureaucrats in D. C. is being put in place to make the ultimate decisions on your medical care. No matter which bill passes through Congress and lands on Obama's desk, it will contain mandates for withholding care from whoever is deemed "futile."

Some time ago Hospice added the word "Palliative" to their title. Have you wondered where that come from? Doesn't that sound so kind and caring? The joke is that "palliative care" is the same thing that Hospice has been known for anyway, easing the suffering of death when the death vigil has begun and death is imminent. The word "palliative" is completely redundant. While the premise of Hospice is laudable, why do you suppose they felt it necessary to add that $50.00 word to the title? Does it sound any better? Marketing is everything, folks. Hospice wants you to think they have added something new and special, when in fact it is the addition of selling you on "futile care," just so you understand that they are not there to cure you. They never were there to cure you. But the extra $50.00 word is there just the same. This is by design. Get used to it. You are being trained to expect "palliative care" / "futile care" from the medical industry in the near future, included in Obamacare. Hospice and Palliative Care, Inc. is the recipient of billions of government / taxpayer dollars. What began as a volunteer organization, funded by charities, is now on the government take in a very large way. Hey...they need money. They are doing to do what the government wants them to do which is make sure the money isn't spent on "futile care." They are a lobbying group,, just like everyone else dependent on government money.

Here is the Wikepedia definition: "Palliative care (from Latin palliare, to cloak) is any form of medical care or treatment that concentrates on reducing the severity of disease symptoms, rather than striving to halt, delay, or reverse the progression of the disease itself or provide a cure."

But back to the word, "futile." From the guy who was out there marketing "hope and change," what we get is "futile care." You can't get much more forked-tongued than that. Daschle and Emanuel have written books on how to get rid of "unproductive" citizens. The idea of refusing life-saving cures for the elderly has been years in the planning. The idea of taking the decisions away from you and your doctor have been years in the planning. This is no accident. And this is not an emergency response to some trumped up economic crises. It is a deliberate attempt to take away your personal liberties. And that is my definition of "futility."

Check Your Brains at the Door and Follow the Leader?

As I have warned you before in previous posts, the Communist / Socialist / Democrat Party usurps words and distorts them to mislead you into thinking one thing when, in fact, they are doing the opposite.

The word "Co-op" is the latest trial balloon being floated by the Obama dictatorship. They want you to think that they are backing off the "public option" and going toward "co-ops." Hmmmm....let's look at what Michael Tanner, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute, says about this cute little bait and switch:

"Supporters of government-run health care have no intention of letting the co-ops be independent enterprises that operate by the same rules as other insurers. This is not really about creating more choices and competition. In fact, Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) makes it clear, for example, that the co-op's officers and directors would be appointed by the president and Congress. He insists that there be a single national co-op. And Congress would set the rules under which it operates. As Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) says, "It's got to be written in a way that accomplishes the objectives of a public option."

and further:
"If a "co-op" is run by the federal government under rules imposed by the federal government with funding provided by the federal government, it's simply government-run health insurance by another name. Opponents of a government takeover of the health care system should not be fooled."

And this from Edmund Haislmaier from The Foundry:
"However, simply slapping the word “cooperative” onto a new “insurer,” but then specifying that the government — not the policyholders — picks the board of directors (as Sen. Schumer wants), or that taxpayers will subsidize it, or that it has to pay doctors and hospitals at Medicare rates, would just be an exercise in trying to disguise a “public plan.”

Control of your health care is what they are after....and they will NOT stop until they get you on the dependent list. They will twist it, bend it, put it on a platter full of honey, call it sweetie pie, and make you eat it for lunch. Can you imagine a loan shark being in charge of your doctor, your insurance, and your decisions on what you do or do not need in the way of your personal body's health care??? Do you honestly believe that there is anyone in the Federal Government who has any interest in your personal health care???? Come on, folks. Get serious here.

You need to read about tax cheat Tom Daschle's treatise on government health care from Reason.com .

And then you need to read about: Ezekiel Emanuel's Ideas on Your Health Care

In Ezekiel Emanuel's own words: “services provided to individuals who are irreversibly prevented from being or becoming participating citizens are not basic and should not be guaranteed. An obvious example is not guaranteeing health services to patients with dementia."

Fortunately these two men, who are chosen by the President to be his senior advisors, have written out their theories on just how you will be treated by the government regarding your health. Both advocate cost reductions by limiting health care to the infirm, disabled and the elderly. It is in black and white and there for all to read. This is not fiction and is from the horse's mouth. And the President chose these people entirely because they reflect his vision for you and your family...a vision I'm sure you never hear from him or his supporters in the main stream media.

While the President is out there proclaiming that he is not for "pulling the plug on Grandma," he has put the tools in place to do exactly that by government bureaucrats he chose. He can shout it to the rooftops, but he is not telling you the truth.

In case you think he wouldn't lie to you, what follows is what is in the already passed Stimulus Bill, which, in case you don't remember, he told you had to be passed "immediately" due to a national emergency. "the National Coordinator of Health Information Technology will monitor treatments to make sure your doctor is doing what the federal government deems appropriate and cost effective." "Hospitals and doctors that are not "meaningful users" of the new system will face penalties." "Meaningful users" is not defined in the bill, but left deliberately vague so Federal Government bureaucrats can decide who is playing their game or not. Your doctor has been already kidnapped by the Stimulus Bill and better be towing the Federal line, or he or she pays a fine, or loses his or her license to practice. How can you trust anything your doctor recommends when the people in charge of his or her practice are only interested in government power and money?

They want you to check your brains at the door and be the dumb sheep following along in this scheme. Is that what you want for your life and your family?