On Health Care

Saturday, August 8, 2009

Please note that the opinions and viewpoints mentioned in this post are purely personal and are not specifically supported or endorsed by our employers.

Doctor's Office

It’s hard to turn on the news right now without hearing something about health insurance reform. I’ve been having a lot of discussion about this with friends and family, and have spent a good deal of time over the last month researching the core issues at the heat of the debate. After talking through the issue with friends of just about every political persuasion, I feel like I have a pretty good opinion on the matter. I decided to write a post about it to argue my position, and perhaps persuade a few of you to get involved.

Click to continue reading…

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By Eric in Politics

Adding to the previous post…

Friday, March 6, 2009

Saw this in the Wall Street Journal today…

Mr. Obama’s $3.6 trillion budget blueprint, by his own admission, redefines the role of government in our economy and society. The budget more than doubles the national debt held by the public, adding more to the debt than all previous presidents — from George Washington to George W. Bush — combined. It reduces defense spending to a level not sustained since the dangerous days before World War II, while increasing nondefense spending (relative to GDP) to the highest level in U.S. history. And it would raise taxes to historically high levels (again, relative to GDP). And all of this before addressing the impending explosion in Social Security and Medicare costs.

Once again, let me state that I’m not trying to be anti-Obama or anything; I’m just completely freaked out by the direction the government is taking us right now.

Let your voices be heard people.

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By Eric in News, Politics

Enough is enough.

Thursday, March 5, 2009

“A nation of sheep will beget a government of wolves.” - Edward R. Murrow

American Flag

Let me preface this by saying that throughout most of my adult life, I’ve only had what I would consider a passing interest in politics. I always find the elections interesting and will follow geopolitical topics and foreign policy from time to time, but I’ve rarely paid much attention to the partisan bickering and inevitable flip-flopping that goes on in Washington.

All of this has changed for me recently, as we’ve elected a new leader and have entered into a monumental economic crisis. As I’m beginning to dig a little deeper beyond the glossed over governmental PR department that the media has become these days, I’m uncovering a lot of things that make me frightened for the future of our nation.

As I’ve blogged about in the past, it’s safe to say that I am no fan of the strategy our leaders are pursuing to “fix” the current economic meltdown. It seems like it’s only been a few months since our leaders pulled a “chicken little” on our citizens to scare a reluctant House and Congress to pass an absolutely ridiculous 700 Billion dollar bailout bill. Our leaders chose to plunge our nation deeply into debt to put a band aid on many businesses that were already largely terminal to begin with. Now, several months later, we’re realizing a good chunk of this money has been squandered or is unaccounted for after our leaders blindly made one of the worst financial decisions in our nation’s history. As many predicted, the bailout package had no effect on the economy and the stock market continues to free fall (only now our nation is even more up to it’s eyeballs in debt).

Only a matter of days ago, our leaders passed another monumental “stimulus” package with an even larger price tag, but for some the sticker shock didn’t appear too bad this time around (after all, what’s another 787 Billion dollars when we can just create this money out of thin air, right?). Once again, the package was passed in a matter of days, with a large majority of our leaders claiming they didn’t even read it! This package is absolutely loaded to the gills with pet projects and wasteful spending that is even more appalling given the pretense with which it was sold to the American public.

If the financial implications weren’t startling enough, many of our leaders have sneaked in foundational laws for dramatic changes in the way our country will work in the future. Using fear as a catalyst, they’re somehow passing huge chunks of enormous legislation under our noses; our internal alert signals should start ringing like crazy any time a politician tries to pass urgent legislation with fear as their primary motivational tool.

I think the average citizen (yours truly included until recently) just doesn’t realize the cost of the decisions we’re making right now. Since we don’t understand economics, we just assume that the Fed can keep printing more money out of no where and it will all just balance out in the future somehow. Since we aren’t too interested in how other governments work, we don’t understand why it might be a bad idea to go in on another “new deal” with a bunch of other nations and their economies (most other economies are tanking even harder than we are).

Most of all, I believe a large majority of us have completely lost touch with what makes America great. Instead of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, we’re buying into “fairness” for everyone and government programs to take care of us. We’re beginning to see the possibility of success and wealth that have made our country so strong (and so inspiring to millions of immigrants) being replaced with a sense of entitlement where home ownership and a regular pay check is a right, not something fought for and earned.

It seems like we’re becoming more content with leaving the wonderful foundations our country is built on behind us; because our generation is scared and has lost the grit in it’s gut, we’d rather be passive and give away more control to the government (giving away more and more of our rights in the process). We’re being told that higher taxes are a duty we should take pride in. We’re being told that the government knows better how to spend our money, manage our health and provide for the needy than we do. Heck, we’re even being told that our free speech shouldn’t be quite so free, and we probably shouldn’t be trusted to defend ourselves and our families.

We’re being told that the government is the answer instead of the ingenuity and determination of the American people.

The thing is, I’m not buying it, and I have a sneaking suspicion that many of you feel the same way. You feel helpless when you see us going into utterly insane levels of debt to circumvent capitalism and bailout broken business practices. You feel sick as you watch your retirement account waste away more every time the government tries to get involved to fix things. You feel angry when you see our leaders try to take over more parts of our lives when you see how messed up current government-run social programs are (Medicare and Social Security anyone? I for one can’t wait to visit the waiting room that’s run by the same people that control the DMV and Post Office!).

If you feel the same as I do, I urge you to join with me in taking a stand for the America you believe in. These ridiculous and continuing (here comes another one!) spending packages and moves towards socialism have got to stop. Write your congressmen and representatives - make your voice heard when you disagree. Instead of being passive and keeping in line with fashionable opinions, speak up with your peers about your opinions on the health of our nation and the direction we’re heading. I truly feel that many of us, on both sides of the political fence, feel the same way.

Somehow we’ve developed the crazy concept that elected officials somehow know best, and how dare we criticize their decisions?! Free speech and the ability to inspire change is what makes this country great! There’s a reason we have elections so frequently - sometimes you have to fire the idiots and elect better people to do the job (don’t forget, they work for US!).

As I wind down this post, by now I’m sure you think that I believe government to be some sort of evil entity; I assure you this is not the case. You may also think I’m writing this to air my political grievances with President Obama, given my expressed skepticism in the past. This is not purely the case, as it takes more than one person in power (including passive, overly trusting citizens) to make some terrible decisions. For the record, I’m not convinced McCain would be doing much better right now given his support of the first bailout; we need to look beyond this two-party political system to get some fresh blood and ideas in office.

I do believe it is important that we remind ourselves every so often that our nation was created to escape the rule and excessive control of a government that presumed to know better than it’s people. We must never forget the rare and unique gifts of freedom and liberty, and the price our forefathers paid to hand them down to us. I hope we can give our children the same inheritance.

6 comments

By Eric in Life, News, Politics

The Elephant (and Donkey!) in the Room.

Saturday, October 25, 2008

This is a post about why I’m voting for who I’m voting for in this presidential election. If you don’t care to read it (and I don’t blame you - I’m about worn out over politics right now), then please move along.

This election aggravates me quite a bit. To be honest, I don’t think either of the major party candidates are great choices. I have no idea how John McCain ended up winning all of the republican primaries to become their candidate, and Obama seems to have won his party’s nomination on charm alone (more on this below).

To begin, I’ll explain a little about my political views. Growing up, we didn’t discuss politics too much. Maybe I just wasn’t listening or don’t remember, but I never felt really indoctrinated with the beliefs of either major party (for the record, I believe my parents are both registered Republicans). I prefer not to align myself with a political party, but describe my political beliefs as conservative. I would rather vote along with those convictions rather than party lines any day (both major parties have some serious issues in my mind).

There are several issues that are important to me, besides the obvious issues as they relate to God’s commands. I’ve long said that in this election, the deciding issue for me is our economy. Our nation’s spending, along with all of the entitlement programs, are completely out of control and that has to stop. In addition, our currency is being wrecked by the Fed creating more and more money out of no where, which will likely make this current economic crisis look like a walk in the park down the road.

We’ve also got to do something about immigration; illegal immigration is exploiting these entitlement programs even further and is a huge security issue. Another big issue to me, both as an employee and an owner of a small business, is taxes. Our country is punishing folks more and more for succeeding, which is pushing jobs, money and business overseas. Did you know that the top 5% of earners ALREADY PAY MORE taxes than the other 95% combined? Ridiculous.

Perhaps what scares me the most about our country right now is the continued slide down the slope toward a bigger, more controlling government. Look, we know our country can’t manage money or make a budget and stick to it (when I want something I can’t afford, I have to plan, save and wait. When the government wants something, it either raises taxes even more or makes up money out of thin air). Social Security is getting close to bankruptcy and medicare is a growing money hole that is exploited by almost everyone. So how is it that many of the idiots in Washington now want to take over health care, raise taxes during a potential depression and discourage business growth (and jobs) even more?

We’ve got some crazy people in government right now that want to push us more and more to a socialistic “the government should take care of me” society. They, along with the media, are somehow convincing the American public that we should trust the government with more and rely on Uncle Sam for our well-being rather than God and our own ingenuity. What ever happened to a strong work ethic and the American Dream?

Look, I’m not saying things aren’t broken. Something needs to be done to help lower health expenses and make insurance honest and affordable. We need to care for our homeless, helpless and poor (maybe the church will actually step in?). Read up on the fair tax too, there are a lot of smart people that think that’s where we need to go.

So what about the candidates?

Barack Obama

Look, this guy is all sorts of charming. He speaks clearly and confidently and can get folks energized and fired up like nobody’s business. He comes off as an electrifying, unifying leader, and I respect his seemingly positive outlook and emphasis on hope. Unfortunately, I believe he’s much more style than substance.

For starters, he has very little experience. It seems like the second he was elected into the senate, he started campaigning for president. The people he associates with scare me; not the obvious ones like Ayers or Rev. Wright, but other nut-jobs in his party like Nancy Pelosi and folks like Barny Frank. Those folks are continually “wussifying” our nation and encouraging the growth of weak, dependent citizens instead productive contributors.

He wants to repeal existing tax cuts and punish success with even more tax hikes. This will discourage small business growth and make existing corporate tax rates even less attractive, pushing more jobs and wealth overseas.

One of his largest campaign issues is the development of a universal health care system that would cost us about $1 Trillion in new spending. This will add yet another entitlement program that cost taxpayers dearly and be exploited and broken in no time. I also don’t believe that Obama’s proposed new tax plan (new taxes on only the wealthiest 5%) can remotely pay for this.

He’s consistently voted in favor of abortion and even infanticide for babies that somehow survive the abortion process.

There’s just no way I can support this man. I like his image, but just don’t agree with what he stands for.

John McCain

It may or may not surprise you to hear that I don’t like John McCain very much either. I respect him as a hero and for getting things done in Washington, but his policies skew to be more moderate than I would like. He’s in favor of amnesty for illegal immigrants (which I oppose). Like Obama, he voted in favor of that ridiculous economic bailout package, which just happens to go against one of his biggest campaign promises of cutting pork barrel spending.

What I do like about McCain is that he’s proud of our country and has served it for years upon years. This dude was tortured out of his mind, but still refused to leave prison when his fellow soldiers weren’t yet released. He still believes in capitalism and believes in less government and more freedom.  He wants to freeze government spending, cut programs that aren’t working and KEEP TAXES LOW. He’s consistently voted in favor of life and supports our troops instead of undercutting them.

Look, I’m not happy with having to vote for the lesser of two evils. I wish the Libertarian party or any third party would be given the light of day in a debate. For the record, if something like runoff voting was implemented, I would vote for Bob Barr if I wasn’t throwing away my vote.

I think the direction that Barack Obama and his potential cabinet wants to take our country is wrong, and frankly quite scary.

For that reason, I’ll be voting for John McCain.

Get Out and Vote!

Whoever you’re considering voting for, please get out there and research them outside of what you’re hearing from the media on both sides of the fence. You might also enjoy checking out something like glassbooth.org that will match you up with a candidate based off of what you believe in.

3 comments

By Eric in Life, Politics

Is it just me…

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Or is this email campaign in bad taste? I’m no expert on the subject, but I do design emails for a living, and this campaign seems pretty out of touch. It’s not political in a partisan way (considering the bill was passed by the majority of liberals and conservatives), but there were a TON of people against it (including myself). Am I thinking too much into this? For some reason it really bothers me.

Restoration Hardware Email Blast

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By Lauren in Design, Interesting, Politics

Help Oppose the Bailout!

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

I know, yet another post about the bailout. Why is this such a big deal to me? I sincerely feel that passing this ridiculous $700 Billion taxpayer-funded bailout will only wreck our economy. We would create money from thin air to bail out rich businessmen who don’t want to pay for their mistakes.

Yes, the DOW will likely drop quite a bit (although it’s pretty fickle and won’t stay down for long… it went back up 500 points today!). Yes, some stupid banks will fall, and it will likely ripple down to main street where we’ll have a few tough years in a recession. Loans will be hard to come by for a while and things will be difficult. But we’ll recover and move on.

The alternative is continuing to prop up a corrupt system with money from your pockets that you will never see again. This will likely further destroy the dollar as a currency and lead to massive inflation, causing a deep recession and possibly a depression that would last for years.

I just don’t feel comfortable letting the government steal my money to bailout a broken market so their hedge funds don’t implode. This bailout IS NOT for us.

To be honest, I enjoy discussing politics and government, but rarely feel the urge to get personally involved. This time I feel different, and it sounds like I’m not the only one. Many media outlets say that representatives have been receiving phone calls and emails from those they represent that are strongly opposing the bailout 300:1. I think the few sane representatives in both parties heard us on Monday.

So what can we do now? Dave Ramsey, along with some leading economists have developed what they’ve coined as the “Common Sense Fix.” You can read all about the plan in this PDF, and read what he’s asking everybody to do here. Basically, it’s the right way to help the market to get out of this mess, and it will cost us 93% less.

Read up on the topic, then wear out your senators and representatives (by the way, their sites have been down all day because we’re busting their chops about this). Tell them that if they even think about passing this scam of a bailout that you’ll fire their butts in the next election. They represent US, and we can’t let them forget it.

Here’s the form letter I’ve been using if you would like to copy it and make it your own…

“Please do not support the $700 Billion Bailout plan in any capacity! This is a TERRIBLE plan that will continue to wreck our economy and hurt our nation for years to come.

Alternatively, I’m asking that you review and support “The Common Sense Fix” proposed by financial guru Dave Ramsey and other leading economists. This will add massive liquidity to fix the current crisis by providing insurance, suspending the mark-to-market accounting rules for a short time and removing the capital gains tax. It is estimated to cost $50 Billion in tax payer dollars, only 7% of the proposed bailout!

You can find more details about this plan along with a statement of our concern here: http://www.daveramsey.com/media/pdf/the_common_sense_fix.pdf

If you support the $700 Billion Bailout plan in any capacity, I WILL NOT vote you back into office.

Thank you for your time.

Your Name”

A closing thought: it should wake us up that BOTH of our major party presidential candidates are supporting this garbage.

2 comments

By Eric in Life, Politics

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