Health Care Reform is Necessary

Our health care system is in need of reform, but the reform might best be applied at the teat of the government pig rather than taking the insurance companies to task.

Today my office received the provider's newsletter from one of the Medicaid providers in Missouri. You know, the PUBLIC OPTION. The one you and I pay for with our tax dollars. In the newsletter, the provider boasted about the new programs for subscribers. Here are your tax dollars at work in Missouri:

1. Patients will get a $30 gift card for every 5 OB prenatal visits that they attend.
2. If you need a ride to get to your doctor's office, they will provide transportation.
3. This PUBLIC OPTION provider will pay for memberships for children to join a local 4-H club, Boys or Girls Club, Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts, Girls Inc., Discovering Options or Select Caring Community Out-of-School Time Programs
4. Oh, and the doctor will be paid $25 for a postpartum visit, WOW!!!

Ladies and gentlemen....THIS IS THE PUBLIC OPTION AT WORK. Providers get a pittance for seeing patients, BUT patients are paid to go to the doctor, rides are provided and their children's membership dues are paid to join after school clubs and activities.....all from taxpayer dollars that are ostensibly for health care. Just ask yourself....if you have private insurance that you or your employer pay for, do you get a free ride to the doctor if you want one? Do your kids get their extracurricular activities paid for out of your health insurance premiums? Do you get gift cards for visiting the doctor? I think not, and yet, if the government gets control of your health care, this is the kind of thing that will dilute out the dollars that are there for actual health care. Since there is only so much money in the pool to spend, and if these kinds of perks are part of the public benefit, when you need a serious medical expenditure, you can bet it will be scrutinized and possibly denied because it costs too much or there are no dollars left for it. In other words, your care will be rationed.

Yes, health care may be in need of reform, but it is the public option that needs the reformation. In addition to paring the fraud and abuse, the taxpayers might also want to demand that government programs actually pay for health care and ONLY health care. No wonder Obama and his minions tout the fact that those people who have the public option LOVE it!

Goodbye 2009!!!

As you read this, I am preparing for our annual New Year's Eve party for those who would otherwise sit at home on New Year's Eve. If you recall from last year, this is our annual geriatric party with several widows and widowers present, octogenarians abound, and this year, I believe the age range will be 18 months to 88 years!

We will eat, sit and talk, and I am sure that there will be discussions of the economy, health care, Medicare changes and the direction of the country. While I am not advocating that our party become a political free for all, I am sure that this year, unlike years before, there will be discussions of this kind.

There has been a change in the tenor of the country and the willingness of ordinary people to be engaged in political discussions and actions. This year, my husband and I stopped for lunch at a Hardee's while we were Christmas shopping. There were only about 5 people there when we arrived and took our seat to eat our meal. There were two men next to us who engaged us (total strangers) in a discussion of the wrong track that our country is taking. This happened without our saying anything to these gentlemen and without my husband and I having any conversation in that vein that would have sent them a clue that we were of a like mind. Last year at this time, I am pretty sure that this would not have happened. Or at least before engaging a perfect stranger in conversation about the government, there would at least have been an overture to let them know that the topic was "safe."

But then, last year I would not have been standing on a street corner holding up signs on Sunday afternoons. I would not have been emceeing a health care reform protest rally, and I would not have even heard of a Tea Party. 2009 has indeed been a year that finds many of us in roles and situations that seemed impossible only a year ago. I have to say that I am not sorry to see 2009 close and the possibilities of 2010 are very appealing. Those of us who have found ourselves more politically active than we could ever have imagined can relish the prospect of a chance to change the direction that the current administration has taken our country and perhaps right the ship of state, or at least block the legislative tsunami that has swept over our country.

So here's to a better and brighter 2010, or at least a New Year that begins to show us the promise of a return to the values and principles on which our country was founded.

Walking in a Bomber's Underwear

After listening to all of the banter about the underwear bomb and seeing the pictures all over the internet and news of the remains of his under pants, I could not help myself, so with apologies to Felix Bernard, composer of Winter Wonderland, I offer this parody.

Walking in a Bomber's Underwear

Sleigh bells ring are you listening?

In the plane someone's blist'ring.

An absolute fright

En route to Detroit

Walking in a bomber's underwear.

Gone away are his privates

Here to stay is Al Qaeda.

Now he's singing a song

As he goes along

Walking in a bomber's underwear.

Back in Yemen there are lots of others.

But we pretend that he is all alone.

We'll say: Are you Jihadi?

He'll say: No man,

But I can do the job

When I'm in town.

Later on, he'll conspire

As he dreams by the fire

To face unafraid

the plans that he's made

Walking in a bomber's underwear.

In his panties he can build explosives

And pretend he has a tummy ache

He'll have lots of fun with his explosives

Until the irate travellers take him out.

When it blows, ain't it thrilling,

Though your nuts get a grilling.

He'll frolic and play the Jihadi way,

Walking in a bomber's underwear.

Christmas Wish List to Congress

A tip of the hat to The Water Cooler for this great post!

A Christmas Wish List from the American Taxpayer
All We Want for Christmas is…

Support and respect for our troops in harm’s way
Military tribunals for war criminals
J-O-B-S
Common sense, practical domestic policy
Respectable, consistent foreign policy
Intellectual honesty about the child in the womb of every pregnant woman
Sound environmental policy that doesn’t use fear to force an agenda
Respect for life at all stages from the developing child to the elderly
Respect for and adherence to the U.S. Constitution
Firing of radical Czars—starting with “unsafe” Kevin Jennings
Economic recovery that doesn’t involve government takeover
Health care reform that doesn’t involve fiscal and moral bankruptcy
Protection of our conscientious rights
Transparency, transparency, transparency
A responsible and humble governing body in the U.S.
An end to corruption, bullying & closed door deals
Our employees to uphold their oath of office
Respect for what “We the People” have to say
NEW FACES in certain congressional seats next year


“Government is not reason, it is not eloquent—it is a force. Like fire it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master; never for a moment should it be left to irresponsible action.” - George Washington

Tales from the Sidewalk

The Million Med March in St. Louis, November 21, 2009. One of 23 simultaneous rallies over the entire nation and sponsored by Docs4PatientCare and MillionMedMarch.

On Sundays the North County Patriots meet for street side demonstration from 3-4:30 PM along North Lindbergh. Today we had enough patriots that we were able to send people to both sides of the street. We had an entire family, right down to Grandma , join us for the first time. A first happened today when a lady drove up and presented our group with several gift cards from a local restaurant she had purchased for us as a Thank-you for standing for conservative values week after week in all kinds of weather!

Health Care Bill!

Yesterday I had the privilege to be a part of the Million Med March that took place all across the US at noon in 23+ cities. Doctors, nurses, allied health professionals and our patients came together to protest the takeover of 17% of our gross national product under the guise of improving health care in the United States. We already have the best health care in the world and a total takeover in the name of a fix is not what we need. As one speaker pointed out, if the kitchen sink was dripping you would fix it and not remodel the entire kitchen! So should it be with health care in the USA.

There are certainly places to fix in what we currently have, but these do not require an entire gutting of the system. If there is fraud and waste in the Medicare and Medicaid system, FIX IT NOW. If there needs to be tort reform, FIX IT NOW. If Health Savings Accounts will allow young people to buy catastrophic insurance and self insure for mundane medical events, KEEP THIS OPTION! There is no precedent for the federal government forcing anyone to have insurance for anything! Yes, the federal government has a flood insurance program, but it is voluntary. If you don't have it and you sustain a loss in a flood, you are holding the bag for restoration or a new place to live. STATES require minimal automobile insurance coverage to protect the owner from the liability of damage that they cause to another. The idea of fines and jail sentences for not having health insurance is unprecedented and could be deemed unconstitutional.

And for the final affront to you and me, costs of these programs that are being forced on us by the federal government will be pushed off to the individual states to fund. The states will be responsible for the increased numbers of people who will be pushed onto Medicaid and other public programs for their health care. Guess where the states will get their money for this?? You betcha...you and I will be paying more for both our state and federal taxes and you can bet your bottom dollar (and we are getting right down to that) that we will be getting a lot less for our money. Sure you can keep your doctor if you like them......as long as they stay in practice. Sure you can keep your health plan if you like it......as long as NOTHING is changed in your plan or as long as your employer decides to provide it rather than pay a fine that might actually save them some money. After all, you aren't left in the lurch......Now there is a public option for you!

A highlight of the afternoon was the appearance of Health Care Bill who exemplified all that is wrong with the legislation that proposes to fix our health care.

Major Hasan and Obama's Moral Dilemma

In the wake of the Ft. Hood shootings by Major Nidal Malik Hasan, Soldier of Allah, the military has chosen to charge this home grown terrorist with 13 counts of premeditated murder. (This should be 14 cases, as one of the slain soldiers was a pregnant woman, but in keeping with the mindset of the Obama administration the unborn don't count.) The charges leveled against Maj. Hasan carry the death penalty and he will be tried in a courts-martial. This decision is interesting as President Obama will have to sign off on the death penalty in order for it to be carried out.

This raises a dilemma for our president who is the amalgamation of all things politically correct. While he is fiddling around, Afghanistan is burning and this week he assured the people of Ft. Hood that all questions will be answered and justice will be carried out. Does he realize that in order for Major Nidal Malik Hasan to be executed, Barak Hussein Obama will have to agree to this?

According to the Manual for Courts-Martial United States 2008 Edition:
Rule 1207. Sentences requiring approval by the President:
No part of a court-martial sentence extending to death may be executed until approved by the President.

This could give our president yet another opportunity to throw America under the bus. If the military court finds Major Hasan guilty as charged and directs that he be executed, the president will have to have a mental conversation that might go something like this........"Hmmm....if I order his death I am turning on my Islamic brothers, but if I do not agree to this order I will be viewed as a turncoat by the American people....Islam ....America....Islam......our military......Islam...." It may be that the tough decisions will not be made by anyone but our President who seemingly cannot make up his mind on anything.