Thursday, March 25, 2010
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Stupak - The Chameleon
The chameleon was one of the most fascinating creatures the kids and I discovered during our time in Africa. It has the ability to blend in, change colors gradually and soak up its surroundings in order to survive. Watching a chameleon transform itself was at times mesmerizing to observe. The chameleon provided many opportunities for life lessons.
This week I could not help but think of the chameleon as I observed the transformation of Bart Stupak. I watched him change his colors as the C-SPAN cameras caught each of his calculating moves. A man who although we would disagree about policy and process, we would agreed on the principle of life. But as his extreme make over began, I thought, just another pretender, a chameleon. It was like the channels had switched and I was watching a documentary on Animal Planet instead of the House Chamber on CSPAN.
Leopards do not change their spots, lions don't suddenly stop roaring but Bart Stupak can change right before your very eyes. A man of principle on Wednesday became a just another politician with no values on Sunday.
BTW, you know why Chameleons change like they do, it is their only defense mechanism. They have no teeth, no claws and no great speed to get away. They just sit their and blend in with their surroundings.
Saturday, March 20, 2010
The Most Concise Look at ObamaCare Yet
Simple truths of Obamacare
By: Michael Steele
March 20, 2010 06:46 AM EDT
President Obama recently arm-twisted reluctant Democrats to vote for the government takeover of health care with a direct personal appeal, saying, “the fate of his presidency is on the line.”
That this failed to incite revolt reveals how dangerous this Congress is for America. What they should have answered is: The fate of our country and future generations of Americans is on the line, Mr. President, and that’s more important.
The force and duration of the grassroots pushback against the government takeover of health care reveals that this debate has stumbled on something unusually unifying for the normally fractious American citizenry.
Pollsters of every political persuasion have been saying since last August: We know what we know. Despite all the “experts” trotted out to convince us that spending trillions will reduce the deficit, and growing government will somehow grow the job-creating sector, we’re just not buying it.
As Congressional Democrats shuttle between the Capitol and the White House, concocting sweetheart deals to entice votes from their nervous caucus members, they’ve lost sight of what Americans outside Washington already know:
The simple truth is that you can’t add a trillion dollars to the budget and claim it’s “revenue neutral” unless you are raising taxes or cutting benefits somewhere else. The simple truth is you can’t cut a half-trillion dollars from Medicare and claim it won’t affect seniors. The simple truth is you can’t procure votes with special deals for certain states and not others, then claim that all Americans are treated equally. The simple truth is you can’t claim transparency when every meeting, conversation and deal is behind closed doors. The simple truth is you can’t claim to be accountable when you’re willing to ignore the Constitution, on a technicality, to avoid having to answer for a shameful vote.
The simple truth is the President and the Congressional Democrats will have to face the verdict of history for what they’re doing. We, too, will have to answer to future generations for letting it happen. There will be no hiding from our grandchildren when they ask why a nation founded on the fear of government overreach and control allowed Big Government into our exam rooms, our medicine cabinets and our hospital beds.
We could prevent that unpleasant conversation. There’s still room for last-minute revisions. Wouldn’t it be great to tell our kids that, when we had the choice to trust our future to Washington bureaucrats, politicians and “experts” or to the job-creating class of small business owners and entrepreneurs, we were on the side of those who make the American economy strong?
Wouldn’t it be a proud moment if we could tell our kids that, when the businesses which could put laid-off Americans back to work were facing an unstable and unpredictable economic future, we put a stop to massive growth in taxation, red-tape and employer penalties?
The simple truth is we are at a crossroads and we must ask ourselves: Are we truly better off today than we were three years ago when Democrats took control of Congress?
Are our jobs, our businesses and our kids’ college funds more secure today than they were then? Do we want to accept a White House and Democrat Congress that forces us to endure a new “normal” of a 9-10 percent unemployment rate? Are we willing to let a Constitution-shredding Democrat Congress and a President obsessed with the fate of his presidency take us one step closer to crippling our economy and mortgaging our children’s future?
Instead of assaulting the small business class, we should be talking about which policies would best help the innovators and job-creators energize our economy. Instead of creating doubt about the future, we should be instilling the confidence and predictability that will replace the “Going-Out-of-Business” signs in our storefront windows with “Help Wanted” signs.
There is still time – this is not the hour for surrender or grim-faced resignation. We must put Congressional Democrats on undeniable notice: If you jeopardize our job security for the sake of a backroom deal or ideological extremism, you’ll be the ones hanging the “Going-Out-of-Business” signs.
The simple truth is with the vote scheduled for Sunday, the American people are ready for lasting solutions not political agendas.
For our part, Republicans will continue to say “no” to a government–run health care system that encourages out-of-control government spending, budget deficits and national debt and “yes” to American families, businesses and economic freedom.
If we don’t reverse the course we are on, we will be the first generation of Americans to hand our children a weaker and poorer country than the America we inherited. If we don’t stand up to this wild-eyed irresponsibility today, our children will not forgive us tomorrow for denying them the American dream.
Are you listening yet?
By: Michael Steele
March 20, 2010 06:46 AM EDT
President Obama recently arm-twisted reluctant Democrats to vote for the government takeover of health care with a direct personal appeal, saying, “the fate of his presidency is on the line.”
That this failed to incite revolt reveals how dangerous this Congress is for America. What they should have answered is: The fate of our country and future generations of Americans is on the line, Mr. President, and that’s more important.
The force and duration of the grassroots pushback against the government takeover of health care reveals that this debate has stumbled on something unusually unifying for the normally fractious American citizenry.
Pollsters of every political persuasion have been saying since last August: We know what we know. Despite all the “experts” trotted out to convince us that spending trillions will reduce the deficit, and growing government will somehow grow the job-creating sector, we’re just not buying it.
As Congressional Democrats shuttle between the Capitol and the White House, concocting sweetheart deals to entice votes from their nervous caucus members, they’ve lost sight of what Americans outside Washington already know:
The simple truth is that you can’t add a trillion dollars to the budget and claim it’s “revenue neutral” unless you are raising taxes or cutting benefits somewhere else. The simple truth is you can’t cut a half-trillion dollars from Medicare and claim it won’t affect seniors. The simple truth is you can’t procure votes with special deals for certain states and not others, then claim that all Americans are treated equally. The simple truth is you can’t claim transparency when every meeting, conversation and deal is behind closed doors. The simple truth is you can’t claim to be accountable when you’re willing to ignore the Constitution, on a technicality, to avoid having to answer for a shameful vote.
The simple truth is the President and the Congressional Democrats will have to face the verdict of history for what they’re doing. We, too, will have to answer to future generations for letting it happen. There will be no hiding from our grandchildren when they ask why a nation founded on the fear of government overreach and control allowed Big Government into our exam rooms, our medicine cabinets and our hospital beds.
We could prevent that unpleasant conversation. There’s still room for last-minute revisions. Wouldn’t it be great to tell our kids that, when we had the choice to trust our future to Washington bureaucrats, politicians and “experts” or to the job-creating class of small business owners and entrepreneurs, we were on the side of those who make the American economy strong?
Wouldn’t it be a proud moment if we could tell our kids that, when the businesses which could put laid-off Americans back to work were facing an unstable and unpredictable economic future, we put a stop to massive growth in taxation, red-tape and employer penalties?
The simple truth is we are at a crossroads and we must ask ourselves: Are we truly better off today than we were three years ago when Democrats took control of Congress?
Are our jobs, our businesses and our kids’ college funds more secure today than they were then? Do we want to accept a White House and Democrat Congress that forces us to endure a new “normal” of a 9-10 percent unemployment rate? Are we willing to let a Constitution-shredding Democrat Congress and a President obsessed with the fate of his presidency take us one step closer to crippling our economy and mortgaging our children’s future?
Instead of assaulting the small business class, we should be talking about which policies would best help the innovators and job-creators energize our economy. Instead of creating doubt about the future, we should be instilling the confidence and predictability that will replace the “Going-Out-of-Business” signs in our storefront windows with “Help Wanted” signs.
There is still time – this is not the hour for surrender or grim-faced resignation. We must put Congressional Democrats on undeniable notice: If you jeopardize our job security for the sake of a backroom deal or ideological extremism, you’ll be the ones hanging the “Going-Out-of-Business” signs.
The simple truth is with the vote scheduled for Sunday, the American people are ready for lasting solutions not political agendas.
For our part, Republicans will continue to say “no” to a government–run health care system that encourages out-of-control government spending, budget deficits and national debt and “yes” to American families, businesses and economic freedom.
If we don’t reverse the course we are on, we will be the first generation of Americans to hand our children a weaker and poorer country than the America we inherited. If we don’t stand up to this wild-eyed irresponsibility today, our children will not forgive us tomorrow for denying them the American dream.
Are you listening yet?
Friday, March 19, 2010
Too Simple To Be This Complicated
The Healthcare debate is about to move us in a direction philosophically that I believe is contrary to the DNA of the American spirit. Socialism is a failed experiment and if you want to see socialism in its worst form, visit a Canadian hospital or European country for an extended time and talk to the people. However, there is little time today to discuss how the philosophical affects the practical.
Today, we must discuss the simple. This is my solution to this impending Healthcare Nightmare. Democrats and Republicans cannot agree on the number of people who are without healthcare in this country. Dems state there are 40+ million of us who are without HC. I do not think it is that high. Repubs have stated there are as few as 10 million.
Whether we are discussing life, politics, theology or philosophy, the truth normally lies somewhere in the middle of the two extremes. In regard to the uninsured, I am going with the number 17-19 million Americans.
I do not have time to write, nor do you have time to read, the breakdown of those 17-19 million. Who are they? Where are they? and Why do they not have insurance? These are all reasonable questions. There are approximately 300 million Americans. You do the math.
Ok, here is my solution. Instead of upsetting the best medical care in the world, instead of upsetting 1/6 of our economy (possibly without a vote), instead of directing our future toward an already failed socialistic doctrine, instead of handicapping our doctors and researchers, instead of violating my individual right to choose, federally fund abortion and cause upheaval for the vast majority of us who have health care, why don’t we simply take care of the 17-19 million Americans and provide healthcare for them? If we took care of them half as well as we take care of every country in the world that has a disaster, aka Haiti and Chile, then our people would be well care for indeed.
The programs and processes are already in place to do this on a state level and with federal funding, states would be able to manage the care of their own poor. I am all for helping the poor, I’ve done it both here and overseas, but there is more at stake here than just healthcare, this is a step toward what a few believe is best for the rest of us. Healthcare is a means to an end. The end of the pioneer spirit of America and a giant step toward socialism for masses.
Today, we must discuss the simple. This is my solution to this impending Healthcare Nightmare. Democrats and Republicans cannot agree on the number of people who are without healthcare in this country. Dems state there are 40+ million of us who are without HC. I do not think it is that high. Repubs have stated there are as few as 10 million.
Whether we are discussing life, politics, theology or philosophy, the truth normally lies somewhere in the middle of the two extremes. In regard to the uninsured, I am going with the number 17-19 million Americans.
I do not have time to write, nor do you have time to read, the breakdown of those 17-19 million. Who are they? Where are they? and Why do they not have insurance? These are all reasonable questions. There are approximately 300 million Americans. You do the math.
Ok, here is my solution. Instead of upsetting the best medical care in the world, instead of upsetting 1/6 of our economy (possibly without a vote), instead of directing our future toward an already failed socialistic doctrine, instead of handicapping our doctors and researchers, instead of violating my individual right to choose, federally fund abortion and cause upheaval for the vast majority of us who have health care, why don’t we simply take care of the 17-19 million Americans and provide healthcare for them? If we took care of them half as well as we take care of every country in the world that has a disaster, aka Haiti and Chile, then our people would be well care for indeed.
The programs and processes are already in place to do this on a state level and with federal funding, states would be able to manage the care of their own poor. I am all for helping the poor, I’ve done it both here and overseas, but there is more at stake here than just healthcare, this is a step toward what a few believe is best for the rest of us. Healthcare is a means to an end. The end of the pioneer spirit of America and a giant step toward socialism for masses.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Protestant Clergy Beaten In Iran
Iran: Protestant clergyman tortured for "converting Muslims"
Incidents like these show the brittleness and weakness of the Islamic regime that so intimidates the Western world. Islamic Tolerance Alert from the Islamic Republic of Iran: "Isfahan: Protestant clergyman tortured for 'converting Muslims,'" from AsiaNews, March 10 (thank to C. Cantoni):
Tehran (AsiaNews/Agencies) - A protestant clergyman, Wilson Issavi, has been jailed for "converting Muslims". He has been tortured and threatened with execution. According to the Farsi Christian Network, Issavi's wife, Medline Nazanin, recently visited her husband in prison. She said that he was in poor health and that he bore visible signs of torture.
Rev Issavi (pictured), 65, was arrested on 2 February in Isfahan shortly after he finished a house meeting. He heads the Evangelical Church of Kermanshah in Isfahan, a 50-year-old church body affiliated with The Assemblies of God that caters to the local Assyrian population.
Iranian intelligence officials told his wife that he might be executed for his alleged activities....
According to Compass Direct News, a sweep against Protestant Christians is taking place across Isfahan. On 28 February, Isfahan residents Hamid Shafiee and his wife Reyhaneh Aghajary, both converts from Islam and house church leaders, were arrested at their home. Their fate and whereabouts are still unknown....
Official controls and police bans appear to be motivated by suspicions that Christians are involved in proselytising but also by fear that their meeting might hide activities by opponents of the clerical regime.
Incidents like these show the brittleness and weakness of the Islamic regime that so intimidates the Western world. Islamic Tolerance Alert from the Islamic Republic of Iran: "Isfahan: Protestant clergyman tortured for 'converting Muslims,'" from AsiaNews, March 10 (thank to C. Cantoni):
Tehran (AsiaNews/Agencies) - A protestant clergyman, Wilson Issavi, has been jailed for "converting Muslims". He has been tortured and threatened with execution. According to the Farsi Christian Network, Issavi's wife, Medline Nazanin, recently visited her husband in prison. She said that he was in poor health and that he bore visible signs of torture.
Rev Issavi (pictured), 65, was arrested on 2 February in Isfahan shortly after he finished a house meeting. He heads the Evangelical Church of Kermanshah in Isfahan, a 50-year-old church body affiliated with The Assemblies of God that caters to the local Assyrian population.
Iranian intelligence officials told his wife that he might be executed for his alleged activities....
According to Compass Direct News, a sweep against Protestant Christians is taking place across Isfahan. On 28 February, Isfahan residents Hamid Shafiee and his wife Reyhaneh Aghajary, both converts from Islam and house church leaders, were arrested at their home. Their fate and whereabouts are still unknown....
Official controls and police bans appear to be motivated by suspicions that Christians are involved in proselytising but also by fear that their meeting might hide activities by opponents of the clerical regime.
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