Saying it my way . . .

Re:       Welfare State / Entitlement Mentality / Change we can believe in?

If Senator Barack Hussein Obama is elected to the Presidency of the United States of America and gets his way with the war on global poverty, then all countries will be looking for additional handouts from the U.S.  The handouts will be over and above the more-than-generous handouts they already receive from the United States taxpayers.  Moreover, remember this, only people (U.S. citizens) pay taxes and guess where it will go and from whom it will come?

This thinking by Obama can only lead to a stronger mindset of entitlement by all other countries.   How much more will this global war on poverty cost U.S. citizens?  One has estimated that taxes would have to be increased by approximately $8,500 per household.  Those exempt from taxes are probably already receiving government benefits, i.e., housing, education, Medicaid, food stamps, SSI payments, aid to dependent children (you get money for having more kids); and other similar benefits from federal and state agencies so there will be no assistance from them unless Obama decides to reduce their benefits or make them pay taxes on the value of those benefits.  Now multiply this number by about 6,000,000,000 people.  Can the U.S. continue to feed, clothe, and care for the world population?  I suppose the answer is Yes if Obama gets his wish and we pony up the expense for it in the way of higher taxes.

Senator Barack Hussein Obama’s only accomplishments and traits are according to Senator Joe Biden are just this:  “He is a clean and articulate man.”  Can anyone name another trait or legislation that he has gotten through the Senate?  He has “voted” present several hundred times in the Senate, but then that is not really a vote or a stance.  Some college professors give “Ds” to students that just show up for class.  Maybe this is what we have here – mediocrity without a bottom to it.   We’ll need someone stronger than this if it comes to negotiations with North Korea, Iran, or any other maverick country that happens to come this way with nuclear weapons.  I don’t think Senator Obama has the onions to pull off a “deal” with any of these mavericks unless it resembles the one signed by Neville Chamberlain in September 1938 wherein he and five other nations signed away part of Czechoslovakia to Herr Hitler to placate the dictator.  The net result was to give Hitler the perception of greater strength on his part.  Hitler must have loved that little deal.  Within two years most of Europe was under the jackboot of Nazism and we were teetering on the brink of a Second World War.  So much for negotiating by a milquetoast character carrying an umbrella.  “Peace in our time” my ass!  How about 40,000,000 dead – I can’t call that peace.

Obama says we are the greatest nation in the history of the world, yet he wants to CHANGE it!  Change it to what?  Change we can believe in?  If it ain't broken why should we change it?  I believe I’ll have another Big Mac with fries and super-size it, please!  Has he offered one bit of detail/s about the change/s he wants to make?  Has he offered any plans to anyone?  Has anyone calculated the costs to these plans?  Does he really have any plans or is it just more campaign year bull shit?  Apparently a number of his sycophants believe in it, whatever IT is.   Obama says he wants government involved in our lives every day.  Do you want government involved in your daily life?  I sure as hell don’t.  Free people are not secure and secure people are not free.  I love my freedom, or at least what’s left of it.

Even young John Kennedy lost the verbal battle when he met with Khruschev the first time in 1961.  Khruschev felt empowered by JFK’s indecisiveness and the Berline Wall went up and within one year, we had missiles pointed at the U.S. from Cuba and we were just minutes away from the end of the world, as we know it.  We had a nuclear holocaust staring us in the face.  But then JFK mustered the courage to face down Khruschev and he removed the missiles.  That is the kind of chutzpah it will take to face down Iran and North Korea or any other maverick that wants to take on the free world.  You have to ask yourself this question:  Can Obama do it?  Is Obama willing to speak softly and carry a big stick or is it just his schtick?

 If Obama is able to recruit Hillary Clinton for the VP role, then he should be wary of the Clinton legacy that seems to be a trail of destruction.  Most of their former friends, acquaintances, and business associates are either in jail, have been in jail, been pardoned, or are dead.  How long would Obama last if Bill and Hillary regain the White House?  Moreover, who would be calling the shots from the White House?

 If Obama gains the White House and pushes through his agenda for nationalized healthcare (a euphemism for socialized medicine) then you can expect to pay more in taxes for this government-sponsored entitlement.  If Hillary has her way, it would be a mandated plan and you would have to opt out of it with a waiver.  I pay almost $97 per month for my Medicare and have a difficult time finding a physician that will take a new Medicare patient.  I can only imagine the difficulty of seeing a physician when a government agency takes charge of the doctor’s appointment desk.

 If the Veterans Administration’s handling of 26 million veterans is any indication of how a “governmentally run” health care program operates, then we should all start our stretching exercises so that we will be able to bend at the waist and firmly kiss our asses good-bye if or when we need to visit a doctor.  An HMO can only be the tip of the iceberg that sank the Titanic.  Socialized medicine will be the meteorite that annihilates the earth (metaphor).

 The bureaucracy alone will swamp any attempt at providing even access to such a system.   Apparently, Hillary has never had to deal with the government as a real consumer, but only as someone that can rule by decree or through the power of the White House or Slick Willy.  However, then the White House has immediate access to the best health care providers anywhere in the universe.  Let Hillary sit in an Emergency Room with a broken foot, and as a regular, ordinary, common, average working class American and see how she is treated.  Even with an insurance program in hand, treatment would be as if she were a passenger on the Titanic traveling in “steerage.”

 Moreover, any nationalized/socialized health care plan will not be affordable for the government nor the taxpayers that will have to pay for it, as follows:

 Health Care Cost Comparisons

 Comparisons - 1965 to 2000 approximate values(8-year old data)

            Item                                1965                          2000                           Increase

Gross Domestic Product           $719.2 billion      $9817.0 billion              13.6 times

Per Capita Income                    $2,868                    $29,797                           10.4 times

Median Home Price                  $12,000                  $119.600                           9.9 times

Cost of Gasoline                       $.30 p/gal               $3.00 p/gal (2006)            10 times

Health Care Costs                 $5.1 billion                  $1,199.8 trillion          235.3 times

Est. Life Expectancy                 70.0 years                    77.3 years                     1.1 times

 It appears that most items have maintained parity with the exception of health care costs. Health care costs are approaching almost 12% of GDP.  This imbalance is due to the entrance of personal & group health insurance plans, Medicare, Medicaid, and other similar forms of government and private subsidies for health care.  It is a good thing for the actuaries at Social Security that life expectancy does not correlate with the amount spent on health care costs.  If we develop a “government controlled “health-care system,” we will probably be spending a minimum of 12 times the above amount for ¼ of the services promised.  That will be not feasible or fiscally sound unless the government doubles or triples the tax rates for EVERYONE that pays taxes.  Then the government can focus its attention to taxing ALL Social Security benefits rather than just half the monthly benefits paid to beneficiaries.  If this health-care institution/bureaucracy is created, then someone is going to have to feed it!  Institutions are "fed" regardless of the cost, their inefficiencies and their usefulness.

 Boy, I can hardly wait for this health care entitlement program to be the law of the land.  What has happened to the pioneering spirit and courage that our ancestors had 150 years ago?  I’d sooner find Dr. Kevorkian and have him “help” me than endure the feckless bureaucrats that will dictate when, where, what, and if I will receive (or be a victim of) “budgeted government health care” for a health problem.

 Government health care may be an oxymoron for “you ain’t going nowhere!”  If you have been a health care provider for sick parents then only you can understand the term “quality of life.”  My wife and I did it for ten months and I do not intend to put my children through that experience.  Give me a quiet sunny day, a comfortable lawn chair – I prefer the Adirondack style, a fine glass of wine and an overdose.  The expert so-called futurists, who would want to live to be 125 years of age, have apparently no idea about the unintended consequences, hardships and expenses of living to that age.

 If you think I’m exaggerating about socialized or nationalized health care, go visit your local Social Security Office and see how feckless those bureaucrats are.  In our city, the Social Security Office is located in the far southeast part of town and some have to travel by bus or taxi to get there.  Out of 24 windows that are built into the office to serve us citizens, usually only 10 or so windows are open and then only about half of those have a live person available.  The last visit I counted about 90 people waiting, some as long as three hours, for service.  There were plenty of staffers running around in the back “looking very busy.”  The same can be said for the Postal Service and the Post Offices.

 If on the other hand, Obama is not elected to the Presidency, then we will be hearing nothing but the “race card” for the next four years.  All Caucasoids will be considered racists even though the Reverend Wright, Louis Farrakhan, the fricking flakey Father Pfleger are inciteful radical racists in their own right.  Don’t forget, some of these folks were or may still be spiritual guides and mentors to Senator Barack Hussein Obama.   Even though Obama has left the Trinity Church, what is his position with respect to the Christian message?  Will he remain Christian or revert to Islam, the religion of his father and of his early schooling?  That would be the irony of all ironies, i.e., a Muslim President following 9/11 and our war against Islamic terrorism.  Oh, I forgot, its not politically correct to call it Islamic terrorism now even though ALL of the terrorists were and are Muslims and they all seem to attend the same Mosque and pray towards Mecca with a single goal – annihilation of the Israel and the United States, in that order.

 So do you still think George W Bush is a bad?  My feeling is you ain’t seen nothing yet!  Bush isn’t the best President that we have had but he won’t be the worst either, and you can take that to the Bank, if you have anything left to take to the Bank when it’s all over and done with. 

 Politics in Washington is a dirty stinking business and the only thing that you can really rely on is betrayal by our elected officials.  Put your hand on your wallet when they promise you something – there are no free lunches.  When in doubt, vote ‘em out!  But since I’m only your “typical white person”, what would I know about politics or the typical persons of color?

But as the song on YouTube says, "But I could be wrong!"