Rep. Henry Waxman (D- California) is not real smart for a guy who has been put in charge to help make the decisions that run this country. On the other hand though, I don’t guess it’s a requirement that you have smarts or common sense to hold that job, after all you just have to win a popularity contest to hold the job.
Please read the below taken from FoxNews - (yes, there are similar stories on other networks)
A key House committee chairman on Friday threatened to roll over moderate Democrats who are holding up the health care reform bill and bring the package straight to the floor.
The statement underscored the deep divisions the health care reform debate is causing in the ranks of the Democratic Party.
Fiscally conservative Blue Dogs are holding up the bill in the House Energy and Commerce Committee over cost concerns and other issues. But Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif., on Friday accused those Democrats of empowering Republicans.
"I won't allow them to turn over control of the committee to the Republicans," Waxman said, threatening to bypass the committee process.
"I don't see what alternative we have," Waxman said of talks that have raged for days with the Blue Dogs. "This can't be an interminable discussion."
The radical move would mean Waxman would finish writing the bill in private and merge it with the two bills that have already passed out of the committee in the chamber before bringing it to the floor………
…….Nearly all 52 Blue Dogs are expected to vote against the health bill if it hits the House floor in its current form. That spells doom for the measure when coupled with unanimous Republican opposition………
………..House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has heard complaints in stereo from the liberal and conservative wings of her caucus. The Blue Dogs are giving her an earful with their grievances……….
…….But Pelosi has said she's "confident" she has the votes and that she wants to bring the bill to a floor vote next week.
Lets break it down. So he is mad that 52 people want to take a longer look at the bill and/or have raised some concerns about it. This is the political equivalent to stomping your feet because your not getting your way. How dare them (the Blue Dogs) hold up something in “his” committee. Just who does he think he is that he can strong arm YOU, yes, you are being told that because some people don’t want to play HIS game, he is going to shove this bad legislation down your throat.
This health care debacle is quite possibly the biggest change this country has seen in decades and most certainly the greatest opportunity to really muck things up for future generations.
Think about all of the little pieces and parts you have heard over the last few weeks. Obama hasn’t read the whole thing, no one in congress that was elected to serve has read the entire thing, Obama doesn’t know what its going to cost for sure, no one in congress elected can tell you what the cost is. The Congressional Budget Office has made a guess at the cost, and its higher than any one else’s guess. (these guys know their stuff by the way). All we can be told is that 2/3 will be paid for by cutting waste from government (those are Obama’s words) and the rest will have to be budgeted. BUDGET – everyone does remember here that THEIR budget is our TAX DOLLARS right? (oh, and the Federal Governement is going to cut waste from a system and come up with the 2/3? I cant believe that there is a reasonable person alive that doesnt see the irony in this)
Democrats and Republicans alike have lost sight of the most important thing to me, that they were elected, based on what they said they can do for us, by us, to make good decisions for us. Yet we largely sit back and go “ok, whatever” as they continue to pass pork into the system and allow special interest to dictate where money should be spent.
Look at the polls for this health care thing. No ones polls out there, no matter what source you care to use (assuming you pick one that is reliable with a track record) shows that a majority of any group wants this passed, except the democrats in Washington. Even their supporters are now waking up and saying “Wait, there is something going on here, lets look at it.
Hats off to the Blue Dog Democrats. Want to know who they are, google it. Once you have, email them and let them know how you feel, even if you are for this garbage they are trying to shove up our nether regions. Because I can assure you that if everyone did that across the US, this piece of bad legislation would go down in flames.
Why should we, I, you, and them be forced to accept the thought that Government could possibly pull off running health care? Look at all of the programs out there that are already messed up. I hear many people everyday talk about the things that don’t work, and the vast majority are run by the Federal government or are at least under their careful and watchful eye. I say let Waxman and Pelosi bring this thing up, right now, right here today. Its stands the best chance of failing now than ever before.
I have an idea, for all of the elected officials in Washington. Lets concentrate on finding the perps that killed 3000 people on 9/11, lets concentrate on keeping people out of this country that are coming here illegally, lets concentrate on educating our young and old to be fiscally sound and responsible parts of society, lets concentrate on taking care of those that really need to be taken care of, lets concentrate on once and for all using this drug Czar that was set up to actually get the drugs of our streets and out of our kids hands, lets concentrate on letting the free market system do what it is designed to do, lets concentrate on making a tax system that you don’t have to go to 20 years of school to understand and finally, how about all of you concentrate on doing the job you were sent there to do and that is serve the people in the most fiscally responsible ways possible and get your hands out of MY cookie jar!! (as you can see there are plenty of other important things going on too)
Call your congressman today and let them know you are tired of the way business is being done in Washington and you want your Country back!! I did. ;o)
Yall have a good weekend now, ya hear.
Friday, July 24, 2009
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
An 8 year old does not 'need' one, anymore than you did when you were 8.
I have talked about this before to some people, and I while I am not real sure how they took it, I know it made them think. Something happened at lunch today that was pretty funny, and it touched on this topic so I thought I would share.
I was sitting at the DQ just down the road from the office eating lunch in the truck. I wanted to listen to the radio while I ate so I often do this. I looked up and there was a van load of kids getting out to go inside and of the 8 teens, 7 had cell phones in various states of use. One had just answered theirs, two were talking as they got out and the rest were either texting or doing some other activity that required the use of their hands.
The girl in the back of this group was the one that caught my eye, see, she was the only one that didn’t zig or zag with the group as they made their way towards the door and miss the light pole in the middle of the really wide walkway. Then, SMACK, followed by another SMACK! The first was her head hitting the pole as she walked into it and the second was her butt hitting the ground. Yes, I was busting a gut laughing so hard.
After they disappeared inside to get their lunch and hopefully a bag of ice for that girls head, I was reminded of a discussion I had one day with a group of people. The topic came up of teens and cell phones. I didn’t have one growing up, although before I was out of high school they were more common. My teen doesn’t have one now but has asked about it. When the 6 year old reaches that teen status, he’s not going to have one either.
I made the comment once to a group that teens don’t need cell phones. I was abruptly stopped and had it explained to me by one of the ladies “My daughter needs one so that I can keep up with where she is and what she’s doing”. Really? That cell phone has the GPS tracking function enabled? You check the records EVERY month? You can tell by a simple call where she is, how many and who she is around and if there are drugs or alcohol present? Come on now.
My next comment allowed me to feel what a mother’s laser eyes burning through me felt like. I rebutted “I choose to parent at the reach of an arm and not the touch of a button”. Man, could she stare. I also let people know that one of the many problems with kids today is that their parents want to be their children’s friends, and secondly their parents. This lady’s teen didn’t ‘need’ a cell phone. What business could any teen be conducting that they ‘need’ a cell phone for. She ‘wants’ a cell phone and momma ‘wants’ to be the good friend and give it to her.
Now when I have uttered this conversation they always throw out a litany of reasons to have one. Car crashes (which by the way, tons of Wetumpka youth have no business behind the wheel), needing to be picked up from a function, just to talk, to talk to their friends, everyone has one these days, what if they are abducted, what if they need an ambulance, what if their in trouble. All of which I explain away and remind them that there are plenty of phones in this world now and ‘your’ child really doesn’t ‘need’ that phone. This usually leads to frustration and the end of the conversation.
My point here is I was never in a car accident because I was texting, I was never admonished at school for having my phone out, I never ran up a high bill because I was talking to everyone everywhere, and I certainly never ran into a pole because I was preoccupied with a phone in my hands. As a society we have given teens and younger, more and more responsibility with less and less check and balances. Our parents knew where we were 90% of the time and there was no cell phone involved. It was because they decided to parent at the reach of an arm, and not a touch of the button. Too many times I have stood on the side of the road late at night working an accident scene of a youngster who has died or been maimed, just to find out that they were suppose to be at someone’s house hanging out. But Daddy just called and checked on me so it’s ok? I feel as a society that we have the same responsibility to make sure that the kids of today learn what is needed to run this country later, just as our parents did. After all, not too many years down the road the ones we are teaching now, will be the ones taking care of us then.
PS – for those of you that let you kids drink in front of you because “I don’t want them to sneak off and do it”, your being fooled there too.
I was sitting at the DQ just down the road from the office eating lunch in the truck. I wanted to listen to the radio while I ate so I often do this. I looked up and there was a van load of kids getting out to go inside and of the 8 teens, 7 had cell phones in various states of use. One had just answered theirs, two were talking as they got out and the rest were either texting or doing some other activity that required the use of their hands.
The girl in the back of this group was the one that caught my eye, see, she was the only one that didn’t zig or zag with the group as they made their way towards the door and miss the light pole in the middle of the really wide walkway. Then, SMACK, followed by another SMACK! The first was her head hitting the pole as she walked into it and the second was her butt hitting the ground. Yes, I was busting a gut laughing so hard.
After they disappeared inside to get their lunch and hopefully a bag of ice for that girls head, I was reminded of a discussion I had one day with a group of people. The topic came up of teens and cell phones. I didn’t have one growing up, although before I was out of high school they were more common. My teen doesn’t have one now but has asked about it. When the 6 year old reaches that teen status, he’s not going to have one either.
I made the comment once to a group that teens don’t need cell phones. I was abruptly stopped and had it explained to me by one of the ladies “My daughter needs one so that I can keep up with where she is and what she’s doing”. Really? That cell phone has the GPS tracking function enabled? You check the records EVERY month? You can tell by a simple call where she is, how many and who she is around and if there are drugs or alcohol present? Come on now.
My next comment allowed me to feel what a mother’s laser eyes burning through me felt like. I rebutted “I choose to parent at the reach of an arm and not the touch of a button”. Man, could she stare. I also let people know that one of the many problems with kids today is that their parents want to be their children’s friends, and secondly their parents. This lady’s teen didn’t ‘need’ a cell phone. What business could any teen be conducting that they ‘need’ a cell phone for. She ‘wants’ a cell phone and momma ‘wants’ to be the good friend and give it to her.
Now when I have uttered this conversation they always throw out a litany of reasons to have one. Car crashes (which by the way, tons of Wetumpka youth have no business behind the wheel), needing to be picked up from a function, just to talk, to talk to their friends, everyone has one these days, what if they are abducted, what if they need an ambulance, what if their in trouble. All of which I explain away and remind them that there are plenty of phones in this world now and ‘your’ child really doesn’t ‘need’ that phone. This usually leads to frustration and the end of the conversation.
My point here is I was never in a car accident because I was texting, I was never admonished at school for having my phone out, I never ran up a high bill because I was talking to everyone everywhere, and I certainly never ran into a pole because I was preoccupied with a phone in my hands. As a society we have given teens and younger, more and more responsibility with less and less check and balances. Our parents knew where we were 90% of the time and there was no cell phone involved. It was because they decided to parent at the reach of an arm, and not a touch of the button. Too many times I have stood on the side of the road late at night working an accident scene of a youngster who has died or been maimed, just to find out that they were suppose to be at someone’s house hanging out. But Daddy just called and checked on me so it’s ok? I feel as a society that we have the same responsibility to make sure that the kids of today learn what is needed to run this country later, just as our parents did. After all, not too many years down the road the ones we are teaching now, will be the ones taking care of us then.
PS – for those of you that let you kids drink in front of you because “I don’t want them to sneak off and do it”, your being fooled there too.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Steve Is pondering Health Care......
At what point did Health care become a "right"? Someone said this afternoon at work that people have a right to good health care. True, but no one should expect it for free. I mean, health care is a service, not a right granted to us by the founding fathers.
Also, whats the rush with getting this health care under the control of the government? Something so monumental should get a seriously long, real long, look. I don't see health care under the governments control as a good thing, looking at their track record of allocating funds through history and running things, its not that stellar.
Also, whats the rush with getting this health care under the control of the government? Something so monumental should get a seriously long, real long, look. I don't see health care under the governments control as a good thing, looking at their track record of allocating funds through history and running things, its not that stellar.
The Blog was Born!!
Here I was having trouble learning how to register for the purposes of posting comments on other blogs and in the process, actually created a blog of my own. COOL!!
Most everyone that knows me knows that I ponder life from time to time. Those ponders have been viewed as fun by some, interesting by others and informative by most.
I try to bring a lot to the table when I do sit down to put ink to paper, err, fingers to keys. I would like to know what some of you ponder from time to time as well as feel free to comment on what I ponder about.
Steve
Here I was having trouble learning how to register for the purposes of posting comments on other blogs and in the process, actually created a blog of my own. COOL!!
Most everyone that knows me knows that I ponder life from time to time. Those ponders have been viewed as fun by some, interesting by others and informative by most.
I try to bring a lot to the table when I do sit down to put ink to paper, err, fingers to keys. I would like to know what some of you ponder from time to time as well as feel free to comment on what I ponder about.
Steve
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