Democrats health plan exposes more lies, Baucus’s plan rejected.

According to theHill.com it appears that the last vestige of Republican support has melted away in the form of Olympia Snowe who expressed concerns over the budgetary constraints the health reform bill poses. When a woman who voted for the 787 Stimulus package is concerned over price, you got a problem! Max Baucus feels he addresses some of the concerns put forth by critics, specifically payment of the program. In the speech to Congress, Obama suggested the Democrat’s bill will not add one cent to our deficit by matching every expenditure with a cut. He also maintained NOTHING will change for those currently insured. OK, let’s see how this holds up.

The proposal is as following:


Fees on insurance companies, drug makers, medical device manufacturers and insurers. Tax of 35 percent on insurance plans costing more than $8,000 for individuals and $21,000 for families, applied to premium amounts over the threshold. Cuts to Medicare and Medicaid. A fee on employers whose workers receive government subsidies to help them pay premiums. Fines on those who fail to get coverage.

Baucus’s measure would cost $856 billion over 10 years — far less than the $1 trillon-plus bills approved by four other congressional committees and less even than Baucus’s previous estimates. The price tag also falls below the $900 billion limit set by President Barack Obama.

First of all, without delving into how many people are affected we can see beyond any shadow of a doubt that no cutting is taking place. There is no shrinking of government, no reduction in departments, agencies, employees, etc so that is lie #1. There is a nasty tax on “wealthy” health insurance programs, therefore cost of insurance programs for at least some people in America will rise, lie #2. Obama also alleges that Medicare/Medicaid will not suffer. According to whitehouse.gov’s reality check, they suggest de-funding Medicare is a myth!! Baucus proposes deep cuts in medicare/medicaid, some sources suggesting up to 500 billion dollars. Lie #3? You bet. But this actually raises a much more serious issue that some have missed.

In summary:

• Medicare will not be cut: Lie
• Nothing will change for existing insurance holders: Lie
• This will be paid for by cuts in government: Lie

As you can see, when the federal government has printed all it can print and faces a situation of critical magnitude the solution is to cut services. After decades of abuse and mismanagement Medicare and Medicaid are broke, they are so broke in fact, that in twenty years the liability cost of these two programs will exceed that of Social Security. Yet by injecting themselves into the health business in the first place, they have crowded out health insurers, raised costs of existing insurers through regulation and significantly compromised the market to provide competitive health care solutions. We find ourselves in a situation where our seniors are utterly stuck and are at the mercy of government bureaucrats, not a good place to be! There is no time to usher in a private solution because the market is broken due to intervention. Americans could easily be facing a similar prospect in 10 or 20 years, between Medicare/Medicaid anywhere between 70-80 million are affected, but we are putting more and more people on a deadly hook.

With so many lies, half-truths, inconsistencies and contradictions one has to question all motivation behind this “emergency” reform. We know there are 30 million uninsured at any one time, with less than half too poor to actually afford anything, so this almost 900 billion dollar plan is intended for something else. Even if bought insurance straight up for all the uninsured the total cost would be a fraction of the proposed number. Instead liberals are simply providing a mechanism by which the federal government can pay for programs they themselves mismanaged in the first place! Medicaid also has strict restrictions on what plans seniors can actually purchase further restricting people’s freedom to choose. This is a convoluted system designed to permanently entrench the government’s position in our health industry to pay for and cover up previous mistakes. This plan is being sold as a benevolent solution, but the amount of contradiction leads me to believe that something more sinister is afoot. Perhaps I am reading too much into it, but how can we possibly trust the people behind Medicare/Medicaid with handling our care? It is madness!

Oh, spare me the racist commentary, the anti-Semite Jimmy Carter already made me aware of this fact.

Senate closing illegal alien coverage, the one Joe Wilson "lied" about…

Courtesy of the guys at PatriotRoom, looks like Joe Wilson’s remark resonated through the halls of Congress as quickly as it did through the wires of the blogosphere. In a story breaking today, it would appear that the loop hole the ICS wrote about – the inability to verify citizenship – will indeed be closed. Democrats apparently will continue marching right off the cliff as long as the One keep spewing inspiring rhetoric.

On one hand this story should be amusing, on the other hand it saddens me that in this vehemently partisan administration the only way to actually get legislation passed is to call Obama a liar on national television. Proof in this stipulation lies in the fact that two amendments to ban illegals from health coverage were struck down by Democrats.

Obama’s Joint Meeting of Congress Health Reform speech analysis.

I watched the whole thing, all 48 minutes of it and found the speech to be rather predictable, but I did jot down a few key points of interest for those interested in the general gist of the speech.

Generally, Obama’s tone reminded me slightly of his campaign rhetoric and he had some inspirational moments convincing his audience that something must be done. True, something needs to be done – but unfortunately his proposals are not the solution, because his analysis of the problem is incorrect. Worse still, despite weeks of discussion and analysis of several key “lies” and fallacies Obama continued to maintain the following:

• Health coverage will not change: Obama still continues to maintain the impossible. Those that have health coverage will not experience a change. Really? Except that he plans to dump 40+ million people into our health system, so the strain of so many additional patients not play an adverse role on our coverage? After all, a main problem of our insurance system is the excessive and abrasive over-use of medical facilities/procedures, we will simply magnify this problem.
• Caps and restrictions on health insurance: Obama plans to restrict health insurance providers from dropping coverage and to remove expenditure caps. While there may be some merit in those kind of regulatory procedures, he sure as hell contradicts his first point and egregiously so.
• Illegals will not be covered: Obama accuses the right of smearing his coverage and suggesting illegals will be covered. This is the same guy who advocates driver licenses for illegals, learning Spanish on behalf of illegals and signed SCHIP legislation that dropped checks of social security numbers? His constant claim of 40+ million uninsured (suddenly revised to 30 million tonight) invariably implies illegals! In fact, this claim is so comical that a certain Republican (Joe Wilson) could not hold his tongue and yelled out “liar!” during the speech. A highlight of the evening no doubt. Check out the video and observe Biden who hangs his head in shame as if mourning for a friend and Pelosi’s jaw dropping, shocking everyone in the audience who were impressed that her face allows for such mandibular gymnastics. Obama is stunned by such insolence and almost evokes sympathy, but only momentarily considering he spent one minute beforehand bashing Republicans and calling their arguments “silly”. Sticks and stones…
• Holding insurance companies accountable: Obama claims that he will hold companies accountable, but still maintains that nothing will change. If one believes that a flurry of regulations, laws, rules and restrictions play no role on a private company to function – then this lie is easy to swallow.
• Republicans are being partisan: Obama mentioned several times and suggested that he will be open to Republican ideas and collaboration. Unfortunately for Obama, Republicans sent an official letter requesting a meeting and were blatantly ignored several months ago. A President that can get in front of an American public and pretend to be bi-partisan, while leading a clear as day partisan effort should not be trusted.
• No Deficits: Obama maintains that his health reform bill will not impose any additional costs and that all costs will be matched by spending cuts. We have heard the cost for this reform ranging from 900 billion to 2 trillion. An equivalent attempt at such health reform, here in my state dubbed as RomneyCare is projected to cost more than 2 billion more than originally anticipated. Does anyone truly believe that government price projections are ever accurate? The same people who championed Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid – all three of which are either broke or will be broke. This is the most outrageous of all claims and most impossible of all to believe, after all they just passed a stimulus package worth almost 800 billion dollars – where do they plan to cut?
• Oversight commission: Obama promises to reduce Medicare “waste” by implementing a commission of doctors and government officials to reduce inefficiencies and waste within the Medicare program. Only problem is that this waste is introduced by government intervention into the health care system in the first place. Countless of abuses are reported of hospitals exploiting procedures to get paid by bureaucrats, as is the nature of virtually every other government program. Why should we trust the government to clean up waste when it’s THEIR programs that are being wasteful in the first place? Worse yet, this further demonstrates the expansion of federal government agencies, employees and laws. We are already suffering from an ever growing federal government and Obama promises us more and more.
• Death Panels are lies: Obama continued his partisan rhetoric by accusing Republicans of spreading misinformation about death panels and unequivocally stated that no such thing will exist, ever. Another lie. There will indeed be legislation to pay doctors to provide end-of-life counseling and services to the elderly. They may not be death panels per-se, but just like Canada/Britain, mechanisms will be implemented to reduce “wasteful” procedures on the elderly. Ask Barbara Wagner’s family of how a state run health system can offer to pay for a death consulting, but refuse to pay for life saving cancer medicine and then ask yourself whether Obama is being truthful. I would have sent you to Barbara directly, but government run health care makes short work of sick people.
• Public option: Obama defended the public option although claiming that only 5% will be using this option. I find the number hard to believe, but Obama’s refusal to reject the extreme leftist radical portion is probably the only political move he could play.

The tone of the speech was divisive and partisan, filled with platitudes and vague promises virtually impossible to deliver on. While the speech may hit home with people particularly sensitive to health insurance mishaps, most Americans educated on the matters and familiar with the bill will reject tonight’s speech as ‘more of the same’. Obama brought out his campaign fervor, but brought nothing new to the table and the legions of Americans who are now participating in political matters will not be easily fooled by Obama’s bad medicine.

Why the Obama health care plan is bad.

American politics can be best described as an ever lasting battle between conservatives and liberals, ideologies transcending parties and labels, manifesting from deep rooted moral convictions, knowledge and experience. As much as I would prefer to introduce a third perspective into this struggle, the equilibrium between these two forces allows for a perfect harmony to exist just like the eternal struggle between darkness and light, wet and dry, good and evil. There needs to be balance in this world and these political ideologies provide this balance. However the ability to articulate one’s position is often compromised as emotions and political interests take over, so I am going to simply state why I believe the current health care reform is unacceptable for what this nation currently requires.

Firstly, let us honestly admit in an open forum, what is currently wrong with the status quo and what needs to change. There are several aspects that I believe most people would find objectionable and would prefer a change. First and foremost, current coverage as most Americans enjoy it is extremely limiting in the event of a catastrophic ailment. As the saying goes, America is one of the few world powers where everyone is “one serious disease from bankruptcy”, I am paraphrasing of course, but the idea stands. People can pay for ten, twenty, thirty years for health insurance, but a terminal illness can cost them their job, cost them insurance and leave them utterly bankrupt. Secondly, insurance companies tend to run a tight ship market and prevent competition from truly driving down costs and enticing innovation, this violates free market concepts in a most egregious and insulting fashion.

The problem is NOT the supposed 40-50 million uninsured, because the number is meaningless as it includes millions of people who choose to be uninsured and millions more who are illegal immigrants and simply do not deserve to be in our insurance pool. The problem is NOT the quality of our care. Despite convenient numbers from the WHO alluding that America spends the most and gets the least, we simply have the best medicine in the world. Our ranking in certain aspects may not be the best, but every ranking has an explanation and every number has a methodology behind it that can significantly alter the calculation. For example our infant mortality rate would be substantially lower if we were to count mortality in a way Canada counts where babies born under a certain weight are not counted at all! Ultimately, wealthy foreigners seek out Americans doctors when they truly need important procedures, not the other way around.

Therefore by addressing issues that do not need addressing and ignoring fundamental problems within our health care system, Obama’s proposal will cause harm to this country. The first proposal based on a faulty problem is the creation of a self sustaining public health option, which in theory would inspire competition and drive down costs. This however is a faulty concept, because government options are seldom self sustaining and skew competition. If the idea truly worked, then Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac should have technically inspired healthy competition in the mortgage industry. Instead it created an environment where private companies took on substantial risk trying to compete with a government sponsored enterprise, a task that is not only impossible but financially suicidal. In turn, Bear Sterns operating on extraordinary leverage went bankrupt (the first victim), while Fannie and Freddie got bailed out by taxpayers, something they knew would happen all along. Instead of creating additional companies and innovation, presence of government involvement virtually wiped out every company associated with mortgage underwriting. Similarly, a public option will create substantial stress on private insurers as employers will inevitably begin dumping health coverage as part of a standard benefit package. After all, why would an employer spend money providing insurance when people can simply go on a cheaper public option, with never ending financing? Think about it, the presence of a government option introduces competition that is impossible to battle. Just like Medicare, bankrupt and hemorrhaging money on a daily basis, this public option will simply establish a new entitlement and further saddle this country with debt. No problem solved, potentially new problems introduced.

Furthermore and equally disheartening is by providing an opportunity for millions of people who do not necessarily want or need or ever deserve insurance, Obama’s plan immediately creates a massive stress on our physician pool. We already have in some areas a shortage of doctors and specialists, albeit not as bad as Canada or England. But how can a plan introduce millions of new patients, yet provide no additional doctors and expect the system to function as intended? It cannot and will result in longer wait times, doctor shortages and perhaps worse of all, doctors leaving certainly professions. For example Medicare has the unfortunate effect of paying doctors for certain procedures while refusing to pay for others, this in turn skews medicinal practices as hospitals inevitably shift to doing only procedures covered under Medicare. If we were to expand these immoral practices, this shift would further expand these practices and sap the medical profession of practicing medicine as they see fit. More importantly, people currently insured will experience a deterioration of health services, Obama’s claims that nothing will change can be best described as laughable and worse as outright deceit.

What we need instead, is to address the problems outlined. We need to reform health insurance coverage to provide health care much like life insurance. Life insurance would not be worth squat if after a certain amount of time they decided that paying out was not in their best interest. Our health insurance should do one thing, ready? Insure! Not insure for the time being, but insure forever. This will completely eliminate the first real problem, which is, people losing their wealth due to crippling diseases like cancer. Perhaps health insurers will need to raise premiums, but at least the fear of losing coverage will no longer be an issue. We can create a new breed of private health insurers that provide disaster health coverage, what can be simpler?

Finally, we need to introduce competition. First, we need to break down state borders and allow Americans to buy health care coverage from anyone in the country. The more the merrier, real competition from real companies, not a public option run by incompetent federal employees subsidized by taxpayer money. Secondly, we need to get rid of Medicare and possibly consider getting rid of Medicaid. Government entities introduce bias and skewed competition, establishes unmanageable entitlements, wastes money, always on the verge of bankruptcy and limits private insurers from providing valuable services. Removing the Fannie Mae of the health care world, will do wonder in spurring much needed competition and combined with health insurers offering life long coverage will keep seniors happy. Of course the big problem is what to do with those currently dependent on Medicare, how can we continue to provide service to these people who simply cannot afford it? No easy answer, but it simply goes to show you that once the government gets involved, reversing course becomes an insurmountable task, a task we need to avoid doing at all costs.

‘Cash for Clunkers’ screwing people?

In a not so surprising told-you-so moment, information has emerged suggesting that the ever popular Cash for Clunkers program has paid out a mere two percent of the claims filed by dealers. Not only frustrating dealers, but also screwing people with four out of five applicants being rejected for what can be best described as ‘minor oversight’. In a story on fox news, we learn that many dealers are getting extremely frustrated by the overwhelmingly slow response by the federal government in handling applications. A staff of just over two hundred people appears to be woefully insufficient in determining whether a car is a clunker, how much to rebate and other pressing matters so very vital to our economy. Despite Congress approving an additional two billion dollars, the process has stalled due to red tape. A government program has stalled due to red tape? Why, this simply cannot be, must be a mistake, seems like Fox News is simply slandering the current administration. Right-wing bastards.

This particular story is only relevant given the current health-care debate and what role our government will play in determining and providing health insurance to citizens. Without delving into the silliness of paying people to buy cars at the expense of others, this administration has given us a free sneak peak into what happens when our federal government is tasked with handling mountains of paper work. I am sure the dealers have nothing else better to do than to file stacks of papers, but other than individuals having to wait indefinitely for $3,500-$4,500, the damage seems to be limited. Imagine however if the so called “public option” falls under the same sort of pitfalls and we have citizens rejected for procedures due to ‘minor oversight’. Granted those insured via private means have nothing to worry about, except that all private insurance will be subjected to a government run exchange program and we still have no idea whether or not employers will begin dropping private carriers (why pay for private insurance anymore?). Under either of those two options American citizens are facing a rapidly dwindling private insurance pool and a public option staffed by incompetent federal employees traversing a web of bureaucratic tape hell.

If the prospect of being treated like a clunker rubs you the wrong way or the idea of wheeling in your grandmother to get a rebate on a future surgery sounds morbid, perhaps you should get off your rusty behind and voice your opinion?

White House wants YOU to report "disinformation" about Obamacare.

Yes citizen, you read the title correctly. Now stay vigilant and put on your blue jumpsuit..err..I mean, hat. Remember, only YOU can put an end to these vicious rumors that malign and slander the much needed health reform. As stated directly from the whitehouse.gov page, facts are stubborn things:

Opponents of health insurance reform may find the truth a little inconvenient, but as our second president famously said, “facts are stubborn things.”

Scary chain emails and videos are starting to percolate on the internet, breathlessly claiming, for example, to “uncover” the truth about the President’s health insurance reform positions. In this video, Linda Douglass, the communications director for the White House’s Health Reform Office, addresses one example that makes it look like the President intends to “eliminate” private coverage, when the reality couldn’t be further from the truth. For the record, the President has consistently said that if you like your insurance plan, your doctor, or both, you will be able to keep them. He has even proposed eight consumer protections relating specifically to the health insurance industry.

There is a lot of disinformation about health insurance reform out there, spanning from control of personal finances to end of life care. These rumors often travel just below the surface via chain emails or through casual conversation. Since we can’t keep track of all of them here at the White House, we’re asking for your help. If you get an email or see something on the web about health insurance reform that seems fishy, send it to flag@whitehouse.gov.

So what are these rumors and “disinformation that Big Brother..err…Dear Leader wants you to report? Could it be those nasty rumors based on this random 1018 page document, called the America’s Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009 bill? Yes, the actual bill.

Page 16:

(1) LIMITATION ON NEW ENROLLMENT.(A) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in this paragraph, the individual health insurance issuer offering such coverage does not enroll any individual in such coverage if the first effective date of coverage is on or after the first day of Y1.

So limiting and preventing private health insurance companies from taking on new enrollment is just a rumor? Disinformation? Or is it possible that maybe Dear Leader never read the bill himself, heck, wouldn’t be the first time.

What that provision actually dictates, is that private health insurers will no longer be available to deal with employers/people directly. Instead, as pointed out by heritage.org, all private insurers will join an Exchange sanctioned by the government and in this pool will be able to exchange their services.

The major problem of course, in order to be a member of the exchange the companies will be subjected and regulated as the government sees fit. The same government that believes a 65 year old woman is better off taking a pain killer instead of getting life saving surgery. End result will be an inevitable increase in costs and restrictions to the point where employers will start dumping private insurers and turn to the government option. This government option will become more and more attractive as the government is now controlling the existence of the private insurers. Within 10-15 years, we will be on the single health payer system.

Why would we you ask? It’s not like this matches Obama’s ultimate goal. Oh, it does? Might want to send White House an email, this video is bad for business (lets hope there are copies of this as it might “accidentally” get deleted):

The battle is heating up and when Senate returns from their much needed summer rest, things are going to get ugly. White House is using tactics that are disturbing to me and should be sending chills down your spine. Someone needs to tell Obama that the book 1984 was not meant to be used as a management guideline. Reporting information to the government is about as absurd and perplexing as things get, particularly when the government is lying. You can read it in the bill and you can hear it from the horse’s mouth. Obama wants a SINGLE player system, he wants to ration health care and he does not care if the quality of our health care drops. He wants to implement his vision and unless YOU stop him, he will have his wish.

Health Reform and Obama’s presidency.

We live in interesting times, our country’s political and financial mood is caught between many different currents and each month the collective wisdom changes and evolves. Admittedly, my disappointment with the outcome of the 2008 elections was overwhelming and my overall faith in the decision making abilities of the American public was shaken to the core. However what is unfolding rapidly in the general sentiment of the public, is a reversal in opinion that makes me inevitably question my previous judgment. Perhaps the very thing that makes this country ever so great, is the uncanny ability to ultimately persevere and overcome great odds.

As of this writing, two trends are moving in opposite directions that at the very least has shaken my original analysis. The stock market is continuing to make yearly highs boosted by better than expected earnings from industry giants and improving economic data, but Obama’s approval ratings continue to plummet. According to Rasmussen, Obama has now lost a chunk of the base that got him elected in the first place and for the first time in his presidency has tilted the scale of disapproval versus approval. 50% now disapprove and 49% approve, a trend that has been deepening in the past several weeks. Most likely his involvement in the Cambridge police debacle over the last several days was a grave error and sent his base reeling, after all, humiliating the unions is not something a Democrat should be doing. Still, the primary reason behind this developing trend, is most likely the frightening speed at which “health reform” is being shoved down the throat of Americans.

Even though Americans are starting to wake up and smell the proverbial coffee, popular opinion alone cannot stop the liberal agenda from unfolding especially while the liberals control Congress. In fact, Obama may very well realize that while Americans were temperamental enough to elect a socialist out of anger over Bush’s policy, the same recipe will yield different results in the 2010 elections. Thus, Obama will attempt to cram as much of his liberal utopia through Congress realizing that time may be of the essence. Of course this speed also prevents anyone from actually reading the legislation and seriously damages the credibility of our lawmakers while scaring the living daylights out of ordinary citizens. In order for radical ideas to die, certain Democrats have to break rank. As you might have heard, these Democrats are called “Blue Dogs” and traditionally hail from the conservative south, known primarily for their fiscal conservatism.

These very same Democrats are now acting as the primary hurdle in getting to a House vote, rejecting the concept of “health reform” that will result in rising health costs for the vast majority of Americans. While Obamacare carries with it more than just a hefty cost, for the time being whatever the logic these Democrats are using, the end result will be the same. If you believe the following:

- Rationing health care is wrong. Whether you are 25 or 75, the government should not be deciding if you deserve surgery.
- Obamacare is misleading. They talk about a government option, but the bill clearly states that private insurance will be phased out.
- National healthcare is ineffective. Our system is not perfect, but should we be adopting an idea that Canada, France and Britain have proven to be broken? Insanity?
- Government’s jurisdiction does not belong on health care. Our society relies a lot on government, but should a bunch of bureaucratic elites decide how to manage our health?

If you do, then call or write to the following Blue Dogs and let them know how much you appreciate what they are doing.

Zack Space (D-Ohio): 1-202-225-6265
John Barrow (D-Ga.): 1-202-225-2823
Bart Gordon (D-Tenn.): 1-202-225-4231
Baron Hill (D-Ind.): 1-202-225-5315
Jim Matheson (D-Utah): 1-202-225-3011
Charlie Melancon (D-La.): 1-202-225-4031
Mike Ross (D-Ark): 1-202-225-3772

Health Care Reform aka America’s Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009

America’s Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009 (AAHC) is the name of the bill that has the potential to radically change the landscape of the American health system. With over 1,000 pages in size, a bill of this magnitude is too difficult for any one person to read through, in fact at this point it is likely than no one individual member of congress has read it. Of course this would not be the first time, considering the stimulus bill was passed and nobody read that either.

I will track the bill on the page and you can follow the link to explore more about it.

As of now, opencongress.org is showing another overwhelming tilt in public opinion with:
56 Ayes and 422 Nays, although not nearly as bad the Cap and Trade Bill with 174 Ayes and 1497 Nays. I imagine that as people learn more about the potential dangers of “health reform” the division should become more profound. You should begin to wonder at this point, why is Washington so completely out of touch with average Americans, Americans that seem to quite simply reject the notion that government should be intervening in aspects of private business and personal health. To say that our government is overstepping it’s intended purpose would be a gross understatement and would be funny if it were not so damn sad. See, I made myself cry just now…how embarassing.

In the meantime, if you enjoy long walks on the beach, watching paint dry or scratching out your eyeballs – you can read the bill right here. Read the Health Care Reform Bill.

Update: Looks like the bill ran into some problem, according to this story from Fox – House Energy and Commerce Committee could not reach a compromise among the more fiscally “conservative” Democrats. This is a positive development and hopefully will spell doom for this piece of so-called legislation.

Nothing is more aggravating then lawmakers attempting to understand the bill better and the president simply shoving it down their throat. He has not read the bill himself and does not care what it entails, he simply wants to sign off on sweeping changes that loosely fit his vision of the world. This includes punishing polluting companies while cranking up the cost for middle-class America’s electricity use and increasing taxes to implement a system that will ultimately wipe out private health insurers. Why so few people find this scary and alarming is truly beyond me.

“I want this done now. If there are no deadlines, nothing gets done in this town,” Obama said in an interview with PBS. But he suggested that he’d be willing to put off his deadline slightly for the sake of passing a bill. “

What is the damn rush Obama?

You are frog legs.

For those not familiar with peculiarities of French cuisine, frog legs are a popular item and you might be surprised to learn that there is a good chance you too can soon be served on a platter in a snooty Paris restaurant. Truth is, middle class America is slowly being boiled alive and the executive chef is cranking the heat up ever so slowly so as not to raise suspicion. See, if we were thrown into the boiling water right away we might object to the proposition and stage a potentially violent protest. However we were coaxed into swimming in a large lukewarm body of water, thinking how lovely and refreshing life is. Problem is, life is losing it’s refreshing appeal as the environment around us rapidly changes. Higher taxes, inflation, affirmative action, government takeovers and neglect are piling up. We better embrace the severity of the situation as quickly as possible, because we are boiling alive.

In the last general election, it would appear that the people have spoken and tilted the majority to one party rule in Washington, tossing out more Republicans and ushering in the most liberal president in history. “The people” as those represented by the 53% that cast their vote may or may not be the middle-class I am writing about, but it hardly matters at this point in time. For those with an obvious advantage to supporting government expansion, living on government subsidies, nationalized health care and relaxed immigration policies; life has probably improved. For those who simply do not require these services, but have enough money to brush off tax hikes or ignore the diminished purchasing power; life has probably remained about the same. But there are many others, hopefully still the majority, that fall into a third and most frustrating category – who neither benefit from the services nor rich enough to ignore the increased cost of living! We are the frogs and we are boiling alive.

You see, there comes a point in the life of a regular middle-class American when the realization that things are simply not improving or scarier yet, things are getting worse hits home, and this realization is simply a function of how much freedom one experiences. While freedom is a complicated concept to describe, let us assume that money is freedom. For if you have money you are free to do whatever you please and the less of it you have, the less freedom you experience. For example a rich individual that has enough money to live without working and can travel, experience and buy whatever pleases the heart, is as “free as a bird”. Whereas an individual working a minimum wage job, supporting multiple kids and can barely save enough for clothing is as free as a bird…without wings…or legs. This individual is shackled to the mediocre job, demanding kids and the prospect of something “better” is constantly postponed. In our society we feel compassion for the people whose freedom is compromised, these people in turn rely on the government for assistance. Sometimes this assistance is required and well worth the effort, but more often than not this assistance simply prolongs without improvement this life devoid of freedom. More importantly, the assistance comes at the expense of freedom from those that do have it. Even more importantly, freedom is not transferred from one individual to another – it simply vanishes into thin air and with each passing day the amount of freedom dwindles, as we are boiling alive.

The big debate is health care and the executive chef has convinced the legions of soon to be boiled frog legs, that a crisis is afoot. Solution to this crisis is of course the implementation of a system that is by all accounts failing in the rest of the world. When the architect of the Canadian health plan goes on record admitting the failures of the system he once envisioned, the excuse for us to follow suit becomes harder and hard to justify. “We are proposing to give a greater role to the private sector so that people can exercise freedom of choice” says Claude Castonguay, after realizing that throwing more money at the problem and shunning the private sector leads to rationing of life. Of course we are being told this will not happen, no, the government option will remain an option and simply will be provided to the less free by the more free. Or will it? Turns out, the massive one thousand page bill mandates in a few short years, that private healthcare will be phased out. Hidden in a web of political red tape, the language is clear

“So we can all keep our coverage, just as promised—with, of course, exceptions: Those who currently have private individual coverage won’t be able to change it. Nor will those who leave a company to work for themselves be free to buy individual plans from private carriers”

So what happens now? Under the guise of a crisis, we are being forced to accept a system that we know does not work, with promises that are already being broken and for the sake of what? No system is perfect, but surely a solution cannot consist of breaking the system even further, stealing whatever freedom we have and ruining the only remaining viable health system in the world? We are boiling alive.

In the midst of this, our financials markets are in turmoil and the spending spree has only accelerated. Our government is taking on more debt at a faster rate than any other time in history because someone told the executive chef that spending money stimulates recovery. A novel concept really and had it worked would have made the previous chef the most popular guy in town. Beyond the inevitable debt incurred, the value of the currency that we rely on to purchase goods has dropped and continues to drop, but our economy has not improved one iota. Jobs are still hard to find, businesses are still not hiring, banks are still not lending and wages have declined as more and more frogs look for jobs. Less wages combined with more expensive goods yields a fantastic net loss and as we watch our freedom crumble, the people in charge spend and spend spend and the rest of us? We are just boiling alive.

In the midst of all this chaos and turmoil a new Supreme Court judge is being questioned, mostly for show, considering that her confirmation is guaranteed. What does this new judge mean to this country and why is her nomination and inevitable confirmation important? Because we will for the first time in history, appoint an individual for life not because of her qualifications or merit, but because of her cultural background. A woman, who believes that because a test cannot be passed by blacks, the test must be racist. A woman, who has all her life claimed that her Latina background enables her to reach a BETTER decision than a white man. A woman, who at first blush appears to be nothing more than an affirmative-action selection, goes so far as to admit this fact and do so with a certain level of dignity and pride.

“With my academic achievement in high school, I was accepted rather readily at Princeton and equally as fast at Yale, but my test scores were not comparable to that of my classmates. “

Should she not disqualify herself based on that fact alone? What are we worth, if we no longer value excellence? On what moral grounds do we fail to promote and encourage those individuals with more skills, intelligence and talent over those that fit the correct skin and cultural profile? Perhaps Sonia Sotomayor had a difficult childhood, perhaps in a different scenario she could have excelled – but she did not! We cannot repair the mistakes of the past, by punishing the present, because we will destroy our future.

Life is not fair, life is not balanced and not equal. Not everyone is born with an Einstein’s brain, Jordan’s athletic abilities, Tiger’s perception, Buffet’s financial sense. Sonia should no more deserve to be on the Supreme Court if a white man is a better lawyer/judge, than I should deserve to play in the NBA if a black man is more athletic than I am! Not all frogs are green, but in this pot, we are boiling alive and you are frog legs.