November 2009 Entries
James Mac on Thanksgiving
Am I a Thankful Person?
By James MacDonald on November 25, 2009
I am just wrapping up my sermon preparation for this weekend and my thoughts are turning toward Thanksgiving Day. Turkey, family, football, mashed potatoes, friends, and maybe a nap! Oh, and remembering to thank our great God for Who He is and what He has done. Did you remember the “thankful” part of Thanksgiving?
I just want to ask you three questions.
First question: Am I a thankful person?
I’m not asking if you think if I am; I’m asking you to ask yourself if you think you are. Ask yourself the question, “Am I a thankful person?” Am I? Well, let’s go to school on thankfulness just for a moment here. There are three levels of thankfulness. Elementary school. High school. Higher education.
Level one: Thankful. Just thankful. Hebrews 13:15 says, “Let us offer onto God the sacrifice of praise.” That is the fruit of lips giving thanks to His name. Level one—elementary school—is the sacrifice of thankfulness. “Thanks God. Okay? Is that what You want to hear? Okay. That’s right. You did do that for me. Thanks.” Now that’s not nothing, but it’s not much. As long as thankfulness is just a sacrifice, like, “Well, I’ll do it if I have to, I guess”, you might get to the edge of the Promised Land, but you won’t find a lot of the joy that’s there.
But there is a better place. We’ll call Level two—high school thankfulness. 1 Thessalonians 5:18 says, “In everything give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” In every situation, I can always find something to be thankful for. Always. I can make that decision. I could look away from what’s wrong and focus on what’s right and give thanks. “In everything give thanks.” That’s kind of a high school version.
But if you want the real joy—if you want to be done with the poverty-cheerless-joyless-wilderness thing, Level three—higher education is thankful for all things. Ephesians 5:18-20, “Be filled with the Spirit, giving thanks always to God for all things.” Even the bad things. Even the things you wouldn’t choose.
Maybe you have a health crisis or a great sorrow that won’t go away. Maybe you’ve got a financial need. To get to the place, by faith, where you can thank God for that thing— “Thank You, God. This is the thing that You’re using in my life. Thank You, God for that!” When you can do that, get ready for the land flowing with milk and honey.
Second question is: Am I seeing the blessings of thankfulness in my life?

Am I? Am I seeing the blessings of thankfulness in my life and the joy that comes with that? Is my life like a wilderness?
What percentage of my thought life is focused on good, positive, praiseworthy things? How often do I go out of my way to recognize with gratitude a person that God has used to bless me? A parent or a neighbor or a friend or a Small Group leader. Is thankfulness part of the discipline of my life and am I seeing the blessings of that?
Third and last: Am I choosing thankfulness over complaining moment by moment?
Am I choosing thankfulness over complaining? Because it’s at a moment. It’s like freeze-frame! Am I choosing thankfulness right now? Am I? Remember, attitudes are patterns of thinking formed over a long period of time.
Find a 3” x 5” card, but don’t write on it. What you want to do is to take it and put it on a photocopier and make three hundred sixty-five of them. Then put it by your night-stand. Now I’m telling you, in Jesus’ name, you fill out that card every night before you go to bed. Big things. Little things. Something good today. Things you’re thankful for.
You lay your head down to sleep with that on your mind. You get up in the morning and you read that before you begin your day. That will change your life—that will absolutely change your life. You say you want to live in the Promised Land? Do you want to know the fullness and the fulfillment that only God can bring? That card right there—that was worth the price of admission of this morning. Guaranteed.
Nobody’s life is perfect, but we dilute the complaints of life with thankfulness. It’s all a matter of perspective. It’s what we choose to focus on. God’s fullness comes to those who turn from complaining and embrace thankfulness as the focus of their thought life.
Happy Thanksgiving,
James
 
posted @ Friday, November 27, 2009 12:54 AM | Feedback (0) | Tags: James MacDonald
The Best Article EVER - Uncovering Obama's Intent

This is THE BEST ARTICLE written to uncover the Obama Doctrine of transforming the democratic/Free Market/Personal Responsibility Drive governance that we have now into a Government Oppressed/Socialistic state that we are headed towards....

Cloward-Piven Government
It is time to cast aside all remaining doubt. President Obama is not trying to lead America forward to recovery, prosperity and strength. Quite the opposite, in fact. In September of last year, American Thinker published my article, Barack Obama and the Strategy of Manufactured Crisis. Part of a series, it connected then-presidential candidate Barack Obama to individuals and organizations practicing a malevolent strategy for destroying our economy and our system of government. Since then, the story of that strategy has found its way across the blogosphere, onto the airwaves of radio stations across the country, the Glenn Beck television show, Bill O'Reilly, and now Mark Levin.
 The methodology is known as the Cloward-Piven Strategy, and we can all be grateful to David Horowitz and his Discover the Networks for originally exposing and explaining it to us. He describes it as:
 The strategy of forcing political change through orchestrated crisis. The "Cloward-Piven Strategy" seeks to hasten the fall of capitalism by overloading the government bureaucracy with a flood of impossible demands, thus pushing society into crisis and economic collapse.
 Richard Cloward and Frances Fox Piven were two lifelong members of Democratic Socialists of America who taught sociology at Columbia University (Piven later went on to City University of New York). In a May 1966 Nation magazine article titled "The Weight of the Poor," they outlined their strategy, proposing to use grassroots radical organizations to push ever more strident demands for public services at all levels of government.
 The result, they predicted, would be "a profound financial and political crisis" that would unleash "powerful forces ... for major economic reform at the national level."
 They implemented the strategy by creating a succession of radical organizations, most notable among them the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), with the help of veteran organizer Wade Rathke. Their crowning achievement was the "Motor Voter" act, signed into law by Bill Clinton in 1993 with Cloward and Piven standing behind him.
As we now know, ACORN was one of the chief drivers of high-risk mortgage lendingthat eventually led to the financial crisis. But the Motor Voter law was another component of the strategy. It created vast vulnerabilities in our electoral system, which ACORN then exploited.
ACORN's vote registration scandals throughout the U.S. are predictable fallout.
 
The Motor Voter law has also been used to open another vulnerability in the system: the registration of vast numbers of illegal aliens, who then reliably vote Democrat. Herein lies the real reason Democrats are so anxious for open borders, security be damned.
 It should be clear to anyone with a mind and two eyes that this president and this Congress do not have our interests at heart. They are implementing this strategy on an unprecedented scale by flooding America with a tidal wave of poisonous initiatives, orders, regulations, and laws. As Rahm Emmanuel said, "A crisis is a terrible thing to waste."
 The real goal of "health care" legislation, the real goal of "cap-and-trade," and the real goal of the "stimulus" is to rip the guts out of our private economy and transfer wide swaths of it over to the government to control. Do not be deluded by the propaganda. These initiatives are vehicles for change. They are not goals in and of themselves except in their ability to deliver power. They and will make matters much worse, for that is their design.
 This time, in addition to overwhelming the government with demands for services, Obama and the Democrats are overwhelming political opposition to their plans with a flood of apocalyptic legislation. Their ultimate goal is to leave us so discouraged, demoralized, and exhausted that we throw our hands up in defeat. As Barney Frank said, "the middle class will be too distracted to fight."
 These people are our enemies. They don't use guns, yet, but they are just as dangerous, determined, and duplicitous as the communists we faced in the Cold War, Korea, Vietnam, and bush wars across the globe, and the Nazis we faced in World War II.
 It is time we fully internalized and digested this fact, with all its ugly ramifications. These people have violated countless laws and could be prosecuted, had we the political power. Not only are their policies unconstitutional, but deliberately so -- the goal being to make the Constitution irrelevant. Their spending is off the charts and will drive us into hyperinflation, but it could be rescinded, had we the political power. These policies are toxic, but they could be stopped and reversed, had we the political power. Their ideologies are poisonous, but they could be exposed for what they are, with long jail sentences as an object lesson, had we the political power.
 Every single citizen who cares about this country should be spending every minute of his or her spare time lobbying, organizing, writing, and planning. Fight every initiative they launch. It is all destructive. If we are to root out this evil, it is critical that in 2010 we elect competent, principled leaders willing to defend our Constitution and our country. Otherwise, the malevolent cabal that occupies the government today will become too entrenched.
 After that, all bets are off.
 Businessman and Examiner.com columnist Jim Simpson is a former White House staff economist and budget analyst. You may read more of his articles on his blog, Truth and Consequences.
posted @ Friday, November 27, 2009 12:45 AM | Feedback (0) | Tags: Politics Barack Obama
Common Sense Concerning the Economy

I was just sent this unbelievable article.  It is a talk that a small business owner gave his employees.  Every person needs to take time and read it.  You did not hear these kinds of things in school but should have!

 The Employee Meeting: I would like to start by thanking you for attending this meeting, though it's not like you had much of a choice. After all, attendance was mandatory. I'm also glad many of you accepted my invitation to your family members to be here as well. I have a few remarks to make to all of you, and then we'll retire to the ballroom for a great lunch and some employee awards. 

I felt that this meeting was important enough to close all 12 of our tire and automotive shops today so that you could be here. To reassure you, everybody is being paid for the day --- except me. Since our stores are closed we're making no money. That economic loss is mine to sustain. Carrington Automotive has 157 full time employees and around 30 additional part-timers. All of you are here. I thank you for
 that.
 
 When you walked into this auditorium you were handed a rather thick 78-page document. Many of you have already taken a peek. You were probably surprised to see that it's my personal tax return for 2008. Those of you who are adept at reading these tax returns will see that last year my taxable income was
 $534,000.00. Now I'm sure this seems rather high to many of you. So ... let's talk about this tax return.
 
 Carrington  Automotive Enterprises is what we call a Sub-S - a Subchapter S corporation. The name comes from a particular part of our tax code. Sub-S status means that the income from all 12 of our stores is reported on my personal tax return. Businesses that report their income on the owner's personal tax return are referred to as "small businesses." So, you see now that this $534,000 is really the total taxable income - the total combined profit from all 12 of our stores. That works out to an average of a bit over $44,000 per store.
  
 Why did I feel it important for you to see my actual 2008 tax return? Well, there's a lot of rhetoric being thrown around today about taxes, small businesses and rich people. To the people in charge in Washington right now I'm a wealthy American making over a half-million dollars a year. Most Americans would agree: I'm just another rich guy; after all ... I had over a half-million in income last year, right? In this room we know that the reality is that I'm a small business owner who runs 12 retail establishments and employs 187 people. Now here's something that shouldn't surprise you, but it will: Just under 100
 percent ... make that 99.7 percent of all employers in this country are small businesses, just like ours.
  
 Every one of these businesses reports their income on a personal income tax return. You need to understand that small businesses like ours are responsible for about 80 percent of all private sector jobs
 in this country, and about 70 percent of all jobs that have been created over the past year. You also need to know that when you hear some politician talking about rich people who earn over $200,000 or $500,000 a year, they're talking about the people who create the jobs.
 
The people who are now running the show in Washington have been talking for months about raising taxes on wealthy Americans. I already know that in two years my federal income taxes are going to go up by about 4.5 percent. That happens when Obama and the Democrats allow the Bush tax cuts to expire. When my taxes climb by 4.5 percent the Democrats will be on television saying that this really isn't a tax increase. They'll explain that the Bush tax cuts have expired ….nothing more. Here at Carrington we'll know that almost 5% has been taken right off of our bottom line. And that means it will be coming off your bottom line.
 
 Numbers are boring, I know ... but let's talk a bit more about that $534,000. That's the money that was left last year from company revenues after I paid all of the salaries and expenses of running this business. Now I could have kept every penny of that for myself, but that would have left us with nothing to grow our business, to attract new customers and to hire new employees. You're aware that we've
 been talking about opening new stores in Virginia Beach and  Newport News . To do that I will have to buy or lease  property, construct a building and purchase inventory. I  also have to hire additional people to work in those stores. These people wouldn't immediately be earning their pay.  So, where do you think the money for all of this comes from?  Right out of our profits .. right out of that $534,000. I
 need to advertise to bring customers in, especially in these tough times. Where do you think that money comes from? Oh sure, I can count it as an expense when I file my next income tax return .. but for right now that comes from  either current revenues or last year's profits. Revenues right now aren't all that hot ... so do the math. A good effective advertising campaign might cost us more than $300,000.  Is this all starting to come together for you now?
 
 Right  now the Democrats are pushing a nationalized health care  plan that, depending on who's doing the talking, will  add anywhere from another two percent to an additional 4.6  percent to my taxes. If I add a few more stores, which I would like to do, and if the economy improves, my taxable income ... our business income ... could go over one million dollars! If that happens the Democrats have yet another tax waiting, another five percent plus! I've really lost track of all of the new government programs the Democrats and President Obama are proposing that they claim they will be able to finance with new taxes on what they call "wealthy Americans."
 
 And while we're talking about health care, let me explain something else to you. I understand that possibly your biggest complaint with our company is that we don't provide you with health insurance. That is because as your employer I believe that it is my responsibility to provide you with a safe workplace and a fair wage and to do all that I can to preserve and grow this company that provides us all
 with income. I no more have a responsibility to provide you with health insurance than I do with life, auto or homeowner's insurance. As you know, I have periodically invited agents for health insurance companies here to provide you with information on private health insurance plans.
 
 The Democrats are proposing to levy yet another tax against Carrington in the amount of 8 percent of my payroll as a penalty for not providing you with health insurance. You should know that if they do this I will be reducing every person's salary or hourly wage by that same 8 percent. This will not be done to put any more money in my pocket. It will be done to make sure that I don't suffer financially from the Democrat's efforts to place our healthcare under the control of the federal government. It is your health, not mine. It is your healthcare, not mine. These are your expenses, not mine. If you think I'm
 wrong about all this, I would sure love to hear your reasoning.
 
 Try to understand what I'm telling you here. Those people that Obama and the Democrats call "wealthy
 Americans" are, in very large part, America’s small business owners. I'm one of them. You have the
 evidence, and surely you don't think that the owner of a bunch of tire stores is anything special. That $534,000 figure on my income tax return puts me squarely in Democrat crosshairs when it comes to tax
 increases.
 
 Let’s be clear about this ... crystal clear. Any federal tax increase on me is going to cost you money, not me. Any new taxes on Carrington Automotive will be new taxes that you, or the people I don't hire to staff the new stores I won't be building, will be paying. Do you understand what I'm telling you? You've heard about things rolling downhill, right? Fine ... then you need to know that taxes, like that other stuff, roll downhill. Now you and I may understand that you are not among those that the Democrats call "wealthy Americans," but when this "tax the rich" thing comes down you are going to be standing at the bottom of the mud slide, if you get my drift. That's life in the big city, my friends ... where elections have consequences.
 
 You know our economy is very weak right now. I've pledged to get us through this without layoffs or cuts in your wages and benefits. It's too bad the politicians can't get us through this without attacking our profits. To insure our survival I have to take a substantial portion of that $534,000 and set it aside for unexpected expenses and a worsening economy. Trouble is, the government is eyeing that money too ... and they have the guns. If they want it, they can take it.

 I don’t want to make this too long. There's a great lunch waiting for us all. But you need to understand
 what's happening here. I've worked hard for 23 years to create this business. There were many years where I couldn't take a penny in income because every dollar was being dedicated to expanding the business. There were tough times when it took every dollar of revenues to replenish our inventory and cover your paychecks. During those times I earned nothing. If you want to see those tax returns, just
 let me know.

 OK  ... I know I'm repeating myself here. I don't hire stupid people, and you are probably getting it now. So let me just ramble for a few more minutes. Most Americans don't realize that when the Democrats talk about raising taxes on people making more than $250 thousand a year, they're talking about raising taxes on small businesses. The U.S. Treasury Department says that six out of every ten individuals in this country with incomes of more than $280,000 are actually small business owners. About one-half
 of the income in this country that would be subject to these increased taxes is from small businesses like ours. Depending on how many of these wonderful new taxes the Democrats manage to pass, this company could see its tax burden increase by as much as $60,000. Perhaps more.

 I know a lot of you voted for President Obama. A lot of you voted for Democrats across the board. Whether you voted out of support for some specific policies, or because you liked his slogans, you need to learn one very valuable lesson from this election. Elections have consequences. You might have thought it would be cool to have a president who looks like you; or a president who is young, has a buff body, and speaks eloquently when there's a teleprompter in the neighborhood. Maybe you liked his promises to tax the rich. Maybe you believed his promise not to raise taxes on people earning less than a certain amount. Maybe you actually bought into his promise to cut taxes on millions of Americans who actually don't pay income taxes in the first place. Whatever the reason…. Your vote had consequences; and here they are.
  
Bottom line? I'm not taking this hit alone. As soon as the Democrats manage to get their tax increases on the books, I'm going to take steps to make sure that my family isn't affected. When you own the business that is what you're allowed to do. I built this business over a period of 23 years, and I'm not going to see my family suffer because we have a president and a congress who think that wealth is distributed rather than earned. Any additional taxes, of whatever description, that President Obama and the Democrats inflict on this business will come straight out of any funds I have set aside for expansion or pay and benefit increases. Any plans I might have had to hire additional employees for new stores will be put aside. Any plans for raises for the people I now have working for me will be shelved. Year-end bonuses might well be eliminated. That may sound rough, but that's the stuff you’re going to continue to hear a lot of anti-wealth rhetoric out there from the media and from the left. You can chose to
 believe what you wish... but when it comes to Carrington Automotive you will know the truth. The books are open to any of you at any time. I have nothing to hide. I would hope that other small business owners out there would hold meetings like this one, but I know it won't happen that often. One of the lessons to be learned here is that taxes ... all taxes ... and all regulatory costs that are placed on businesses anywhere in this country, will eventually be passed right on down to individuals; individuals such as yourself. This hasn't been about admonishing anyone and it hasn't been about issuing threats. This is part of the education you should have received in the government schools, but didn't. Class is now dismissed.

posted @ Wednesday, November 25, 2009 4:06 AM | Feedback (0) | Tags: Politics Barack Obama Cultural Conflicts
Where has the THRILL with the BIG O gone?

I just read this excelent article critiquing the Obama Presidency, one year after his election.  All I say is AMEN and AMEN!

Where has all the THRILL gone with Obama?
Victor Davis Hanson, writer Pajama Media, November 22, 2009
The Harder They Fall?
Who appointed over 40 ambassadors on the sole basis of campaign contributions, or has as many lobbyists in government as did any President in memory?  And who releases touchy news—whether increased unemployment or trying Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in civil courts—on Friday nights, or wants his Democratically-controlled Congress to debate unpopular legislation on Saturday nights?
You see where this is going. Prophets fall harder than normal politicians. When you claim that seas recede and planets cool before your presence, and that Latin mottos, new presidential candidate seals, neo-classical victory trophies, and faux-Greek temple sets are the appropriate backdrops for Your speeches, then you raise the bar a bit high. Obama is not necessarily any more partisan than a Nixon or Reagan or Bush, only just as partisan—but when he claimed something quite different.
Add in the hope/change mantra, and a cadre of lackeys talking about tingling legs, his majesty Caesar, and apotheosis into a “god”, and our young Icarus was simply soaring too near the sun for his own fragile wax-feather wings. The problem is not just that Obama is proving Clinton-like in his Chicago hardball partisanship (cf. the trash-talk of Rahm Emanuel, Mao-admirer Anita Dunn, or the Truther Van Jones), but that his entire persona was fabricated on a touchy-feely “there is no red state, no blue state America.”
Despite Obama’s vows to restore science to its rightful place in government (I think that was his dig at George Bush’s opposition to human embryo, stem-cell research), we get superstition. Instead of the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ non-partisan, depressing unemployment figures, we are instead to rely on a new unproven notion of jobs “saved” and “created”, and in nonexistent, made-up congressional districts, listed, no less, on a government recovery.gov official website. War against reason?
Remember the “reset” button promises abroad? Do we have a safer, saner relationship with Putin? Is Iran closer to disarmament? North Korea quieter? Did George Mitchell transform the Middle East? Is the “good” war still good, the “bad” one still bad? Do the Brits feel the special relationship is stronger? Maybe Sarkozy is more impressed now with America, or are the Poles and Czechs?
And do Chavez, Castro, Ortega, Morales, Zelaya, and others in Latin America feel more pressure to be democratic or less? Is one third of the planet in India and China more comfortable with the messiah Obama or with the hated Bush?
At Home
And the future? Will the country look eagerly forward to cap-and-trade taxes? The new income tax rates? Will small businesses like the caps off FICA taxable income, and health care surcharges? Perhaps the people can get behind impending “comprehensive immigration reform” (in the way we are now for “comprehensive health care”), which will de-emphasize enforcement and emphasize amnesty?
As Obama’s popularity falls, expect his own partisanship to increase, and the Chicago brass knuckles to be more evident. Obama knows that he can hope and change only until he hits 35-40% approval ratings, and is rendered shouting to half-empty audience halls and a triangulating congress.
Full Steam Ahead
A final prognosis—or why Obama is in deep, deep trouble, since he won’t quit in his dream to transmogrify American into something like Belgium at best and Brazil at worse.
Millions of independents and swing voters went for Obama for five reasons: (1) they believed the media hype that Bush was the “worst” (fill in the blanks); (2) the sudden financial panic of September 2008 and the anger at Wall Street banditry and bail-outs; (3) Obama’s youth, charm, and oratory; (4) the feel-good novelty of voting in our first African-American president; (5) Obama’s centrist campaign message of paying down debt, working with allies, drilling, being tough against Al Qaeda, and being bipartisan.
It’s taken almost 11 months, but voters now know that propositions 1-5 are now refuted or irrelevant:
1)   Bush is history. Like Truman, in time he will begin to look better not worse. More importantly, Bush’s sins that bothered voters— too much big government and big deficits—were simply trumped by Obama’s gargantuan deficits and federalization of health care, banking, and the auto industry. “Bush did it” doesn’t work any more. “Obama did it even more” is the new worry.
2)   The panic that we would lose all our 401(k’s) and home equity has passed. What we are left with in its wake is a sinking feeling that badgering small business and the Chamber of Commerce, as if they are Goldman Sachs grandees, isn’t working. Raising income, payroll, and surcharge taxes at a time state, local, and sales taxes are surging, is, well, a good way to turn a recession into a depression—or at least a stagflating, weak recovery. Sometime around next March, “Bush’s did it” will transmogrify into Obama’s recession. Obama can’t run against the economy, but must fix it—or take the blame. His best hope is that the Republicans don’t run a demagogic figure such as he himself acted in 2007-8.
3)   Obama’s smoothness is getting old. All of us can almost write the next Obama speech: a) “some” say/do, but “I” say/do… The bad straw man is set up, followed by the contrast of the annointed “I” and “me” ad nauseum. b) then comes the apology for the sins of the rest of us—mitigated somewhat by the election of , yes, Barack Obama, the first black President; c) third is the impossible: spending more on health care saves more; cap and trade massive taxes will result in economies;  no more lobbyists means gads of them, Bush shredded the Constitution equates into I’m copying his anti-terror protocols; d) an end with hope and change ruffles and flourishes. Bottom line: the oratory is old and trite, given the lack of commensurate accomplishments.
4)   On the matter of racial landmarks, some of the voters think, rightly or wrongly, that they did their thing, proving America is not racist by the fact of Obama’s election. Now? A lot of independents, however, won’t seem obligated to vote in 2010 or 2012, motivated by the same sense of liberal assuagement of guilt. This been there/done that feeling will be accentuated should Obama’s supporters continue to play the race card as his popularity dips as a result of a statist and neo-socialist agenda.
5)   We know now that the campaign was a centrist deception. Bill Ayers and Rev. Wright make logical the presence of the Truther Van Jones and Anita Dunn (cf. her encomium to Mao). His most partisan Senate record presages his near suicidal effort to ram through statist health care, tax hikes, and partisan appointments, in addition to polarizing rhetoric. His campaign promises to meet with Ahmadinejad were not only met, but again trumped by serial apologies, selling out the Poles and Czechs and outreach to Chavez and Castro. In other words, the so-called right-wing nuts who tried to scare the hell out of voters are proving to be Nostradamuses of sorts.
All sorts of things can happen. Printing and borrowing can give us a brief, though unsustainable recovery around 2010. A war could break out. We could get hit big-time again as in 9/11.
That said, I think not merely the thrill is gone, but a righteous anger about an Obama trifecta— of serial apologies and bows abroad, massive borrowing and deficit spending, and government-take overs of private spheres of life—is swelling up in the electorate.  I haven’t seen in my lifetime anything quite like it. And this furor of being had has the potential not just to take Obama down, but also his ideology and supporters along with him for a generation.
posted @ Tuesday, November 24, 2009 5:37 AM | Feedback (0) | Tags: Politics Barack Obama
Weary of Health Care

Today the senate votes on whether to close debate and move on to conference meetings with the House and forge out the biggest grab into the personal lives of Americans that we have ever seen.  The 2000 page bill is filled with outrageous items that clearly signal that this is not about fixing the health care issues in American but changing how we live and who decides how we live.  Here are some examples:

1. Senate bill has govt funding for abortions.

2. The bill will penalize any person, or more importantly, any company that does not provide insurance for their employees.

3. The bill provides 100 million dollars to the state of Louisiana to save its Medicare funding - you will note that Mary Landieru, it's senator, is on the fence and this is Harry Reid's way of "buying her vote."

4. It provides a public option that will open the door to start "closing the doors" of private insurance because private insurance cannot "print money" and drive prices down to close out its competition.

5. The price tag is 843 billion dollars - however most of what the govt ever proposes is way short - true estimates are upwards of 2-3 trillion.

6. They will begin collecting taxes on this bill immediately BUT will not enact any of it until 2013 - the year after the NEXT presidential election - convenient!!

 

Here are some mind blowing facts:

a) There are 300 billion people in America -- of this some 12 million people NEED health care (they throw around 47 million but when you remove illegal aliens; children who have S-CHIP; college age; and people who self insure) we are talking about 12 million.

b) Divide 12 million into 1 trillion - lets just give them the money and set up a HSA!

c) Consider the fact that "everyone" - all 300 billion now will go looking for a yearly physical - the number of General Practitioners is declining and will so after this bill.  I will have to book my physical - two years in advance -- and still get bumped by the exponential emergencies that now will flood the system.

d) The GNP (Gross Nation Product) is at 27 trillion - 22 trillion is spoken for that leaves 5 trillion - health care in the US in 2008 was 2.5 trillion - we cannot sustain any more debt to our economy - this will collapse the system.

c) None of the bills - either house or senate addressed - tort reform and getting the lawyers off hospital and doctors back (which drives up malpractice).... it did not open up state line for insurance companies to compete.... it did not clearly limit illegal aliens from getting insurance because it did not require government ID for entrance into the public option.

 

I called both my senators - even though 65% of Americans oppose this legislation - they will go ahead with it.  No one is listening and worse --- all this angst and all this money will not truly solve the problem of health care costs -- it will cost our govt (ultimately the American people) trillions of dollars!!!

posted @ Saturday, November 21, 2009 3:23 AM | Feedback (0) | Tags: Politics
I'm Baaacccccckkkkkk!

Hello Blog-o-sphere!

Been away for over a week. Needed a little rest and relaxation, after a crazy Fall. Now we get geared up for the holiday season.  Here is all that occurred the past 12 days...

1. Kris and I left for Orlando for a week of fun in the sun celebrating 25 years of marriage!

2. We got to see my former Pastor in NH, Mike Cahill and his wife Charlene. Got to play golf and learn how bad my swing has gotten since losing all the weight!

3. Also had our friends Jim and Shirley Todd visit us in Orlando - they are a hoot!

4. We spent three days visiting the Disney Parks -- Magic Kingdom, Epcot and Hollywood Studios!  I averaged 12 miles a day walking!

5. Saw Cirque De Sol - La Nobu - awesome!!!

6. Came home to have Andi Rozier, Worship Leader with James McDonald at Harvest Bible Chapel in Chicago, with us for a mega worship weekend. Great seminar and fantastic "All Worship Sunday."

7. Came home to a boat load of crises in people's lives and many facing physical suffering - please pray!

8. Lost 6 more lbs while on vacation -- total hits 91 lbs. since March 30th!!!

That is the GREAT 8!

Glad to be back -- bring on the holidays!

posted @ Wednesday, November 18, 2009 2:25 PM | Feedback (0) | Tags: NewSong Family
Number 27 - still sweet as if it's the First!
Well all is happy in Yankee Nation this morning! The Bronx Bombers led by a Japanese Godzilla - took the World Series last night 4-2 over the Phillies.  It was a classic battle, and to be honest I thoroughly enjoyed the whole series. Both teams are the class organization of their respective leagues. Truly you had the best two teams in the World Series.  In the end the Yanks were led by their "CORE FOUR" - the four guys who were around the last time they won a Series - Pettitt, Jeter, Riveria and Posada.  Hideki Matsui was fantastic and was the Series MVP.  The best part of the whole experience was being at game six with my son!  What a thrill! It was history and not too many times do you get to attend a World Series -- none the less the clinching game.  Alex and I reveled in the moment.  Fitting that he heads off to college this coming year!  Worse, he is going to a Philadelphia school -- pray for him!  Now we need some rest, and then December 1st we start planning for next year - April 1 is opening day -- I will be there to watch them hoist up the flag and award the rings!!  What a thrill!!
posted @ Thursday, November 05, 2009 9:44 AM | Feedback (1) | Tags: Yankees
Weekend Round up!
I had a great weekend!  Most weekends are really enjoyable but this was extra special.  On Friday morning I arrived from NY after seeing the Yanks beat the Phills in game two of the W.S.  That was outstanding. But it also meant I had to get cracking on my message - seeing I missed most of my study day. But all in all that went great - finished by 3PM - off for a workout at the gym (discovered I lost another 7 lbs - down 88 lbs total).  Friday night was our church's FALL FEST.  We set the church up like a carnival and 700 kids show up.  We had 100 people volunteer and it was a beautiful night!!!  Clean-up went great and the church was back in shape by the next morning.  I taught my Acts class on Saturday and that was a wonderful experience. The class is really engaged.  Then Saturday night it was game three of the series - rain delay chewed up any extra sleep I would have gotten from daylight saving time, but the Yankees won - all is good!  Sunday was a wonderful morning - we declared it "Show Your True Colors" Sunday and encouraged everyone to wear their favorite sports team shirt - what a blast!! People got into it and had a lot of fun!  We also highlighted the fact that it was reformation Sunday - a celebration of the great reformers "protesting' the Catholic church.  I was even pretty encouraged by the response I got from my message!  Then in the evening Jerry and Melynda Hasselbach "knocked it out of the park' throwing the church staff an appreciation party.  Pasta bar, antipasta salad, tiramasu and flan!  And we watched the fourth game of the Yankees!!! And they won - leading the series 3-1 -- what a weekend!
posted @ Monday, November 02, 2009 7:36 AM | Feedback (0) | Tags: NewSong Family