I think today is as good a day as any to remember how oppression is born. It is born when one body of people want to wield power and control over another, and they do so by setting in place a doctrine of rigid rules, predicated upon false assumptions about what is "good" – ideologically, spiritually, economically – for those who submit to rule. And those who submit, do so because they are weak and fearful.
In President Obama's speech on health care the other night, I heard two false assumptions about health care that on the surface look to be good for us, but which will not only NOT provide us with better, more affordable health care, but which will lead to even greater limits on our personal freedoms. As long as the majority of people in this country persist in believing these assumptions, we will never reform health care. Those two assumptions are:
1. That health care is a right.
2. That we can only contract for health care by having a health insurance policy.
President Obama said he could see the logic of certain elements of the two extreme opposing views of health care: On the Left, the idea that universal care is a moral imperative and a right; on the Right, that it should be returned to the free market. However, he iterated, implementing either of these extremes would result in way too big of a disruption of how we currently do business.
Did you hear that? He doesn't want to piss off the insurance companies. Because a move to either end would mean the destruction – or at least the reigning in and reassigning back to their original purpose – of the behemoth insurance companies who have even this "radical" president under their thumb.
THIS from the president who said he was going to shake up the way things were done in Washington? Meh. Color me unimpressed. Just another poseur in a nice suit.
So what we're going to get instead is the same old same old, only now with Washington playing even a bigger role. You know, the same Washington that is so GOOD at controlling every other aspect of our lives.
Hell, we don't need another 9/11 to bring us crashing to the ground. We're doing it ourselves. And we going to get what we deserve for our lack of vigilance over liberty.
29 comments:
Obama has great oratory skills, the ability to motivate and move people with his words. He had the potential to be a great president. When he selected Biden as his vice-president that should have been a huge warning sign to those who had placed their faith in him. Almost every other person he has selected for important positions has followed suit. "Change" is nowhere to be found. Same old political hacks, crooks and ideologues.
He HAD the potential to be great. His ability to inspire devotion equally has the ability to lead people over the proverbial cliff - which is exactly where we are headed.
When he endorsed and urged support for the THEFT of the taxpayers to bail out the theives of Wall Street the blinders should have been removed from his devotees. But they still "believe."
After Bush, it was hard to imagine a worse president. If the public doesn't wake up soon, we may not need to try "imagining" worse.
When will people stop believing in their side - Democrats or Republicans - and start to realize that ALL of them are corrupt to the core?
Basher: Well, now, you and I may have been separated at birth regarding a few of our poleetikal ideals, but I differ from you in believing that Obama ever had the potential to be a great president. He's a Slick Willy, nothing more, nothing less. The only way he could have been great was to apply those exceptional oratory skills to a set of ideals that held the supremacy of personal liberty – not service – at its core.
But I agree with you that neither side is capable of governing and both their messages are rotten to the core. Although, I'm more than a little bit excited that Gary Johnson may throw his hat in the ring. He can't win, of course, but he can be a bee in our bonnets.
Again, politics are not my forte. However, I do know a little about health insurance, as I pay $1,152 per month for it, which includes an adult daughter who can't find a job that will provide it. My husband qualifies for VA healthcare, but our HMO is closer and more convenient and, possibly, more thorough. Seems to me that a lot of the people who are complaining that they "can't afford" healthcare--and want it for free--are still buying the best cars, going on vacations, remodeling their homes, etc. I'd love to get rid of the crappy-ass carpet and cottage-cheese ceilings in my house and maybe take a nice trip somewhere with my husband, but we have other, less fun priorities... like paying for insurance.
Wendy: You hit the nail on the head with the phrase, Like paying for insurance, the majority of which costs don't actually go towards paying for your CARE.
Well said Moi. To be linked at Crownrocks.
Well Moi,
No surprise but I am once again in agreement with you. THE 9/11 was less destructive to our nation than the current insanity ruling Washington. Unfortunately they want to spread the "washington disease" to the rest of the country.
If we continue to allow this crazy format of rewarding greed and failure while punishing accountability and success then we are over.
The current lies are pertaining mostly to the Health care issue. Which, to my thinking, is just a shell game to divert our attentions while the politicos continue to obliterate our constitution.
I find the problem is not a divide between Republicants and Democraps.
I think it is a divide between the federal government and the people.
Obama is a puppet, sent on a mission in the role of Pied Piper to lead our nation to destruction.
For me the most acute issue is the passivity of mainstream Americans who have allowed Washington to garner far too much control over our States. We the People have allowed our inherent since of decency and our generous natures to be led astray and bankrupted by the "rights" of illegal residents, by the "visionaries" in Washington, by the unions who act like street thugs, by the bean counters who played games with numbers in order to steal our futures, by looking the other way while our schools taught our children to fail and by our own choices to not stand up for God.
I come for the fashion and stay for the way you can distill complicated issues into something I can understand.
When did health insurance become an employer's responsibility? Insurance for our employees is going up 28% this year. Do I have option? You bet, I can raise the deductible and lower it by..... 3%! Wendy said it right; people WANT health insurance, but don't want to pay for it. A few years ago I asked employees to pay 25% of their monthly health care costs and most of the under 30's immediately cancelled their coverage. WTF?? I was asking them to pay $15.00 per week.
Great post, Madame Prez.
"Personal Responsibility". Preach it on, girl, preach it on! Insurance is a racket, an unfortunate one, and they are betting your premiums on the fact that you won't get sick. When in fact, everyone will at some point. It's a giant ponzi scheme, really. And our ability to treat patients has exceeded our ability to pay for it. Has research gone too far? Are we all playing God now? I'm about **this** close to becoming a Christian Scientist or one of those other religions that don't believe in doctors. If it wasn't for that cancer thing I had going on .... ;) ha
It's not just the weak and fearful who submit to a Nation that changes from a Republic to an Obamanation. There are those who have plenty of strength and wealth in the Old Order. But are getting specific, concrete and HUGE benefits from the New Order. George Soros. General Electric/NBC. Several large insurance companies. 4 large Pharmas. Establishment Hollyweird. Several Wall Street Firms. General Motors. Union Bosses.
None of those are weak and fearful.
Milk: Feel free, thanks!
Fishy: Yes, it's not a republican versus democrat problem. It's a problem of one philosophy versus the other.
Boxer: I'd like my employer to pay for my groceries and utilities, too. Oh, wait. They DO. They give me money in exchange for my services and with it I pay my cost of living expenses. Huh. Imagine that.
So, here's a thought. What if you DIDN'T have to pay for your employees' insurance premiums and could return that money to them in the form of higher wages and they could use it to buy health care (which in a perfect world would not be health insurance, but health care)?
Certain segments of the population would say, "Oh, they'd only fritter it away on useless stuff and then when they got sick, the government would have to step in anyway, so it may as well just get involved totally." Well, I disagree. Jeez. Do we forget to FEED ourselves? Put on a warm coat when it's freezing outside?
This supposition that people are too stupid to live really gets my goat, but it's at the core of Big Government to the Rescue thinking.
Pam: Sorry to hear about the "cancer thing." I hope it's not exacerbated by additional struggles with your insurance company. Look, I'm all for insurance. But insurance is for MAJOR DISASTERS. Auto accidents. Destruction of property by flood and fire. So, the only medical insurance we should have is for catastrophic care. The rest of it? It's a cost of living. As for the poor and indigent, they're already served by charitable associations and Medicaid. Imagine how much more could be done for that population if we weren't wasting our tax dollars on subsidizing services the middle and upper classes can easily afford?
Troll: Yes, but those groups you described ARE weak. Weak because they have no integrity and because they profit off fear and thus fan its flames. For instance, the average person, you ask him, "Do you think it's fair that aunt Gerdie should die just because she can't afford her medicine?"
Well, come ON! Of course no one is going to say yes! So suddenly, we're all running around terrified that unless the government steps in, Aunt Gerdie is going to die! Help! Do something! And those in power, who KNOW the fallacy of this type of thinking, say nothing. Explain nothing. Soothe nothing. They allow the lies to stand as truth, thievery to mask as compassion.
We ARE doin' it to ourselves. Gah!
Health care ain't a "right". Neither is food, clothes, latte or Jimmy Choos.
They are basic needs--but basic needs is YORE own wagon to pull.
Job of gubmint is to keep the thugs, an'leeches off yore back, the foreign goons outa the airspace, so you can focus on pullin' yore wagon. Ya have a RIGHT to *pursue* happiness, not a
promise to provide happiness.
We used to have NHS hospitals with private rooms in them. The private patients subsidised the luxuries for the other patients in return for no waiting lists. The same skilled surgeons operated on both and had full access to all hospital facilities for both (which insurance companies can not always offer).
I feel everyone should have a right to essential health care, but when it comes to IVF treatment, sex-change operations, abortions or boob enlargements (or any other unecessary treatment/surgery), patients should jolly well pay for their own surgery. In addition foreign nationals should be required to pay taxes for a minimum of two years before entitlement (having to pay for essential medical care in the interim if they need it). We suffer from a lot of health tourism in UK draining NHS resources such as women from the 3rd world who deliberately enter the country heavily pregnant to deliver their babies free on the NHS.
Moi,
Your perceived disagreement with me is actually exactly what I had meant - just didn't have time to elaborate because I was running out the door to work.
Somewhere around the time that Obama first arrived on the primary election scene, (1 to 1 1/2 years before the election?), I saw him on TV making a speech of some sort. Didn't know anything about him at the time, but I was impressed. (I'm 45 years old and can't even use the five fingers on one hand to count how many politicians have "impressed" me in my life. So, that statement says a lot.) So, I started to pay closer attention to him - what he said and, more importantly, what he actually did. It didn't take long (a few months) to come to the same conclusion as you. He is nothing more than a very, very slick talker.
Politicians specialize in the art of bullshit. To get elected, they tell people what they want to hear. Obama is the ultimate politician in that he has the gift of bullshit absolutely perfected. He is literally able to convince people, en mass, that right is left, wrong is right, up is down, and that he is a gift-horse instead of a snake.
BEFORE the election, if one had paid attention only to the issues he gave SPECIFIC and DEFINITIVE answers to and paid attention to how he actually voted as a senator, it was absolutely clear that "change" was not what we were going to get. It was clear, (despite vague platitudes and "hope" to the contrary) that he was just as much of a war monger as Bush, didn't have any particular problem with the torture issue, and didn't have any intention to reverse any of the legislation passed that has systematically destroyed our constitution while building the architecture for a totalitarian police state. And, if there was any doubt about who "owned" him, he couldn't have made it any clearer to everyone when he fully backed the bankster bailout. He is owned by the same criminals who own all of Washington D.C. With only a handful of exceptions, they are all criminal miscreants who have sold our country and its citizens down the drain.
IF, as you pointed out, Obama had used his gift for speaking and motivating people to lead them in the right direction, he could have been great. That's what I meant in my previous post. What this country needs, (and what I think many people are ready for), is a president who comes right out and tells them the hard, ugly truth about the state of our nation and our economy. We've spent the last few decades living a lie built on a mountain of debt and promises that cannot possibly be paid back or fulfilled. There is no easy way out of this mess. Hard decisions and choices must be made and everyone will end up sacrificing something. We can do it voluntarily or it will eventually be forced on us in the form of an all out collapse. Either way it will be ugly, but it will be much less ugly if we consciously decide to do it and determine to come out better and stronger in the end.
(Continued in next post.)
(Continued from previous post.)
Instead, what we've got are more lies, more empty promises, more denial of reality, more whistling past the graveyard, and more outrageous hypocracy! If we are to stand for individual libery, we can't systematically strip people of their rights. We can't promote "Democracy" and freedom by arbitrarily attacking other nations under false pretenses and murdering over 1 million of there citizens. We can't voice our objection to human rights violations and acts of torture if we are viewed as the biggest perpetrator of torture and abuse. We can't solve a collosal debt problem by committing to exponentially more debt. And we certainly cannot promote the values of hard work and honesty by rewarding the greatest swindlers in history for complete failure, while enlisting THEM to fix what they caused and by failing to show any inclination to hold them at all responsible for their actions with criminal charges and prosecutions. All this while simultaneously FORCING the very people who were robbed by them to bail them out! Washington D.C. is a cesspool! They have absolutely NO CREDIBILITY!
The only chance we have is for the voters to completely clean house. No matter what party each person is affiliated with, they MUST vote AGAINST THE INCOMBANT! That's the only way for the people to send a clear, unmistakeable message. Nothing (non-violent) short of that will work.
Sorry for the length of this post, but you know me - get me started and I just can't stop.
Uuugh!
Moi and Everyone else,
Just read a brilliant post by a well known financial/economics blogger along the lines of this discussion. If anyone wants to gain a better understanding of what is happening and why economically, bookmark his site and go thru the archives when you've got the time. It won't be time wasted.
Here's the article:
How Far Does The Lawlessness Go?
http://market-ticker.denninger.net/archives/1426-How-Far-Does-The-Lawlessness-Go.html
Sorry everyone,
Looks like the link got cut-off in my post. Don't know how to get the whole thing on here, so below is the rest of the link. You'll have to piece it together yourself.
-How-Far-Does-The-Lawlessness-Go.html
P.s. You could also just go to his site and scroll down to the article titled: "How Far Does The Lawlessness Go?" dated today, Sept. 11th.
Site:
http://market-ticker.denninger.net/
I don't know who this HEADBASHER is, but I think I'm in love.
when there wasnt a full tilt insurrection at the theft aka bailout then it was a green light to relieve us of every other wealth we had -the greatest of those include individuality, freedom of choice- even stupid choices - and autonomy from the State.
one thing about free anything -its always really really expensive. there isnt any money. this country is fken bankrupt!!!!! obama was going on about fixing the bloat at medicare and reigning in insurance companies - why not do that right now then if you can. show us that first! seems obvious i can believe people are falling for this.
guess what? if you dont get health insurance the IRS will fine you. hows that for big G intrusion? its on page 162 of HB 3200.
and joe wilson was right. obama did lie i heard a doctor on a podcast last night lay out the massive administrative requirements for them - and alot of it was mandated coverage for non citizens. so its about language once again=obama didnt lie cause the word illegal isnt in there. they dont think illegal immigration is illegal. ask sonja sotomayer!
the clower-piven strategy is in full effect as well as the alinsky plan. even a cursory look at rules for radicals will tell you that the plan is to destroy the existing structure and then reform it. its happening now
create the problem - then offer the solution to a frightened weary public
these are the most critical times we have ever seen. this is a young nation and many americans cannot conceive of a time when they would be enslaved. but it can happen. debt is one way. control of life and death is another. crippling taxes is another. globalization is another and so on...
and lets not forget the roster of straight up eugenicists in the cabinet. read the sections in dashcles book it spells out what happens to non viable people: thats people who are not well enough to earn money to pay taxes! look up who holdren is. you'll freak.
not one thing the government runs has ever been successful. amtrak (bailed out often) post office (cant compete with fedex/ups without taxpayer money and still cant) fannie and freddie, medicare and caid...and on and on always corrupt and bloated.
this is it. i mean, we are in it for real now.
everything obama said he would do has has not
no lobbyists?
no war?
no rendition?
no patriot act?
its all that and WORSE.
great post moi. my blood is boiling i cant even stay focused to comment/grrrrrrrrrrrrrr
BOXER: I'm Moi's cousin. Been going off on these issues for 10 years now and have to say that I've never had a response like yours to one of my tirades. Thank you.
K-9: Ding! Ding! Ding! GRAND PRIZE WINNER!!! You hit the nail on the head with this one line:
"create the problem - then offer the solution to a frightened weary public"
Basher: Ah, got cha. I thought I was reading funny :o). Oh, and we won't even GO THERE about why we're still in Afghanistan and Iraq. Whole nuther post . . .
Boxer: Yes, Basher is my cousin, the one I told you about who I said was separated at birth from K9?
K9: See, that's the thing. We are at a most critical, dangerous time in our nation's history, but at the same time, everything appears to be perfectly fine. So the problem becomes, how to get people stirred up enough to take genuinely effective action (and not just spew platitudes about superficial hopey/changey) when there doesn't really appear to be any urgency to do so? Tyranny is mighty sneaky that way.
Basher: K9 is a MOST politically astute individual. Her "raps" are priceless.
Two Troll Predictions that address the "Did Obama Lie"? question.
1) A lefty Judge WILL make a ruling that if the Federal Bill that eventually passes DOES NOT SPECIFICALLY PRECLUDE ILLEGAL ALIENS FROM SERVICES, THEY MUST BE GIVEN THEM. The far-lefty 9th Circuit Federal Court of Appeals will agree with that Judge making it the Law-Of-The-Land on the West Coast until and IF the Supreme Court eventually gets around to over-turning the 9th circuit. That could take years. The US Supreme Court might not even take the case. If Obama gets one more Judge on the Supreme Court they will rule WITH the radical-left 9th Circuit.
2) Pretty much the exact same thing will happen with Abortion. If the Bill doesn't include a Sentence saying "Abortions aren't covered", the lefty 9th Circuit and the Northeast Circuit will rule that it must.
So, Obama didn't technically lie in saying "The BILL doesn't say illegal aliens must be covered and abortion must be a part of that coverage".
But he knows the practical political reality is that if it doesn't SPECIFICALLY preclude those, they will happen.
I'm not ready to spoil my 100% accuracy prediction record on my last point but it's also VERY likely the same will happen with transgender surgery and treatments.
Boxer can attest to the fact that residents of Washington State frequently live under the edicts of leftist Federal Judges for long stretches of time. Until and IF the Supreme Court over-rules them.
Troll: Your predictions are weighted with the potential of actuality. Unfortunately.
Haid-Basher?
Howdy do! Welcome to the fray--an' whar' has you been all this time??
We'all said the nature of the trouble--now how is we gonna make a dent in the haids of others?
Mah big worry is it is too late--too many folks is on the gubmint teat. When mor'n a third of people work fer local, state or fed gubmint--OR depend on gubmint contacts fer their jobs--they ain't anxious to be "free".
We gotta find a means of bustin' gubmint back to 1779 level of power--an not an inch more.
Heah's mah moderate proposal:
Doan go to work.
Thas' it--if all the truly productive, efficient, creative Americans simply STOP bein' productive, efficient, creative--jes' doan go to work no more--then the whole thang will crash--they will see what the country looks like iffin' we doan carry the freight.
I'se proposin' a work boycott. Let 'em see what the nation looks like when only the gubmint leeches is around to "work."
Aunty: Works in theory. In reality, no one's gonna go for it, unfortunately, because of exactly what you say about people not groking to the meaning of their dependence on gub'mint. We have been fat dumb and happy and known nothing otherwise for too long. Which is in theory a GOOD thing. Don't get me wrong; I don't want misery and chaos. But there is something so fundamentally wrong and rotten under laying our supposed well-being, that the illusion cannot stand much longer. So, as Head Basher suggests, the most peacable solution is not to vote the bastid incumbents into office. Keep complaining, keep voting them out. And let everyone you know know exactly how you feel. Challenge people's preconceptions. Make a pain in the ass of yourself talking until you're blue in the face. And then do it some more.
I hear ya' Moi--thang is, has we already got so many on the sucking side (as opposed to the production side) that they will out vote us? I ain't gotta whole lot of hope we have the numbers to throw out the incumbents.
I'm calling a Strike! I am the John Galt of Alcoholic Avians!
Aunty - my accountant called on Friday to say we lost money last year (and that's OK) AND we can request refunds from the gross amount we paid last year. I'M HAPPY. It's my way of not working. My goal this year is to break even and pay as little taxes as possible.
Head Basher? You need a blog!!
Aunty: Not sure. I'd like to believe people aren't deliberately thick-headed. Just uninformed.
Drinky: And your drink of choice would be a Black Russian?
Boxer: My motto for 2010: Deduct Everything!
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