Charity or Thievery?

I am a charitable person. I have a charitable family. We help our neighbors, we contribute to causes in our community. But charity crosses the line into thievery when selfish special interests use the force of government to get what they want at my expense. These people are abusing the government's power to tax and regulate, and selfish politicians are all too happy to give them access to that power.

It is charity when we give willingly. It is thievery when the decision is made for us, and our dollars forcibly removed from our wallets. We the People are supposed to have the liberty to support whatever causes we wish -- or not, based on our personal values, priorities and needs. When the government presumptively makes that decision for us, that is a liberty that we have lost. Liberty, once lost, is almost impossible to regain.

Profiling the Sphincto-Americans

Sometimes Iowahawk writes some really funny stuff. This is one of those times.

Forget Health Care Reform, Cap & Trade

We must reverse deficit spending and the concentration of power in central government, in order to preserve states’ rights and individual liberty for future generations.

Do it for your children. Everything else is just details.

How to Cure Health Care

If you really want to understand the problem with the health care system in the United States, and how to fix it, read and understand How to Cure Health Care by noted economist and Nobel laureate, Milton Friedman.

POTUS Birth Certificate Issue Clicks Up a Notch

I have always been reluctant to get caught up with what seems like the lunatic fringe in questioning Barack Obama's birth certificate. However, it does bother me that Obama has not been open and forthcoming about his personal documents. In fact, he has locked down a whole sheaf of documents, including his birth certificate, adoption records and scholastic records.

Meanwhile, a controversial suit brought by a U.S. Army reservist has been joined by a retired Army two-star general and an active reserve Air Force lieutenant colonel. At some point, this might boil over. If it turns out that Barack Obama is in fact, not qualified to hold the office of President of the United States due to this seemingly minor constitutional point, it will cause a constitutional crisis not seen in this country since the civil war.

I see two possible outcomes:

1. We wink at the problem, and rationalize that the requirement is quaint and outmoded, opening the way for unbridled constitutional abuse, violence and civil unrest, and the end of the USA as we know it.
2. We stop and seriously re-evaluate the Constitution and the rule of law, and we restore the Constitution to its rightful place as the binding contract between the US Government and We the People -- as ratified.

I'm hoping for option 2, although either option will be a painful process. If that happens, Barack Obama might go down in history as a pivotal figure, but not for the reasons he had hoped.

School Board President Censors Science

Michael Kundu, a whale photographer and school board president in Marysville, Washington, apparently thinks he knows more about global warming than NASA, NOAA, the IPCC, and thousands of scientists. And he’s perfectly comfortable banning from “his” classrooms any scientific information that contradicts his opinions.

Marysville is about 40 miles south of here (read the entire article).

My New Catch Phrase

Setting aside for the moment that the Constitution does not authorize the federal government do most of this stuff anyway is my new catch phrase. I will use it to preface anything that seems to dig down into the details of something that the government is doing, that is fundamentally wrong in the first place. We're about to be enslaved, and we're discussing the nature of the chains.

(edit -- was: We're about to be enslaved, and we're discussing the color of the chains. Color is only one superficial attribute; nature is more about the internal composition, which is my intent.)

Private Health Insurance Will be Illegal

Setting aside for the moment that the Constitution does not authorize the federal government do most of this stuff anyway, it turns out that the health care bill (as currently written) would make private health insurance illegal, according to an editorial in Investors Business Daily. The article, entitled "It's Not an Option" spotted this provision on page 16.

I suppose it's a big thing, and the health care bill is full of big things, but I keep coming back to this: The Constitution doesn't authorize national health care. Why are people focusing on the details when the whole concept is wrong?

Congressional Budget Office Says Spending Not Sustainable

Setting aside for the moment that the Constitution does not authorize the federal government do most of this stuff anyway, the Congressional Budget Office says it isn't sustainable.

I wonder how long before congress dismantles the CBO, if it keeps telling them things that they don't want to hear.

Harry Alford Drives the Bus on Racism for Barbara Boxer

Harry Alford takes Barbara Boxer to school! She obviously buys into the unspoken and often denied, but frequently illustrated -- as in this video -- liberal meme that all black folk must think alike because they have some superficial similarities. So she trots out the NAACP resolutions and other black leaders' statements, assuming Harry will simply roll over. He's right to take offense at that.

Rick Larsen Health Care "Stories"

Rick Larsen was soliciting health care stories. I'm sure he was looking for sob stories that he could use in congress's attempt to nationalize health care. Well, I sent him my story.

Dear Congressman Larsen,

I was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2001. It was detected during a routine digital exam by my family physician. I immediately made an appointment with my urologist (which I quickly got). He did a digital exam, and ordered a biopsy, which was scheduled within a few days. The results came back within a few days.

I spent several weeks going over my options (do nothing, surgery, various forms of radiation treatment, etc.). I eventually opted for a new form of radiation treatment (seed implants). Dr. Thompson, my local radiologist in Bellingham had the procedure done on him by Dr. Blasko in at the Swedish Cancer Institute in Seattle. It was a one-day outpatient procedure, and he competed in a swimming competition the next day. That sounded pretty encouraging, so I opted for that treatment. Since I was unusually young, Dr. Thompson was uneasy about performing the procedure on me, but recommended that I speak with Dr. Blasko.

Long story short, Dr. Blasko did the procedure. He is the inventor of the procedure, and he is considered to be the best in the business. Except for some "routine complications" (my prostate swelling shut, requiring the use of a urinary catheter for a couple of weeks), I have had a full recovery, without the frequent lifelong side-effects of prostate surgery (impotence and urinary incontinence). Dr. Thompson followed me for the five years post-treatment checkups.

The entire elapsed time from detection to cure was less than six months. My out-of-pocket expenses were minimal, using insurance through my employer. I am sure Dr. Blasko is very well paid for his service and his invention, as well as all of the people at Swedish, and Dr. Thompson in Bellingham. I received cutting-edge treatment with minimal hassle, pain, inconvenience and expense.

By limiting the amount of remuneration available to practitioners in any field, government run bureaucracies tend to have a dulling effect on innovation, availability and options. I have no doubt that I would have had fewer options, and seed implants probably would not have been invented. I would have probably had surgery, with all of the added risk, down-time and possible negative side effects.

I know that private health care is not perfect in this country -- nothing ever is. But it doesn't help to throw the baby out with the bath water, either. I know, proponents of national health care say that won't happen. Well, Albert Einstein said that the definition of insanity is trying the same thing over and over again, expecting different results. We have seen government run health care deteriorate everywhere it's tried, including this country. "But this time it'll be different!" you say. No. It. Won't. "We have a better idea this time!" you say. No. You. Don't. Government run is government run. As soon as the government gets its talons in something, then the special interests and the exploiters line up around the block to get their meat hooks in the pie. The private health care system is already damaged largely by previous attempts by government to control the private economy, starting with wage and price controls in WWII, leading employers to offer health insurance and other benefits in lieu of higher pay. Unintended consequences have made medical insurance a necessary evil in this country, driving cost up. Medicare and medicaid also undermine the private health care system by undercutting the price structure and imposing heavy paperwork demands.

For once, I wish the government would back off, and let individual liberty, states' rights and the free market solve our problems, realizing that while imperfect, it is far more perfect than the nearest competitor, especially government.

Sincerely,
Karl Uppiano

P.S. I wrote earlier with a more generic "story". My prostate cancer treatment went so smoothly, I forgot to mention it the first time.

Update: I also sent this to senator Patty Murray, who is also soliciting sob stories.

Letters To My Representatives

I sent this letter to my congressman and senators:

Dear Senators Murray, Cantwell, Congressman Larsen,

Please do not destroy the best health care system in the world. Any fixing that it might need would involve less government intrusion, not more. We the People, individuals voting every day with our dollars in the free market would fix the vast majority of the problems that we now have, if you would just restore our liberty to do so.

Government cannot bestow liberty; it can only take it away. Give it back, don't take more away!

Sincerely,
Karl Uppiano

Health Care Tea Party Event

The Tea Party movement is planning a national event to happen simultaneously next Friday.

What It Means To Be a Tea Partier

I posted a little rant over at the Bellingham Tea Party Web Site.

Tweet The White House

Twits are encouraged to Tweet the White House.

History Repeats Itself

From the 1934 Chicago Tribune, same problem as today. Barack Obama is FDR II, and not in a good way. Click on the image for higher resolution.