Health Care Questions

Written : Nov. 23, 2009

Of the new health care legislation, don’t we need to ask more questions? For some examples, please see these: Tell me why the new health care bill spends $800+ billion to save $100 billion? Perhaps I don’t understand, but the new bill doesn’t offer a very good ROI (return on investment), does it? Why are there twelve million uninsured individuals in this country? And, if that number is incorrect, why are there so many more uninsured? Why is the media saying Obama’s (Sen. Harry Reid’s) plan builds on the private insurance system when it really sets up a government-run system which, through lower prices, would naturally overpower the private system we have today? Rather than blindly trusting the politicians this time, why not drill down and ask questions? During the Bush administration most wouldn’t blindly accept what was going on, so why do it now?

First of all, we do need to think about this. I don’t have a good answer on the question of ROI, though: Can someone please let me in on the secret?

There are so many uninsured - partially because we have not improved the immigration system yet. Too many people come here from other countries without going through “the system”. We all know the current system is outdated and inefficient. It takes a very long time for an immigrant to legally become a citizen. Yet, one has to ask this question, too... Why have so many put up with the current antiquated system and have become citizens anyway? Why won’t a single Senator or Congressman put forth a simple plan to update it? Former Alabama Governor, Mike Huckabee has (see it at this URL: http://townhall.com/blog/g/d1703ab4-54ee-4e2b-835f-3f81311d2ee2), so, why not at least examine his ideas?

People are forced to purchase health insurance in their own state. Why not allow people to purchase it anywhere in the U.S.? It’s what “free enterprise” is about, right? People get health insurance through their employers. Shouldn’t there be other ways folks can band together to get lower rates? There are. Many are saying how this can be done. Why are the politicians not listening?

The media is telling us Nevada Senator Reid’s plan builds on the current system because they ignore the citizens who are critical of it. The fact is a public plan will eventually supplant the private system because its rates will be less expensive. We all know how price affects the purchasing habits of Americans. Just look at Walmart. Even though folks may fundamentally disagree with Walmart “taking over” the mom & pop shops in America, who deliberately buys from the more expensive, mom & pop stores and refuses to pay Big W’s lower prices?

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Merlin

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Keywords: Conservatism, Conservative, blog, politics, political, Mark Cohen, Mark A. Cohen, From The Left to the Right, conservative blog, conservative blogs, Harry Reid, New Health Care Plan

Keyword Phrases: "Conservatism", "Conservative", "blog", "politics", "political", "Mark Cohen", "Mark A. Cohen", "From The Left to the Right ", "conservative blog", "conservative blogs", “Harry Reid”, “New Health Care Plan”

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Hasan’s PC

Written : Nov. 17, 2009

Nidal Hasan, a U.S. Army Major, went on a murderous rampage Nov. 5 at Fort Hood, killing 13 people and wounding many others. He allegedly screamed “Allāhu Akbar” in Arabic just prior, which in English means, “God is Great”. Yelling (especially that) and then killing Americans has been the calling card of Islamic terrorists lately. Was it a terrorist conspiracy, or, did he commit the act with others? No. Was it a terrorist plot, or, did Hasan plan it? Probably. Was it an act of terror, or, did it terrorize the folks at Fort Hood and/or other Americans? Definitely. Were his actions against the American military treasonous? Yes. Were his actions enough to consider them acts of war? Of course.

It turns out the Army knew Hasan harbored extremist views, and yet the Army kept silent. For example, Hasan carried a business card, which had “SoA” on it, which means, “Soldier of Allah.” Several people who dealt with him on a daily basis have said he expressed his extremist views to them. He is reported to have telephoned known members of Al Qaeda, the terrorist organization; they are our sworn enemy, remember? Chris Matthews, of MSNBC, has asked, “That's not a crime to call up al Qaeda, is it?” Well, yes, Chris, it is. If an American soldier had telephoned the Nazis during WWII, he would have immediately been arrested for treason, no matter what he said to them.

According to Reuters on Nov. 8, General George Casey said, “As horrific as this tragedy was, if our diversity becomes a casualty, I think that’s worse.” I never thought I’d see the day when a U.S. general would place political correctness above the lives of the troops. If we find out we have an enemy in our midst, we just don’t do anything about it and hope he doesn’t attack his fellow soldiers. Did I miss it? When, oh, when did the world get turned on its’ head?

So, why was the Army silent if it knew so much about Hasan? There are three possibilities, as I see them. They didn’t take him seriously and didn’t feel he would erupt. They wanted to avoid a possible lawsuit for singling him out. The most likely is this: The Army didn’t want to appear to have been targeting a religious group, Muslims.

All three reasons are silly. “By protecting radical Muslims,” Nina Easton said, on Hannity on Nov. 12, “who are we helping? It does the majority of the Muslim population, who are peace-loving, no good.” Exactly. As reported by the brave Matthew Continetti on www.weeklystandard.com, Sarah Palin said, “I say, profile away.” And she’s right. Think about it. A friend of mine, who is a Muslim, told me after 9/11 he understands the importance of profiling people who “look like me.” He said if it would keep America safe and free, he was all for it and would be willing to put up with it. He asked me if I’d recently seen a group of mostly Asian, Black, or White terrorists? Now, that’s a true patriot to me!

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Keywords: Conservatism, Conservative, blog, politics, political, Mark Cohen, Mark A. Cohen, From The Left to the Right, conservative blog, conservative blogs, Nidal Hasan, Fort Hood

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Stat Counter Added - 11/13/2009

Questions

Written : Nov. 10, 2009

Generally speaking, people on the right prefer less government intrusion into people’s personal lives and folks on the left want government to do more for the people, especially the federal government. A contradiction caught my eye while watching CNN’s GPS program, also known as “The Global Public Square”, hosted by Fareed Zacharia. This show is set up to showcase Zacharia’s, CNN’s, the mainstream media’s, and his mostly liberal guests’ view that happily, America’s power is waning in the world. It’s just another country. He and his guests don’t always tear America down, they also build up every country - other than the U.S. - to have you believe America is not special; all the other countries are. We’re living in “a post-American world”, Zacharia is fond of saying from time to time. To help you understand the emphasis a little more, the name of one of his books is, “The Post-American World”.

Zacharia’s guest, Matthew Hoh, on the show which aired on Nov. 1, said of the Afghan people: they resent their government’s intrusion [into their lives]! Such a statement forces me to wonder, “Don’t the American people resent the same thing from their government?” But I digress. Instead of touting the left-wing idea of central governmental control (federal vs. the states), Hoh said there are 34 provinces in Afghanistan - there are 34 solutions. Why would such a conservative idea be pushed for other countries when at the same time, for America, the left wants our federal government to control everything? Why did they reject the Republican suggestion to let a single state experiment with the federal health care bill before forcing it on all the states? To be consistent with Hoh, shouldn’t the left say there are 50 states, and therefore there are 50 solutions for health care reform?

A question I ask myself frequently is, “Why does the mainstream media (TV) have the propensity to hand their conservative guests a title? For example, when introducing a guest author who happens to be a conservative, they’ll usually say, “…I want to introduce the conservative author [their name]…”. While introducing a liberal author they generally leave out the “liberal” in the title, and come up with, “I want to introduce [their name], author of…” For example, on CSPAN on Oct. 26, Ramesh Ponnuru, a senior editor for National Review - a conservative magazine - was asked by the host, “In your view as a conservative columnist…” So, I ask you, “Why do they do this?” Is it fair, or are they trying to get a response or rise out of their (assumed liberal) audience when they use the word “conservative” in the person’s title? If you have not noticed this, listen for it when you watch the Sunday talk shows. (Fox News is excluded, because it does no such thing. I encourage you to watch all the Sunday shows anyway!)

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Keywords: Conservatism, Conservative, blog, politics, political, Mark Cohen, Mark A. Cohen, From The Left to the Right, conservative blog, conservative blogs, Matthew Hoh, GPS, Fareed Zacharia

Keyword Phrases: "Conservatism", "Conservative", "blog", "politics", "political", "Mark Cohen", "Mark A. Cohen", "From The Left to the Right ", "conservative blog", "conservative blogs", “Matthew Hoh”, “GPS”, “Fareed Zacharia”

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Encouraging News

Written : Nov. 3, 2009

The gubernatorial race in Virginia looks secure for the Republicans. Why should you care? Because this is a glimmer of hope we now have that America is not the socialist nation I thought it was becoming. It appears the more conservative candidates are winning the state in a landslide! We should take the Governorship, the Lieutenant Governorship, and the Attorney Generalship – and such a thing hasn’t happened in Virginia in a very long time.

You see, Virginia went hog-wild for Obama in 2008 but now appears to be wearing pig-red-lipstick in 2009. It’s a huge swing to the right. Perhaps it suggests that the 2008 Obama-mania was more a dissatisfaction with incumbents than a Communist Manifesto. And that’s very good for America. We need to move away from the president’s mainly anti-American agenda.

For example, the dismantling of wealth in this country would help destroy it. Through their spending-crazy bailouts it’s estimated by some the current administration owns almost half the economy! Perhaps that’s an exaggeration, but a government takeover of private wealth – anywhere - is called Communism. Now, I am NOT saying that Obama is a Communist! But Obama’s “apology tour” certainly hurt America by hurting our ability to defend our allies and ourselves. Don’t feel guilty, as President Obama does, over what America has done in the past. Without America, dictators would rule the world. We have defended freedom everywhere. And we should be proud of it. Another example of the wounding of America goes to the current effort to socialize the health care system in this country without regard for any conservative ideas. In the House and Senate, Democrats have crafted bills alone - in private - and then reveal them, hoping everyone will just go along. That’s not bi-partisan, it’s dictatorial!

Communism, socialism, and dictatorships are very, very bad for you. Under these demagogic regimes they worship their president (remember the framed pictures of Mao Tse Tung everywhere in China in the 60’s?)! You live where the government says you live. You have the job the government says you have. You do not have the freedom to voice your own opinions. The only opinions that count are those of the government. There’s no opposition. Here’s the comparison: Barack Obama - and his most fervent supporters - hate criticism of any kind. The proof is the Obama administration has started a war with Fox news. Ask yourself why Obama has stated he would sit down and negotiate with foreign dictators such as Ahmadinijad, Chavez, Castro, Ghadafi, and others - and yet he hasn’t the courage to visit a Fox News Bureau. It’s because he wants to silence his opposition! To appear on Fox would be to give them credibility.

Look at the 2009 election results, especially in Virginia and New Jersey. Realize – even if Corzine (D-NJ) wins re-election - he will not have won decisively, and the conservative vote was split between a third-party guy and the incumbent. Even a close loss for the conservative candidate would mean people are dissatisfied with the direction of the Obama Administration and they are dissatisfied with the actions of the president. Be happy tonight, America, things are not so bad for our side!

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Keyword Phrases: "Conservatism", "Conservative", "blog", "politics", "political", "Mark Cohen", "Mark A. Cohen", "From The Left to the Right ", "conservative blog", "conservative blogs", “President Obama”, "Election Night 2009"

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