Today, I received a YouTube clip, forwarded to me from a Friend. My friend is Bob Friend, a good guy; a retired small business owner, who now volunteers his time a couple times a week educating kids in science. The clip is of Georgia Senator Tom Price, a Republican, as he voices his concerns with healthcare reform. His emotions run high, and his rhetoric is powerful. Here’s the clip, then let’s think about what he’s saying.
“The members on this side of the isle have been attempting to work productively, positively on this issue.”
The very use of such weighted language, hyperbole, “takeover,” “death panels,” is neither productive, positive, or realistic. This country does things very differently than the rest of the world, and we can discuss the pros and cons, but the implication that we’re going to create some sort of drastic, apocalyptic changes to the healthcare system does nothing to further the debate and only muddies the waters and heightens the anger of the vocal fringes who won’t accept any kind of compromise.
“I care for patients who bristle at the idea that the federal government should be involved in their healthcare.”
Medicare, despite all of its flaws, is an established and needed program where the federal government is involved in healthcare. I don’t hear protesters calling for the dismantling of Medicare. And, from personal experience, I know that the loss of my grandmother not long ago would’ve been far more painful for everyone if not for this type of government-supported safety-net.
“A trillion dollar plus bill.”
This is a common scare-tactic. We’re talking a trillion dollars over a 10-year period, which works out to less than 1% of the GDP over that time. This, to me, seems like a worthwhile investment, and that price tag also does not take into account the serious savings that we could achieve by reforming the system.
“It kills jobs. It will destroy, DESTROY healthcare as we know it.”
What will kill jobs is a US that leaves business alone to shoulder the constantly rising costs of healthcare when the rest of the world lets business off the hook. That lack of competitiveness has already strangled our auto industry, and threatens all major US industry as health costs continue to skyrocket.
That “Grand-Scheme Chart” Price holds up with “the government between you and your doctor” drafted by the GOP is another scare-tactic. The system we have now is ridiculously convoluted as is, and we are the only industrialized nation where people routinely go bankrupt due to healthcare costs.
“Remove from them and their families the opportunities to make the most personal healthcare decisions.”
Do families really get the opportunity to make the most personal healthcare decisions now, with denied claims and in-network-only coverage?
There are good ideas and bad ideas when it comes to healthcare reform, but reform is needed. Knee jerk reactions and theatrical resistance will get us nowhere!
I have a little problem with President George W. Bush. I’ve never seen the guy with even a speck of facial hair. Never a sign of stubble. Five o’clock rolls around, but you can’t see George’s shadow. He could be the spokesman for Gillette. Seriously, it’s a little unsettling.
As far as I know, Bush has never grown a beard. He’s as clean-cut today as he was during his dedicated service in the Texas Air National Guard. No member of his cabinet is bearded. No member of his family is bearded. You’d be hard-pressed to find a hairy Bush.
And yet, when asked to name the political philosopher or thinker with whom he most identified, Bush came up with a guy who had a long beard and long, beautiful hair. He picked a sandal-wearing communist Jew. “Christ,” Bush chose, “because he changed my heart.”
“Do not clip your hair at the temples, nor trim the edges of your beard,” said the Big Guy in Leviticus. Christ, who lived like a hippie and supposedly looked like a fourth member of ZZ Top, would be an unlikely candidate for Bush’s admiration - if not for the whole Christianity-son of God thing. However, the devout Bush says he was saved by the bearded Lord, and during his presidency, Bush has made it very clear that he loves Jesus.
What would Jesus do if Bush told him of this love? He’d probably say, “Love ya, too!” A reading from the book of Luke: “With all thy strength, love thy neighbor as thyself, and love thy enemy.” What a brilliant guy Jesus was. He preached love. Unconditional love.
Jesus had a pretty neat idea. The only way to rid yourself of all that tiring negativity is to love sinners - bless persecutors and pray for tax collectors. When was the last time, instead of merely bending over, you got down on your knees for the Internal Revenue Service? Jesus taught that if you go out of your way to love those who wrong you, you fill your heart with love.
But what if a guy claims to follow your principles while war-mongering and fattening the bellies of the Pharisees? What the hell - love him too! “Love thy enemies.” I’m willing to give it a shot, so here goes: I love George W. Bush!
I doubt it’s mutual because it doesn’t seem like G.W. understands this concept. In fact, Bush consistently acts against the fundamental teachings of Christ. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t love him anyway. Yes, my children, love the president with all your heart. But if you’re trying to follow the teachings of Jesus, you should abhor Bush’s policy.
A reading from the book of Matthew: “‘If you want to be perfect,’ said Christ to a young man seeking eternal happiness, ‘go and sell everything you have and give the money to the poor, then you will have riches in heaven; and come, follow me.’ But when the young man heard this, he went away sadly, for he had many riches.”
Bush, who has had many riches his whole life, has turned his back on these teachings. A series of three consecutive tax cuts, which add up to the largest tax cut in U.S history, have rewarded those with the most riches. The average tax cut for people making more than $1 million a year was $112,925, where the average cut for the lowest 60 percent was $304. The richest 1 percent will see a 17-percent tax reduction by the end of the decade. The other 99 percent will see a 5-percent drop. Eternal happiness? I don’t think so.
Meanwhile, with less federal money to go around, the burden is being pushed onto the states, which has led to state budget crises. All over the nation, state services are being cut while property taxes are being raised. State colleges are struggling to make ends meet, while the average tuition is up $579. Sound familiar, campers?
Okay, so maybe Bush missed the part about helping the poor. No problem. The Bible’s pretty thick. We still love him, right?
A reading from the book of Matthew: “Blessed are the peacekeepers, for they shall be called the children of God.” Now, Christ is not specifically referring to the U.N. Peacekeeper forces, but Bush did a pretty good job of smiting the United Nations with the unilateral pre-emptive strike on Iraq. And yet, the question remains, why liberate Iraq when there are downtrodden and persecuted people all over the world. Was it liberation? Terror? Weapons of mass destruction? Were any of these real factors? Jesus and I like being told the truth. “Blessed are the pure in heart.”
A reading from the book of John: “A woman, taken for adultery, was brought to Jesus by the Pharisees, who asked, ‘Now Moses, in the law, commanded us that such should be stoned, but what sayest thou?’ to which Jesus replied ‘If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone.’”
Bush threw more stones than any other governor in U.S. history. There were 152 executions in Texas during Bush’s term. Jesus, a huge proponent of forgiveness, would not approve of any of this. How about those big explosive rocks that brought “shock and awe”? Is the United States, who originally funded Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden, “without sin”?
A reading from the book of Matthew: “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners. When you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father. He, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”
The Christian right constantly touts their Christianity, when the majority of Christ’s teachings are more in line with a Liberal viewpoint. You don’t have to be the most vocal Christian to do the Lord’s work. In fact, you don’t have to be Christian at all. But, you might have to be a Liberal.
If George W. Bush wants to be a Christian, he needs to ask himself the simple question that appears on bumper stickers all over the country: What would Jesus do?
First and foremost, Jesus would encourage love. So, I’m going to try to give it a fair try. President Bush, I love you. You don’t make it easy, but at least for now, Mr. President, you have my love. But of course, I’m just saying that to get you in the sack.
A swifter boat struck the dock this weekend and at the helm, a pained John McCain. Playing with matches, they matched Barack Obama with the word “terrorism,” stoking the basest, most baseless beliefs of the GOP base. As the crowds grew more and more rowdy, McCain’s 1st mate, Sarah Palin, didn’t even blink. Of course, according to her, not blinking is a sign of “confidence,” “readiness” and “knowing that you can’t blink.”
This same vice-presidential candidate who admonished Joe Biden for “pointing backward” when discussing the happening-now policies of the Bush administration, spent the week trying to link Obama to incidents of the late 1960s and early 1970s.
The McCain Campaign’s tactics and latest ads are some of the ugliest in presidential campaign history. It is downright despicable, knowing Obama to be the target of a racist whisper campaign, to put his image in an ad next to the Pentagon, repeating the word “terrorist,” calling him “dangerous,” and asking if he is “too risky for America.” Sadly, there’s nothing the Secret Service can do about character assassination.
How could John McCain have slipped so low? McCain was the subject of phony “polling” calls in 2000, when South Carolina Republicans were asked if they would still vote McCain “if they knew that he had fathered a black child?” McCain probably would have learned a lesson from that incident of race baiting, but I suppose that would require “pointing backward.”
Perhaps he just learned the wrong lesson when he watched the Bush-Rove team, the guys behind the whisper campaign, win. McCain said of those who propagated the false rumors, “I believe that there is a special place in hell for people like those.” The economy must still be alright in hell, because it seems as if that special place is adding an extension.
On Friday, a number McCain supporters’ anti-Obama sentiment had reached a boiling point. At a rally in Lakeville, MN, an uncomfortable McCain had to pause more than once to defend the opponent he’s spent millions to shiv. After asking the crowd to “show respect,” a woman took the microphone saying she “can’t trust Obama … he’s an arab.” To which McCain responded, “No ma’am. He’s a decent family man citizen…”
For once, McCain was telling the truth. Barack Obama is indeed a decent family man citizen. Given the negative and deceitful campaign he’s running, however, it is becoming clearer and clearer that John McCain is not.
