Health Care Vs. Education.

A point came up when I was watching the State of the Union Speech, in the aftermath of State of the Union Speech which I  could not make then because I heard that part of the speech wrong.

But, I still think that it is an interesting topic to broach.

And so here we are.  To talk about the comparison between health care (keep in mind insurance here) and education.

Now the big liberal, progressive, and Democrats say that the health care will give you more options, more choices, and to save you from the evil insurance companies that give you none of these.

That if you like your current plan you can keep your doctor, but if you do not here is this government plan that will make it easier for you to get insurance.

Now taking this at face value for the purposes of this debate, this brings up the issue on education.

Simply put if it is good enough for our Health Insurance, why is that same simplicity not good enough for our education?  Especially in the case of higher education.

That with government taking away school vouchers for private education, that they could take over the student loan industry, and that they could potentially pass more laws to make education more centralized in the public school system.

And that certain schools are teaching selective parts of history in an effort to hide the truth.

This does not increase choice, it takes them away.

Education is so important to us, just as important as our health care or most of the other things in our society.

And so is the freedom to choose what education that you as a parent and caregiver that you think is best for your charges.

Especially if a caller on the Glenn Beck program is right that daycare might become unionized and controlled by the government to ‘teach’ kids up to preschool, especially if greater and better controls might become placed on Public Schools, and especially if the government will have control of the loans programs for colleges, which are already a left leaning organ in the first place.  So statistics tell us.

At this point a lot of this remains supposition.

But the question is a necessary one, what if, especially in light of what the government has already done with vouchers and loans, and what they continue to do, and the images we have seen out of elementary schools and such saying the praises of specific politicians.

But, all I can say on that is we awareness, and we have to continue to question.

Because if what they say is true about health care, how we MUST have choices, and then if they are taking away choices in the School domain, then what is the disconnect here?

Choices and our freedoms are the only things that we have to err on the side of, to err on the side of caution, of hope, and of freedom.

And if our elected leaders fail to do this in one area and then extend those benefits in another then we must find the truth of it, and ask ourselves if it is not good enough for education then what if it’s not good enough for health care?

Why We Fight.

I was watching a propaganda movie on the US Army Air Corp entitled “Air Force.” from 1943.  At the end of it a quote came up, I think the last part of it bears particular interest for me, and got me thinking:

“Have fought, are fighting not, and will continue to fight until peace has been won.”

No one talks like this anymore, at least none of our politicians.

Now granted this is a war film, and a propaganda film to boot.  But doesn’t that bring up another good point?

We cannot even do our propaganda movies right today anymore!

But the quote brings to light something that I think we are missing.

Sure war is immoral, killing your fellow-man is immoral, and there are only a few reasons where the just killing of a human is necessary.

And only in protection.

To protect your freedoms and to protect your life, both of which are precious and vital.  To you.

Even then killing or maiming is a terrible choice.

There is nothing good about war, except its end.

This quote captures the entire essence of that simple rule to follow.

That the only reason a free people should fight a war is to stay free, and then to end it once and for all.

Not to get bogged down, not to fight around in the muck for years upon years.

That yes by any means necessary we must work to its win.

It is necessary to hit fast, hard, overpowering, and ruthless to our persecution of the enemy.

And we need precision.

To avoid ‘non-combatant’ at all costs, but it is a war, and in the nature of the war there will be these casualties.

But we need to precise, to use the full power of our military might as if it were a scalpel, and not a hammer, to work so hard to fight only our specific targets and the enemy specifically.

Because civilians are not our enemy.

War continues its status as a slippery slope for all of man kind, and people who fight them just to fight them, to gain power and control, deserves our scorn.

Likewise it is immoral, that once a war becomes necessary to fight by a free people no matter the reason, to hold back and not do anything and everything in your power to ‘win the peace.’

Praise be to the Truth Seekers.

George Noory is one of the hosts for Coast to Coast AM.  A radio show that deals with more extreme theories, and has people on his show dealing with a variety of topics, technology, and theories.

I do not always agree with his points or see the logic of his guests, and occasionally disagree with them.

And ascribe most of his guests theories to crack pot logic and things that just do not quite jibe with me.

Despite this though, I still celebrate and respect what he is trying to do with his show.

As should everyone who is trying to seek the truth and think outside the box no matter who they are, or what their political background is.

If they try to find the truth, no matter their issue, then they deserve respect.

People like Glenn Beck, George Noory, among others.

It seems odd but recently I have had a lot of chances to experience this first hand.

Because everyone has their issues, and from what side of the political spectrum you are on colors how you see the world and what issues you look at.

I do not care.

Like I have had conversations recently about the military.

Now I do not really care that much, as in that is not my area of interest.

I just do not.  But yet if that is your issue then that is fine by me.

Because I do not know about military waste, military spending, or the things that our military may have or may have not misplaced, or how or the story behind it.

But yet, it is a concern to others, and the growing spending and deficit of our country that we are in.

If you can give me facts and information that you have learned, it could enlighten me about something that is going on that needs addressing.

And then I could, at the least, go out and learn about this issue myself.

If you can show me a flaw in my truth that I need to look at, you should be commended.

If that encourages me to learn more than you have done your job.

As long as you have a thirst for knowledge, and to debate the issues and the facts and not the personalities, and then you can successfully compete in the national debate, you are an honored truth seeker.

But if you debate the personalities, or try to cover up the truth, or twist it to your own ends, then you should be scorned and treated with mistrust.

Becoming a Crusader.

Last year, right around this time, is the one year anniversary something happened to me in my schooling, that…well in the end it did not really change a lot of my experiences, but it was a culmination of a lot of the things that was happening to me in my life that was going on.

It led to my search for the truth, and helped put my feet on the path of where I was going in my life.

I was lied to, manipulated, threatened, steam rolled, and for a long time forced to do something that I did not really want.  And so much truth was hidden from me.

I cannot go into too much detail, but it helped to change my life.

And this change was coming during when I was in my journalism class, and I guess I caught the bug, one of the best and most open and unique experiences of my life.

I learned so much.

And those two events really set me on the path that I am on now, to greater political commentary, and the search for greater truth on exactly what is going on in this country.  What our politicians are doing to us.

It seems odd because I have always felt that things like this are clichéd, especially in television…this seems as though its a theme in science fiction shows actually.

They only ‘leave no man left behind’ because that is something that they have suffered.  That, for instance, they were left behind, and thus became such a great warrior for this whole thing.

I have always felt that is just plain, old, moral common sense.  You should never leave your people behind.

Just like you should never lie and always try to seek the truth.

But yet this is my event that happened, right around this time last year, my journey began.

The State of the Union/ The State of the Education

President Obama made his first ever state of the Union speech back this last Wednesday.  And out of all the rhetoric, threats, and political manipulation going on, one thing in particular stood out to me being a young man who is trying to investigate what I am going to do for my future.

And this is what he had to say on the subject:

“To make college more affordable, this bill will finally end the unwarranted taxpayer-subsidies that go to banks for student loans. Instead, let’s take that money and give families a $10,000 tax credit for four years of college and increase Pell Grants. And let’s tell another one million students that when they graduate, they will be required to pay only ten percent of their income on student loans, and all of their debt will be forgiven after twenty years – and forgiven after ten years if they choose a career in public service.”  Followed by even more flowery rhetoric.

Now I do support the idea of a tax credit, and no longer subsidizing banks, none of our tax money should go to affect the markets in such a way as that to make something ‘more affordable’.

I remain suspicious of the government and their intentions, but on the face of it those two things are not really so bad.  On the face of it.

But in the end this is lacking in substance because there is no guarantee that they can make this bold and ambitious plan work, on top of all the corruption that is going on with this plan.

How can they make sure of any of these programs?  Especially on the tax credits when they may tax them anyways in another area, or force taxes on someone else to pay for it which these companies will pass on to the poor consumer in question?

How about the specifics on the debt relief plan?  How is it to work? what happens if you do a year or two in public service, does that mean your debt will be forgiven, or will you have to work for all ten years?

While all this maybe just a boon to suck more people into the public system, whether they want it or not, no matter what there is that they want for their lives, which will not matter for the government that they find themselves in service too.  Maybe. I will admit this is my pet theory to this.

But then you get to the real corruption that is going on in here, the government manipulation and controls that are growing into greater and greater sectors of our economy, and giving us less choices in the end of the day.

Because the federal government has no right, none, to budge in on legitimate contracts…especially in such a case like that…and determine who and what someone else should pay for their loans.  That is of course assuming that he was not just referring to federal grants when he was talking about the ‘ten percent of income’, but the wording of the speech certainly indicated all loans when he then went on to say that the loans would be forgiven.

In basic, if that is the case, no free government has the authority to shred a contract between consenting parties and change the rules of the game.  Especially when such activity is illegal, or be met with action by the bank.

What will happen now?

You get say….a fifty thousand dollar loan…with interest.  And then lets say you sit on it, or most of that money, for 20 years or so, refuse to make payments.  The bank under such a case (or private entity) cannot take action, and then on twenty years your debt is forgiven, reset, and then you can just go on with your merry life.

Also a government does not have a right (except in theory for its own loans) how much of someone’s ‘income’ can go to pay off the debt.  Only the two parties making that agreement have the authority to do so, if either party does not agree, then they will just move on another business that can.  Or another loan option.

I certainly cannot tell someone else what to do with their own finances, or financial institutions, which might have the effect of raising the price even more in the first place.

Which brings one to the last point.  That in the end this could be all about taking away the right to a private loan, that they will set up such restrictions and regulations that in the end you will have to go to the government if you do not have the income to go to college.

Look in the end I know that about ninety percent of this is speculation.  We do not have the facts, just a vague piece of a vague speech, of a man who we know to have lied and threatened in that same speech.  I do not have the facts, but in the end all we can do is keep an eye on this potential situation and see where this takes us.  And takes our freedoms.

The Progressive Problem.

Progressives have a huge problem, at least the ones in our government and the people who support their agenda.  It is a problem about power and the acquisition of it.

It’s primary focus is against the ‘grass roots’ movement of Progressivism, the ground troops, the members of the elite and the Media who want to bring about this change through government, and they are so close to achieving it that they feel that they can feel it.

No matter what anyone else says.

But there is something that the politician knows, the members of our government know, about the situation that is beginning to take shape.

In basic we are at the tipping point, but we have not tipped there yet.

They know that this is still basically the beginning, that they need to not make too many people mad and maintain power until they are fully ready to transform this country.

But yet the ground troops cannot accept that, and they are anxious, and waiting for the government to take ultimate power to help the people.  But many people do not share that opinion.

So, the politicians have promised to go forward with their plans, but they are still trying to please…everyone.

Because not only is it about the grand try to bring about Progressive change and transform the United States, but it is also about their own power.

Because they know that there is no guarantee that any replacement in this political climate will be there and step in line.

And they also think that they are the only ones that can lead us in this future, that it is their way, and no other.

Meanwhile no one understands the resistance to this either.  The Republicans cannot stop this, and no one of our ’side’ can do it either.  This was their time to shine.  And this frustrates them, they had the greatest chance in 40 years to see this agenda happen, and it’s not being done.

Because of power, and because of the struggles that are going on.

But in the end they know that if they pass healthcare it will be such a victory as to make sure progressive change for the next generation of big government people.  And that is why they are willing to sacrifice their own power to see this passed.

Especially considering there is some other federal job out there waiting for them when they do get thrown out of congress.

Politics, the Economy, and Physics.

I have meant to talk about this for a while…and here it goes.  It does seem odd that this is a topic that needs discussion, that we should combine these topics and draw parallels between them.  But, I think this is important.

For anyone who knows anything about the three laws, Newton’s laws of physics, that the third law is for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.  This make sense in physics perfectly, you hit a wall, you break the bones in your hand.

But our current government seems  bent on ignoring these laws, and other Laws of Economics.

So just what is the opposite reaction to bigger and more government? Why even comment on this topic?

The exact opposite reaction to more and more government programs is that there is more ability to find loopholes and to have people game the system.  It’s a natural part of life, none of us can change it.

It also encourages people to find a way to game the system and use it for their advantage.  If everyone understood the rules of the game, had the same rules of the game, and they were simple enough to enact quickly then everyone would know those rules, and people who broke these rules could be dealt with quickly and effectively.

It’s like the hate laws.  Why add another law to the books…when murder is already illegal.  If they are guilty then they deserve punishment.

Anyways I digress.

If you think I am wrong then consider the current tax code of the United States of the IRS.  It is over 6000 pages long of text legal laws of how United States citizens do their taxes.

It is such a complicated mess of words and legality that you must have an army of lawyers just to figure it out.

Such a mass of contradictions that it actually encourages people to game the system, to lie, to steal, to cheat, and to squeeze every penny out of the system you can.  Legally, but occasionally immoral.

And that is only if you have the best intentions.  For corrupt people, it can still be used as a weapon, to come after you and try to intimidate you into submission.  But if yet you get caught with it and you are on the right side…you are forgiven…why you did it just to help people.

Or any number of programs, if you give people an excuse, they will find it.

The best solution would be to simplify things so everyone can understand what is going on so that they can know how to react, and the guilty punished.

Simplicity, the opposite reaction is a greater ability to know the issues.

The Three Assasinations that Changed America.

Last Monday was the birth day of Martin Luther King Jr.  Perhaps the greatest political philosopher of recent American history.  A man of peace.

There is not a better time to write this blog, it could be months and months before I get the opportunity to really talk about it but it need saying.

There are three assassinations that changed the course of American history in such a radical, and terrible way that we will always feel their effects, we certainly are now.  Great men and small men, but in the end they changed the course of history.  The actions that followed their deaths.

The three of them are Martin Luther King Jr, John F. Kennedy, and Abraham Lincoln.  Their deaths again forever changed the course of America.

Each of them succeeded by lesser men and lesser policies that did nothing to help the original cause, but to destroy it, and fundamentally alter it into something totally different then what they were fighting.

Whether it was through violence, or quasi policies that just represented the ones that came before that did not fix anything really so that years later we would have to do it again.

Now I am not exactly sure about a lot of this, I probably have a lot of the specifics on, so I do hope you bear with me and share your perspectives on this to tell me if I have any of this wrong.

With MLK his was a philosophy of peace, and brotherhood, and of unification.  That we are all Americans and the judgment of our character and not the color of our skin should determine who we are.   That some qualifier did not determine the entire content of our character.

That he was not about dividing, but about unifying, as Americans, one nation, under the principles and ideals of the United States Constitution.

Then he died.

And his legacy became the legacy of lesser men who had no interest in uniting people, but dividing them, by focusing on their skin color, and by focusing on their past to show what they feel we owed them for our sins.

And they used violence to get their way, something King did not tolerate.

Jack Kennedy got us involved in Vietnam, he was strong on national defense, and he was for tax cuts.  He would likely be a Republican today, and his policies did not match later on what happened with Ted Kennedy.

But then he died and history changed.

It became the war of lesser men with lesser policies who had no interest in fighting a war to win, but likely because it was Jack’s war.  The power at the time felt they had bigger fish to fry, but they had to fight it, and finish what they started.  Thus we got sucked into it and social policies changed.

Finally, Abraham Lincoln.  He had just finished the civil war, and was getting ready to start bringing the nation together again, based on peace and reconciliation.

And then he died.  And history changed forever.

Lincoln’s legacy would be inherited by  lesser men, and nothing changed.  Reconciliation and reconstruction became about continuing to divide the country, and make the South pay for the war.  Doing nothing to really fix the problem, as became clear by Jim Crow and others who wanted to return to the good ole days.

And because Lincoln died nothing stayed permanently fixed.

It is unclear exactly had these three men lived what the effect would have been.  But it is clear that their deaths continue to ripple to us to this day.

I hope we survive the mistake of three assassins, shooting three bullets, that killed three men.  I hope we can live this down.

Trickle Up Government.

During the election cycle the big thing about then Senator Obama’s policy was a term known as trickle up economics, the exact opposite of Ronald Regan’s policy of trickle down economics.  The idea that you can ‘give’ money to the poor and that effect will stimulate up throughout the economy.

Now I can write a blog about how idiotic a proposition (and untrue) this is, just like I can produce a blog that can bring out some of the flaws in Reaganomics.  Which is a better system, but we are fighting the wrong battle.

That said, I think the real meaning behind trickle up economics is really the idea of trickle up government.

To put your trust in bigger and better things, more and more, higher and higher.  That cities should rely on States should rely on Countries should rely on internationalism for safety and prosperity.

That when someone gets into trouble you should not got to your own people, oh no, but the next level higher up the ladder all the way to when the federal government get into trouble, they trust other governments for loans.  Governments who we cannot always be sure of their intentions towards us whether they are all that honorable, or if they even have our best interests in heart.

That is not what we should trust, we should really be trusting two things.

The American people.  That when push comes to shove we will be able to figure out what is best for all of us, and that if we work together as a country we can find the simple, clear, and common sense solutions to solve our number of crisis.

And we should trust simplicity.  That the answer is not greater government and more complicated bureaucracies deciding what everyone should do, and what the proper level of ’sacrifice’ is for the American people.

Nor is it foreign governments, I expect the Chinese government to act in the best interests of the Chinese people, but I do not expect that what they would want would be good for Americans.

That they should not pick a grand plan of how Citizens of the United States should live their lives.  The answer is clear, to the point, simple solutions that will be easy to enact and even easier to understand by the American people.

It all comes down again to trust, big government and elites do not like the ‘uneducated horde’ only other people of their ilk and in their circles.  They do not think that we can live our lives, they do not trust as to live our lives.

And in so doing, well we do not trust them to live our lives either.  Trust in the people, and the rest will take care of itself.

Gays, Rascists, and Scott Brown

A case has been bought to federal court where two lawyers are representing couples who claim that their constitutional rights are being violated by California Proposition 8.

Marriage is not a right.

But that is hardly the point here, once again this represents something, something that will take blogs to cover, many.  Simply put we are fighting the wrong battle, we should focus our efforts on solving this problem another way.

One that can guarantee freedom because I do not care what you do in your bedroom, or what your deeply held beliefs on the matter are.  But this highlights a failure on our society to find solutions to our problems, now.

As for Harry Reid.

I do not like his comments.

They were certainly racial.

And there is an obvious double standard that exists here between a Democrat and a Republican.

But pointing this out is a dangerous road that we are  on, and unhelpful.

Especially on the part of all Republicans and Conservative commentators, coming out in unison and saying the same thing on this, or nearly so.

At such a crucial moment in this nations history with health care going and everyone having to bring their A game, one hundred percent, getting involved in a he said she said they said finger-pointing contest will not help anyone.  Especially since one day it is likely that the Liberals will find a way to use it against them in the future.

However, that is their right as they are separate and completely different personalities with their own voice and almost no affiliation or obligation to each other.

Finally Scott Brown.

Scott Brown represents a shift in politics.  People are tired and mistrustful of what is going on, and Scott Brown is representative of this fact.  Especially in the regards of the current health care bill that he is raging so much personally against.

I do not dispute that, but there is another angle to this.

It seems in all the, quite aptly named, attack ads run by the Democratic Campaign against Scott Brown, that they are appealing to imagery and just trying to rile up their base convincing them that Brown is evil.

They have shown the images of Republicans in Washington,

Rush Limbaugh,

Right Wing extremists, the tea party movement, that funds Sarah Palin.

And said he is against a woman’s right to choose.

This is the politics of 1984.  That is all I can say of this, all this does is appeal to a base and whip them up into a frenzy so that they fight against what they perceive as a threat.

Using Buzz words to win support of, well people they probably would have anyways.  That is if America really is changing.

They expect these people to represent the face of evil, Emanuel Goldstein to their Big Brother.

Refusing all the while to debate the issues and the facts, and just debate the character.

Though it amused me greatly that when they complained about the right wing extremists, the message was funded by SEIU.

Also, other than the blog I do have something to ask my regular readership.

Distributing these blogs on a day-to-day basis is getting a bit of a hassle for me.  I will still do them if that is what you want.

But I noticed when I was reading Aretoo’s last blog that you can subscribe to e-mail.

So I would like to know, on an individual basis, or by vote, whether you would like me to continue giving you updates, or to go to the e-mail alerts to when I get them.  I would greatly appreciate comments on this in the regular comments on this blog, and I hope to work this out with all of you.

Thanks.