Saturday, March 8, 2008
Politics and the Truth
What is the biggest casualty of politics? Is it the people, or is it the Truth?
I submit to you that the people are casualties because of their own choices. They vote for who ever their parents or friends, or teachers, or college professors will vote for. They do not research enough about the candidates to know what their past record is.
In politics, a candidates past record is a very good indicator of what their future record will be. In all of my life since I was 10 years old (Kennedy vs. Nixon), I have yet to see a wholesale change in any politicians voting patterns. That can be bad, if their values don't represent your; or that can be good, if their values closely match yours.
You will note that I said "closely match", not that they are perfectly in alignment with you. It would be rare for any one to match one-hundred per cent with a another in values, morals, and political ideation.
Do a little fact checking; find out if what the candidates are saying, including about each other, are true and accurate. Politics is full of outright lies, mis-characterizations of what another said, and lies mixed with the truth.
In November we face another Presidential election, one which many people are saying presents us with a liberal Republican versus a liberal Democrat, and very little difference between the two. I don't believe that John McCain is that far to the left, but I think he is wrong on immigration.
I believe that another Clinton Whitehouse is a complete move in the wrong direction; Hillary is a socialist.Socialist take from the wage earners to give to the poor and those who could work, but don't. They propagandize that the unwilling to work are that way because society has failed them, and society must now support them. If I chose to let the traumatic events of my childhood define me, I would be dead or at best a quivering heap of jellylike flesh.
My life record, so to speak, is not stellar. I have, in the past, broken quite a few laws; used more than a few drugs; and lived an immoral lifestyle. This is no longer a way of life for me. I have chosen self responsibility. During some of the roughest times of my life I managed to serve seven years in the U.S. Army; taught myself to work on machinery, and took all the instruction I could find from skilled craftsmen. Plumbers, Mechanics, Electricians, Electronic Technicians, and business managers became my teachers. Now in my later years, I am handicapped, and for a while had a pity party over it. I overcame my self pity by the Word of God, by helping others, by finding a Church Family. I do all I can physically, because God encourages me, and His People encourage me.
I've left Barak Obama for last, not because my view of him is lower than my view of other. Barak is a gifted speaker without a doubt. In spite of the endorsement of a couple of Kennedy's, he is not a John Kennedy, and he is not the Messiah. I don't think him any less capable than Hillary Clinton. Why then, do I object to him as a candidate for President of these United States. Because I believe that he, like Hillary, is a socialist, just one who is clever enough to sugar coat the pill he wants the people to swallow.
There is no doubt that there are problems with our health care system. However, government intervention in it is a large part of the problem, not the solution. Before I became a patient in the Veterans Affairs Medical System, I used the same clinics all my friends and neighbors did. Over the years I noticed that the number of staff processing paper work required by the government for Medicare/Medicaid patients grew until the paperwork staff in may places outnumbered the number of actual health care workers.
If a Doctor accepts Medicaid/Medicare patients, his office has to fill out a large number of forms to send back to the government. The clinic can keep hiring staff for this, or, as many have begun to do, they can stop accepting Medicare/Medicaid patients, and not take new ones as old ones die or leave for other doctors. As for insurance paperwork, the last time I checked, clinics were no longer processing the insurance forms for you, but required that you fill them out, and they would get the proper signatures before you sent them to you insurance company, and waited for reimbursement.
This nation is drowning in government paperwork and financial debt. Our next President has to be able to help steer this nation back on course, act as go between and advisor to Congress, a traditional role taken on by Presidents who were able to get Congress members to hammer out compromises where necessary. He or she, must also have the will to veto legislation that will keep this nation in debt, it's currency weak, and the engines of industry moving overseas for cheaper labor.
Speaking of jobs gong overseas, both of the Democratic candidates have promised to do something about it; one by threatening higher taxes on companies headquartered in the U.S., but with production facilities in other countries. Where in the constitution is a President or Congress, given the authority to give orders to the President's and CEO's of these companies?
It would be a small matter for these companies to move their headquarters offshore to countries where the tax rules are more favorable. Some have already done this.
Last, but not least for this post: Know Your Constitution.
I submit to you that the people are casualties because of their own choices. They vote for who ever their parents or friends, or teachers, or college professors will vote for. They do not research enough about the candidates to know what their past record is.
In politics, a candidates past record is a very good indicator of what their future record will be. In all of my life since I was 10 years old (Kennedy vs. Nixon), I have yet to see a wholesale change in any politicians voting patterns. That can be bad, if their values don't represent your; or that can be good, if their values closely match yours.
You will note that I said "closely match", not that they are perfectly in alignment with you. It would be rare for any one to match one-hundred per cent with a another in values, morals, and political ideation.
Do a little fact checking; find out if what the candidates are saying, including about each other, are true and accurate. Politics is full of outright lies, mis-characterizations of what another said, and lies mixed with the truth.
In November we face another Presidential election, one which many people are saying presents us with a liberal Republican versus a liberal Democrat, and very little difference between the two. I don't believe that John McCain is that far to the left, but I think he is wrong on immigration.
I believe that another Clinton Whitehouse is a complete move in the wrong direction; Hillary is a socialist.Socialist take from the wage earners to give to the poor and those who could work, but don't. They propagandize that the unwilling to work are that way because society has failed them, and society must now support them. If I chose to let the traumatic events of my childhood define me, I would be dead or at best a quivering heap of jellylike flesh.
My life record, so to speak, is not stellar. I have, in the past, broken quite a few laws; used more than a few drugs; and lived an immoral lifestyle. This is no longer a way of life for me. I have chosen self responsibility. During some of the roughest times of my life I managed to serve seven years in the U.S. Army; taught myself to work on machinery, and took all the instruction I could find from skilled craftsmen. Plumbers, Mechanics, Electricians, Electronic Technicians, and business managers became my teachers. Now in my later years, I am handicapped, and for a while had a pity party over it. I overcame my self pity by the Word of God, by helping others, by finding a Church Family. I do all I can physically, because God encourages me, and His People encourage me.
I've left Barak Obama for last, not because my view of him is lower than my view of other. Barak is a gifted speaker without a doubt. In spite of the endorsement of a couple of Kennedy's, he is not a John Kennedy, and he is not the Messiah. I don't think him any less capable than Hillary Clinton. Why then, do I object to him as a candidate for President of these United States. Because I believe that he, like Hillary, is a socialist, just one who is clever enough to sugar coat the pill he wants the people to swallow.
There is no doubt that there are problems with our health care system. However, government intervention in it is a large part of the problem, not the solution. Before I became a patient in the Veterans Affairs Medical System, I used the same clinics all my friends and neighbors did. Over the years I noticed that the number of staff processing paper work required by the government for Medicare/Medicaid patients grew until the paperwork staff in may places outnumbered the number of actual health care workers.
If a Doctor accepts Medicaid/Medicare patients, his office has to fill out a large number of forms to send back to the government. The clinic can keep hiring staff for this, or, as many have begun to do, they can stop accepting Medicare/Medicaid patients, and not take new ones as old ones die or leave for other doctors. As for insurance paperwork, the last time I checked, clinics were no longer processing the insurance forms for you, but required that you fill them out, and they would get the proper signatures before you sent them to you insurance company, and waited for reimbursement.
This nation is drowning in government paperwork and financial debt. Our next President has to be able to help steer this nation back on course, act as go between and advisor to Congress, a traditional role taken on by Presidents who were able to get Congress members to hammer out compromises where necessary. He or she, must also have the will to veto legislation that will keep this nation in debt, it's currency weak, and the engines of industry moving overseas for cheaper labor.
Speaking of jobs gong overseas, both of the Democratic candidates have promised to do something about it; one by threatening higher taxes on companies headquartered in the U.S., but with production facilities in other countries. Where in the constitution is a President or Congress, given the authority to give orders to the President's and CEO's of these companies?
It would be a small matter for these companies to move their headquarters offshore to countries where the tax rules are more favorable. Some have already done this.
Last, but not least for this post: Know Your Constitution.
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