According to the NAHU (National Association of Health Underwriters), mandated benefits on health insurance policies can raise premium costs up to 25%. That means that I should only be paying $150 every two weeks for my insurance, instead of $200, because I’m required to pay for the cost of them requiring prostate exams on my insurance policy even though neither me or my daughters have a prostate, and my husband is 29.
Mandated benefits are laws that require insurance companies to cover certain services, which in this day and age are fast becoming every service. There are states that mandate care for morbid obesity and port wine stain removal….under insurance. Port wine stain (a birthmark) removal and acupuncture are required to be covered by insurance in some states. For the complete state mandates listing, as of 2004, check it out, here. I don’t have the federal lists as of this moment. I think that mandated benefit laws are a drain on the system, and should be abolished.
I have two separate insurance policies other than my health insurance and that is my homeowners and car insurance. With homeowners insurance, a la carte is less the case, but still pertinent. I have a value assessed based on information I have given the insurance company. This means I’m not going to pay for a large custom kitchen or bathroom, because I have neither. I do not live in a flood zone, and therefore do not possess flood insurance. It is required for me to purchase if I did live in a flood zone, but that is the insurance company protecting their investment. I am able to purchase flood insurance if I live outside a flood zone, but it is my choice to do so.
My car insurance is a much better example of a la carte services. My vehicle is financed, so I am required by the insurance company to maintain collision/comprehensive insurance on my car. Aside from that, I’m not required anything else. I choose to have towing, rental car, and additional benefits above state minimum coverage required. I could hit an Escalade, that then hits a BMW, and I wouldn’t owe a dime (except in increased insurance premiums), but again, that is my choice.
What I propose we do is offer a la carte medical insurance. Like those Progressive commercials. A single man shouldn’t have to pay for a plan that includes mammograms and pelvic exams, just as a single woman shouldn’t have to pay for a plan that includes care for erectile dysfunction.
If you had to pay full price for every single doctor’s appointment you will truly only go to the doctor when you need to. Here is what happens then…..demand decreases. When demand decreases, prices fall to counter it. When prices for doctor’s visits fall, more people will go, but prices will only go up so much. The market will find the balance of price it can bear, unencumbered by government regulation.
Offer things like emergency care, hospital visits, children milestone visits/immunizations, women’s health packages, labs/diagnostic, etc. There are so many ways that this could be broken down, but the best part is, no one is going to make you pay for something that you don’t need.
I would even support insurance companies offering benefit packages for specific diseases, cancer, AIDS, hepatitis…or for certain age groups, the over 50 plans, which includes coverage for colonoscopies and mammograms…..whatever.
The fact remains that I should not have to pay for someone else to see the doctor every single time their nose runs. I don’t have to pay for other drivers on the road to get oil changes, and health insurance shouldn’t cover simple preventative care.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Saturday, August 15, 2009
I am a survivor of socialized medicine - Part II
The second part of my article about socialized medicine involves my first pregnancy, and the medical care I received. It’s not nearly as bad as the series of events that occurred surrounding my ankle surgery, but it’s still fairly indicative of what is going to happen if this monstrosity of a bill gets passed.
When I found out I was pregnant with my daughter, I immediately went to the clinic (on sick call, see first article for an explanation of how that goes) and received a blood test, over the complaints of the lab tech, who told me that it wasn’t necessary right now, because at the point I found out, I was only about two weeks along. I was in a special situation as I was getting ready to be stationed overseas in Holland, and I wanted the results to take and maybe get a quicker doctor’s appointment.
I received the positive test and went on my overseas assignment. It took about a week to get an appointment (not bad, all things considered) and was given a prescription for prenatal vitamins and informed that there was not a maternity center at my current assignment, and that I would have to be “detached” for medical services and see a doctor on the Dutch economy.
When this happened, in 2004, there was alot of force protection issues with that, as the Netherlands are very relaxed, much like the United Kingdom, with the Muslim population. When I went to my first doctor’s appointment in Holland, I had to change my clothes prior to my appointment, and be very careful to not allow my being American to show. I saw the doctor, who spoke spotty English, was given an ultrasound and a due date and had my next appointment scheduled for four weeks later. I was relatively satisfied with the quality of care I received by the Dutch doctors.
Given the circumstances of my situation, I decided that getting out of the Army would be in my best interests, so I started the paperwork, and eventually got out. I returned to North Carolina at the end of October, with paperwork allowing me to have the baby on post at government expense. I didn’t have a job at the time, so I thought this my best option.
I was 18 weeks pregnant, give or take at this time, and I was unable to get an appointment for three weeks, and that wasn’t even to see a doctor, that was to go to “orientation” which is required for giving birth in a military medical facility. I was 21 weeks at this time, and it was still another two weeks before I could see a midwife. I see the midwife, and she was unable to find my child’s heartbeat, so I was given an emergency ultrasound. To this point I had been developing normally, and nothing had changed.
I went to make my next appointment, and was informed that I couldn’t get another one for six weeks, putting me at almost 30 weeks, the point at which a doctor normally wants to see the patient every other week, which I was informed was also not the policy at Womack, due to their patient load being so high. I was made three appointments and told to make my next two (and last two) appointments at the next appointment.
All of these appointments went normally, except that I never saw the same midwife twice, since they didn’t assign an OB, so you had to explain everything over and over again. It was extremely irritating seeing a stranger every single time I had to go to the doctor.
At 36 weeks, there was some concern about the size of my child, so I was given a “growth scan” ultrasound to determine if a scheduled C-section was needed. I was measured at something like 200 grams (7 ounces) short of a scheduled C-section. They estimated the baby at being 9 pounds, 7 ounces. Remember this difference, it comes in handy later.
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I go on as I have been, and my due date of 3 March comes…and goes. At my appointment the day after my due date, I was nearly begging to have this baby taken out of me, and was told that due to space confinements (not enough beds) the soonest they could schedule an induction was five days from now on 8 March. Of course I thought to myself if there was so much space confinement, what would happen if I went into labor earlier….hmmm, but I kept my mouth shut.
I showed up at the hospital on Tuesday morning, at seven am, and was promptly taken to the waiting area and hooked up to an IV. There were no beds for me at the time, and I stayed there for many hours. When I was finally hooked up to the Pitocin, I was on and off with contractions and they kept dying off. Two or three times I was taken off the medicine completely and taken to other rooms due to the lack of space/staff. I was finally forced to dilate to 4cm, which is supposed to trigger labor, and nothing happened. It’s now noonish on Wednesday, and my water was broken.
Nothing happened since, except seeing seven different midwives in that time and I finally dilated enough (through actions of the doctors) to be given an epidural, which I appreciated, but didn’t really need. The pain wasn’t that bad. That to me signalled that something was wrong. I was having contractions every 30 seconds to 1 minute and the monitor never got above 90ish, something I was later told was very unusual.
The epidural made me sick, and I had been vomiting for about seven hours (it’s about 8 at night on Wednesday at this point) and I got a fever, which signalled an infection known as chorioamnionitis….which is often the case in prolonged labor, and I was working on 36 hours at this point. Since I had been throwing up for seven hours, I was given Tylenol, in pill form. Think about that. Not five minutes later, they were back out. Then the baby went into distress….her heart rate was high and there was some concern.
The furthest I dilated after 44 hours was to seven centimeters, and bear in mind, I was forced to dilate to four. At 3am, 43 hours after this debacle started I was taken into an emergency C-section and had my daughter at 3:55am on 10 March.
Understanding that even the private sector is not perfect when it comes to obstetrics care, this was totally unacceptable. Due to non-reform of tort law, many doctors are dropping the OB of the OB/GYN practice, especially in my state of PA due to the rates of OB doctors getting sued. This being the case, even if they have kept the OB, they perform C-sections at a much higher rate than they did 30 years ago. Today in America, the most commonly performed operation in America is a C-section.
All that being said, my case was a clear case where a C-section should have been performed when it became clear that my labor was not progressing, even with the aid of drugs.
My daughter was born at 9 pounds, 14 ounces. I was also informed by the doctor that my pelvic bone was too small to pass her head through and I would have broken my pelvic bone if forced to give birth vaginally. He also told me that the reason I wouldn’t dialate was due to the size of her head and her inability to engage on the cervix.
If I had seen the same doctor for my entire pregnancy, I firmly believe that some of this would have been caught. My pregnancy with my second child was much more smooth, and I was informed that I was not allowed to VBAC (vaginal birth after cesaerean) due to the infection I had during my first labor and it’s possibility to increase my risk of uterine rupture and death.
Reform tort law, deregulate the industry. This is the ”change” the health care industry needs. Get the government out of my medical decisions, that’s the best way to fix this problem. I don’t deny that there is a problem, but ramming government mandated care down our throats is not the way to solve this problem.
When I found out I was pregnant with my daughter, I immediately went to the clinic (on sick call, see first article for an explanation of how that goes) and received a blood test, over the complaints of the lab tech, who told me that it wasn’t necessary right now, because at the point I found out, I was only about two weeks along. I was in a special situation as I was getting ready to be stationed overseas in Holland, and I wanted the results to take and maybe get a quicker doctor’s appointment.
I received the positive test and went on my overseas assignment. It took about a week to get an appointment (not bad, all things considered) and was given a prescription for prenatal vitamins and informed that there was not a maternity center at my current assignment, and that I would have to be “detached” for medical services and see a doctor on the Dutch economy.
When this happened, in 2004, there was alot of force protection issues with that, as the Netherlands are very relaxed, much like the United Kingdom, with the Muslim population. When I went to my first doctor’s appointment in Holland, I had to change my clothes prior to my appointment, and be very careful to not allow my being American to show. I saw the doctor, who spoke spotty English, was given an ultrasound and a due date and had my next appointment scheduled for four weeks later. I was relatively satisfied with the quality of care I received by the Dutch doctors.
Given the circumstances of my situation, I decided that getting out of the Army would be in my best interests, so I started the paperwork, and eventually got out. I returned to North Carolina at the end of October, with paperwork allowing me to have the baby on post at government expense. I didn’t have a job at the time, so I thought this my best option.
I was 18 weeks pregnant, give or take at this time, and I was unable to get an appointment for three weeks, and that wasn’t even to see a doctor, that was to go to “orientation” which is required for giving birth in a military medical facility. I was 21 weeks at this time, and it was still another two weeks before I could see a midwife. I see the midwife, and she was unable to find my child’s heartbeat, so I was given an emergency ultrasound. To this point I had been developing normally, and nothing had changed.
I went to make my next appointment, and was informed that I couldn’t get another one for six weeks, putting me at almost 30 weeks, the point at which a doctor normally wants to see the patient every other week, which I was informed was also not the policy at Womack, due to their patient load being so high. I was made three appointments and told to make my next two (and last two) appointments at the next appointment.
All of these appointments went normally, except that I never saw the same midwife twice, since they didn’t assign an OB, so you had to explain everything over and over again. It was extremely irritating seeing a stranger every single time I had to go to the doctor.
At 36 weeks, there was some concern about the size of my child, so I was given a “growth scan” ultrasound to determine if a scheduled C-section was needed. I was measured at something like 200 grams (7 ounces) short of a scheduled C-section. They estimated the baby at being 9 pounds, 7 ounces. Remember this difference, it comes in handy later.
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I go on as I have been, and my due date of 3 March comes…and goes. At my appointment the day after my due date, I was nearly begging to have this baby taken out of me, and was told that due to space confinements (not enough beds) the soonest they could schedule an induction was five days from now on 8 March. Of course I thought to myself if there was so much space confinement, what would happen if I went into labor earlier….hmmm, but I kept my mouth shut.
I showed up at the hospital on Tuesday morning, at seven am, and was promptly taken to the waiting area and hooked up to an IV. There were no beds for me at the time, and I stayed there for many hours. When I was finally hooked up to the Pitocin, I was on and off with contractions and they kept dying off. Two or three times I was taken off the medicine completely and taken to other rooms due to the lack of space/staff. I was finally forced to dilate to 4cm, which is supposed to trigger labor, and nothing happened. It’s now noonish on Wednesday, and my water was broken.
Nothing happened since, except seeing seven different midwives in that time and I finally dilated enough (through actions of the doctors) to be given an epidural, which I appreciated, but didn’t really need. The pain wasn’t that bad. That to me signalled that something was wrong. I was having contractions every 30 seconds to 1 minute and the monitor never got above 90ish, something I was later told was very unusual.
The epidural made me sick, and I had been vomiting for about seven hours (it’s about 8 at night on Wednesday at this point) and I got a fever, which signalled an infection known as chorioamnionitis….which is often the case in prolonged labor, and I was working on 36 hours at this point. Since I had been throwing up for seven hours, I was given Tylenol, in pill form. Think about that. Not five minutes later, they were back out. Then the baby went into distress….her heart rate was high and there was some concern.
The furthest I dilated after 44 hours was to seven centimeters, and bear in mind, I was forced to dilate to four. At 3am, 43 hours after this debacle started I was taken into an emergency C-section and had my daughter at 3:55am on 10 March.
Understanding that even the private sector is not perfect when it comes to obstetrics care, this was totally unacceptable. Due to non-reform of tort law, many doctors are dropping the OB of the OB/GYN practice, especially in my state of PA due to the rates of OB doctors getting sued. This being the case, even if they have kept the OB, they perform C-sections at a much higher rate than they did 30 years ago. Today in America, the most commonly performed operation in America is a C-section.
All that being said, my case was a clear case where a C-section should have been performed when it became clear that my labor was not progressing, even with the aid of drugs.
My daughter was born at 9 pounds, 14 ounces. I was also informed by the doctor that my pelvic bone was too small to pass her head through and I would have broken my pelvic bone if forced to give birth vaginally. He also told me that the reason I wouldn’t dialate was due to the size of her head and her inability to engage on the cervix.
If I had seen the same doctor for my entire pregnancy, I firmly believe that some of this would have been caught. My pregnancy with my second child was much more smooth, and I was informed that I was not allowed to VBAC (vaginal birth after cesaerean) due to the infection I had during my first labor and it’s possibility to increase my risk of uterine rupture and death.
Reform tort law, deregulate the industry. This is the ”change” the health care industry needs. Get the government out of my medical decisions, that’s the best way to fix this problem. I don’t deny that there is a problem, but ramming government mandated care down our throats is not the way to solve this problem.
Monday, August 10, 2009
I am a survivor of socialized medicine - Part I
I have two pointed examples of how and why socialized medicine can be harmful to you. This is the story of the first. If you have served on active duty in the military, you are already aware of the lines and general difficulty in getting anything done. Every time you are sick, you are required to go to the hospital and get a doctor's note. Why not, it's free, right? So you go to the doctor at 6am, and wait in line to get seen until 9am or 10am, because everyone else on post has to do the same thing.
When I was 19 years old, I was stationed in Germany. Like a lot of folks stationed in Germany, I enjoyed my fair share of "adult beverages". At a festival in Februaryish (it's been ten years now) I hurt my ankle going into a funhouse, believe me, this was not my finest hour. It hurt quite a bit, and rather than go to the emergency room (your only choice on a weekend), I waited until Monday to go to sick call in the morning.
I finally get in to see the doctor, and I'm told that this is a really bad sprain (it was swollen and turning all kinds of colors, but I knew it wasn't broken) and that I should rest off of it as much as possible. I left with a note not to run for two weeks and some Motrin. With the sheer amount of Motrin I was given in my time in the Army, I could start my own drug store.
Two weeks go by, and the pain is still not getting better. What's even worse is that now, when I walk around, my ankle will occasionally turn in on itself. So I make a doctor's appointment, which takes me a solid week to get. I go to the doctor, ankle still swollen, and am told that I pulled a ligament or tendon (this doctor had X-ray vision, because I wasn't given an MRI) and that I would need some physical therapy. I'm given another note about running, and sent on my way. I have to wait three days for the referral to get into the computer, and then it take 3 weeks to get in to see the physical therapist. It's now the middle of March. I go through two months of strengthening exercises, and ultrasonic massages, and still I'm having pain and instability in the joint.
In May, I go back to my regular doctor, and he refers me to podiatry. I can't get into see the podiatrist until almost July. He then looks at my ankle, and tells me I need an MRI to confirm, but chances were that I had some fairly severe tendon/ligament damage. I don't get the MRI until August, but I've gotten smarter, I make the appointment for the podiatrist when I've get the MRI appointment. About two weeks after my MRI, I go back in to see the podiatrist, who tells me that I have torn the peroneus brevis and peroneus longus and the band of tissue that hold them together, and I will need surgery to correct this. I ask when surgery can be scheduled; he tells me I will have to see another doctor, because he is getting ready to get out of the Army.
I'm now referred to an orthopedic surgeon, as there is only one podiatrist position at the military hospital. It takes me until October to see the orthopedic surgeon, who I dub Dr. F***** Useless. Dr. FU then decides that tendons that are ripped apart might magically fuse themselves back together if I am casted for five weeks. I can't even get a second opinion, because it would take me longer than five weeks to get an appointment, even if there were another independent orthopedic surgeon in the hospital, which at the time, there wasn't.
I get my cast off around Thanksgiving, where he then tells me he will do surgery on me, in two weeks. I was due to start clearing to go to North Carolina in two weeks, so I ask for a referral because the surgery was going to be fairly extensive, and I wouldn't be able to drive around doing all that was necessary to leave Germany with a cast, nevermind get my cast off before I left.
I get to Fort Bragg, NC at the end of January and go to sick call with my MRI, X-ray, and referral from Dr. FU. I immediately get a referral to podiatry on Bragg and see the doctor in March. He tells me he can perform surgery, but not until May. By the time I've had the surgery, it's been 15 months since the original injury and in post op recovery, the doctor tells me he has had to extend my incision further than my MRI (that at that point was nine months old) indicated due to the length of time between MRI and injury.
This is a small example of what socialized medicine can do for you.
I would have had this problem taken care of before my MRI had taken place with private insurance.
It makes sense that there would be socialized medicine within the military, I'm not arguing for that at all. But try and imagine competing against the number of people that live in Philadelphia for an appointment with a limited number of podiatrists or orthopedic surgeons, and the two months can easily turn into four or six, or even twelve.
When I was 19 years old, I was stationed in Germany. Like a lot of folks stationed in Germany, I enjoyed my fair share of "adult beverages". At a festival in Februaryish (it's been ten years now) I hurt my ankle going into a funhouse, believe me, this was not my finest hour. It hurt quite a bit, and rather than go to the emergency room (your only choice on a weekend), I waited until Monday to go to sick call in the morning.
I finally get in to see the doctor, and I'm told that this is a really bad sprain (it was swollen and turning all kinds of colors, but I knew it wasn't broken) and that I should rest off of it as much as possible. I left with a note not to run for two weeks and some Motrin. With the sheer amount of Motrin I was given in my time in the Army, I could start my own drug store.
Two weeks go by, and the pain is still not getting better. What's even worse is that now, when I walk around, my ankle will occasionally turn in on itself. So I make a doctor's appointment, which takes me a solid week to get. I go to the doctor, ankle still swollen, and am told that I pulled a ligament or tendon (this doctor had X-ray vision, because I wasn't given an MRI) and that I would need some physical therapy. I'm given another note about running, and sent on my way. I have to wait three days for the referral to get into the computer, and then it take 3 weeks to get in to see the physical therapist. It's now the middle of March. I go through two months of strengthening exercises, and ultrasonic massages, and still I'm having pain and instability in the joint.
In May, I go back to my regular doctor, and he refers me to podiatry. I can't get into see the podiatrist until almost July. He then looks at my ankle, and tells me I need an MRI to confirm, but chances were that I had some fairly severe tendon/ligament damage. I don't get the MRI until August, but I've gotten smarter, I make the appointment for the podiatrist when I've get the MRI appointment. About two weeks after my MRI, I go back in to see the podiatrist, who tells me that I have torn the peroneus brevis and peroneus longus and the band of tissue that hold them together, and I will need surgery to correct this. I ask when surgery can be scheduled; he tells me I will have to see another doctor, because he is getting ready to get out of the Army.
I'm now referred to an orthopedic surgeon, as there is only one podiatrist position at the military hospital. It takes me until October to see the orthopedic surgeon, who I dub Dr. F***** Useless. Dr. FU then decides that tendons that are ripped apart might magically fuse themselves back together if I am casted for five weeks. I can't even get a second opinion, because it would take me longer than five weeks to get an appointment, even if there were another independent orthopedic surgeon in the hospital, which at the time, there wasn't.
I get my cast off around Thanksgiving, where he then tells me he will do surgery on me, in two weeks. I was due to start clearing to go to North Carolina in two weeks, so I ask for a referral because the surgery was going to be fairly extensive, and I wouldn't be able to drive around doing all that was necessary to leave Germany with a cast, nevermind get my cast off before I left.
I get to Fort Bragg, NC at the end of January and go to sick call with my MRI, X-ray, and referral from Dr. FU. I immediately get a referral to podiatry on Bragg and see the doctor in March. He tells me he can perform surgery, but not until May. By the time I've had the surgery, it's been 15 months since the original injury and in post op recovery, the doctor tells me he has had to extend my incision further than my MRI (that at that point was nine months old) indicated due to the length of time between MRI and injury.
This is a small example of what socialized medicine can do for you.
I would have had this problem taken care of before my MRI had taken place with private insurance.
It makes sense that there would be socialized medicine within the military, I'm not arguing for that at all. But try and imagine competing against the number of people that live in Philadelphia for an appointment with a limited number of podiatrists or orthopedic surgeons, and the two months can easily turn into four or six, or even twelve.
Friday, July 31, 2009
Single Mother's Rock....right???
As a former single mother it may sound hypocritical to tell this story, but understand that even though I have made poor choices in my life (and really, who hasn't?) with the help of a strong family support system (the ultimate welfare program) I was able to not become a drain on society, or make choices of which I wasn't aware of potential consequences.
I know a girl who is a welfare mom....formerly a teenage welfare mom. The story is usually the same. Not enough love at home, not taught enough respect not to show off her body, she meets a boy, and intentionally gets pregnant. She wants someone who will love her unconditionally. She has never been off of public assistance in her child's life, and doesn't really have much of a hope of ever being off of it. She is statistically more likely to raise a criminal than I am or to raise another welfare mom, perpetuating the cycle....and chances are, that's where things are going.
A child without discipline makes everyone's life more difficult, up to and including the child themself. Children need structure, they need rules, and they need consistent discipline. Children are going to have enough friends in thier life, what they need in the formative years is a parent, not a friend, and how can you be a parent when you never grew up yourself?
This need for unconditional love didn't stop with her first child, and she got pregnant on purpose again. Things didn't work out and this time while still pregnant, she lost the guy, and chose to abort the baby.
The culture of death in America today doesn't caution girls (even those who are emotionally unstable to begin with) what the consequences and long lasting psychological side effects of abortion can be. The mills just want them in and out, like cattle going into a chute.
Unfortunately the girl didn't have the solid family support that I did in my hour of need, and that sometimes makes all the difference the world. I was also 24, and had lived on my own for seven years, she has never lived alone, and it's sad to say that she probably never will.
She will bounce from what family can stand her back and forth and into too quick relationships where her child will have a plethora of Daddy's, not include the actual sperm donor who can't even pay for his responsibilities.
And this has somehow become chic and mainstream and nothing to turn your head at in society, that's sad, and it shows a numbing of social values, and that's just going to make these things continue at an alarming rate.
We need to teach our children to respect themselves, and learn to be adults before you bring another child into this world....
I don't remember the exact verbage, or where exactly I heard this, but I want to say it was one of Thomas Sowell's books, but there are three things that you can do that will virtually guarantee that you will never live in poverty.
1) Graduate high school
2) Don't have children until you are at least 20
3) Don't have children until you are married
I know a girl who is a welfare mom....formerly a teenage welfare mom. The story is usually the same. Not enough love at home, not taught enough respect not to show off her body, she meets a boy, and intentionally gets pregnant. She wants someone who will love her unconditionally. She has never been off of public assistance in her child's life, and doesn't really have much of a hope of ever being off of it. She is statistically more likely to raise a criminal than I am or to raise another welfare mom, perpetuating the cycle....and chances are, that's where things are going.
A child without discipline makes everyone's life more difficult, up to and including the child themself. Children need structure, they need rules, and they need consistent discipline. Children are going to have enough friends in thier life, what they need in the formative years is a parent, not a friend, and how can you be a parent when you never grew up yourself?
This need for unconditional love didn't stop with her first child, and she got pregnant on purpose again. Things didn't work out and this time while still pregnant, she lost the guy, and chose to abort the baby.
The culture of death in America today doesn't caution girls (even those who are emotionally unstable to begin with) what the consequences and long lasting psychological side effects of abortion can be. The mills just want them in and out, like cattle going into a chute.
Unfortunately the girl didn't have the solid family support that I did in my hour of need, and that sometimes makes all the difference the world. I was also 24, and had lived on my own for seven years, she has never lived alone, and it's sad to say that she probably never will.
She will bounce from what family can stand her back and forth and into too quick relationships where her child will have a plethora of Daddy's, not include the actual sperm donor who can't even pay for his responsibilities.
And this has somehow become chic and mainstream and nothing to turn your head at in society, that's sad, and it shows a numbing of social values, and that's just going to make these things continue at an alarming rate.
We need to teach our children to respect themselves, and learn to be adults before you bring another child into this world....
I don't remember the exact verbage, or where exactly I heard this, but I want to say it was one of Thomas Sowell's books, but there are three things that you can do that will virtually guarantee that you will never live in poverty.
1) Graduate high school
2) Don't have children until you are at least 20
3) Don't have children until you are married
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Seriously....
They are going to more strictly regulate Tylenol....TYLENOL???? I've given that medicine to my children since they were tiny tiny (well, one was never tiny) and they think it's too dangerous. This is what we can look forward to with government run healthcare too, only much, much worse. I once watched an episode of Scrubs where Dr. Cox told JD to give the patient Tylenol and he asked how much, and Dr. Cox told him to grab a handful and throw it at the patient and whatever stuck was safe for them to take. But now, it's too dangerous for us. The nanny state government wants to keep us from having to read. Has anyone read 1984
Monday, June 22, 2009
I wasn't using my civil liberties anyway....
I stole the title from my friend's Gmail chat status, but it definitely applies here. Obama signed the legislation that is going to allow the FDA to regulate tobacco. I'm so sorry to all of you smoking menthols, because they are soon going to go out the door. As well as any of you smoking full flavor, lights, ultra lights, generic, or name brand cigarettes, because the FDA has your number. As a smoker, I am wicked upset about this....but hey, apparently it's not my choice to smoke and what I smoke and how many I smoke, it's the government who is going to decide what kind of cigarettes I can smoke, with how much nicotine, and whether or not it's menthol.
Here's what really gets me, and now I'm just throwing numbers out there, I'm not a scientist....but say you are someone who makes $25,000 a year, and you smoke one pack (20 cigarettes) at $5.25 a pack, with 10mg nicotine per cigarette. The FDA comes along and decides that all cigarettes can have no more than 7.5mg of nicotine per cigarette. It being an addiction, you are going to have to smoke another 7 cigarettes a day to get the same amount of nicotine. Now, I'm sure all the liberals out there will say, well you shouldn't be smoking anyway, but the thing is, these people want us to continue smoking, because they want the tax revenue. And there will be new taxes, don't doubt that for a second. And these are taxes that will be paid disproportionately by the poor, you know, the liberals voting block.... And nevermind the fact that's it's not GOVERNMENT'S JOB to decide what you can and can't so, so long as you aren't hurting anyone else by doing it.
This should come as no suprise to anyone though, as this administration and current Congress have no problem meddling with the private sector, mostly because they don't want the private sector.....they want to be everyone's savior.
Can someone let Ms. Pelosi know that my daughter needs her diaper changed....I'm sure she'd love to come in and save my day from that horrible mess in her drawers. They want to save everyone else....
Here's what really gets me, and now I'm just throwing numbers out there, I'm not a scientist....but say you are someone who makes $25,000 a year, and you smoke one pack (20 cigarettes) at $5.25 a pack, with 10mg nicotine per cigarette. The FDA comes along and decides that all cigarettes can have no more than 7.5mg of nicotine per cigarette. It being an addiction, you are going to have to smoke another 7 cigarettes a day to get the same amount of nicotine. Now, I'm sure all the liberals out there will say, well you shouldn't be smoking anyway, but the thing is, these people want us to continue smoking, because they want the tax revenue. And there will be new taxes, don't doubt that for a second. And these are taxes that will be paid disproportionately by the poor, you know, the liberals voting block.... And nevermind the fact that's it's not GOVERNMENT'S JOB to decide what you can and can't so, so long as you aren't hurting anyone else by doing it.
This should come as no suprise to anyone though, as this administration and current Congress have no problem meddling with the private sector, mostly because they don't want the private sector.....they want to be everyone's savior.
Can someone let Ms. Pelosi know that my daughter needs her diaper changed....I'm sure she'd love to come in and save my day from that horrible mess in her drawers. They want to save everyone else....
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Bye Bye Honolulu
In a problem that should have been taken care of 15 years ago, comes the news that North Korea is planning to fire a missile capable of hitting Hawaii....not the big island, as my title implies, but with a range of about 4000 miles. And it is suggested that in as few as five years, they could pose a threat to the western coast of the US. It wouldn't trouble me to lose Hollywood, but I'm a huge fan of California wine, so I have some interest in keeping the Napa Valley intact.
This North Korea "problem" should have been taken care of during the Clinton Administration....who through the vast store of Jimmy Carter's negotiating skills didn't have sanctions against them and then were able to "promise" they wouldn't build nukes and lied about it behind our backs.
My opinion on how this should go down is rather simplified in that I feel like we should guard the DMZ and blow up Pyongyang. Problem solved. Of course our current pantywaist in chief wouldn't go the manly route in this. He'll try the Carteresque "diplomacy" and "talks"....as though that's gotten us anyway with crazy men in the past. By the way diplomacy and talks are code for apologizing for America being the great nation that it is, and appeasing these despots in a bid to make everyone like us. Believe me, no one needs to like us, but they do need to respect our power, which won't get done with diplomacy. The time for that was 15 years ago.
Also.....how bizarre is it that Obama thinks that Iran should be able to have nuclear power plants (which I'm so sure will be used for power and not proliferation *sarcasm*) but we can't have more nuclear power....which is clean, safe, and (for all the watermelons out there) greenhouse gas free. Not bizarre at all considering they just want to bog us down with high energy costs to punish us for having running water....God forbid we be more prosperous than poor people in Africa....
This North Korea "problem" should have been taken care of during the Clinton Administration....who through the vast store of Jimmy Carter's negotiating skills didn't have sanctions against them and then were able to "promise" they wouldn't build nukes and lied about it behind our backs.
My opinion on how this should go down is rather simplified in that I feel like we should guard the DMZ and blow up Pyongyang. Problem solved. Of course our current pantywaist in chief wouldn't go the manly route in this. He'll try the Carteresque "diplomacy" and "talks"....as though that's gotten us anyway with crazy men in the past. By the way diplomacy and talks are code for apologizing for America being the great nation that it is, and appeasing these despots in a bid to make everyone like us. Believe me, no one needs to like us, but they do need to respect our power, which won't get done with diplomacy. The time for that was 15 years ago.
Also.....how bizarre is it that Obama thinks that Iran should be able to have nuclear power plants (which I'm so sure will be used for power and not proliferation *sarcasm*) but we can't have more nuclear power....which is clean, safe, and (for all the watermelons out there) greenhouse gas free. Not bizarre at all considering they just want to bog us down with high energy costs to punish us for having running water....God forbid we be more prosperous than poor people in Africa....
Friday, June 12, 2009
That's right, endanger the troops, but let's bail out the world
In a flagrant act that will cause more troops to get killed, the House Democrats voted out of conference the War Supplemental Bill that would also allow the photos of "torture" performed on terrorists to be released which would do nothing more than endanger more troops lives in an already dangerous place. What really gets my blood boiling is not only did they vote to have more of our troops killed, they also voted to add $108 billion dollars to bail out the rest of the world. I know that this is only a drop in the bucket compared to what else has been spent since the 11th Congress was sworn in, but we are TRILLIONS in debt, adding to that by funding the rest of the world, and possibly/probably to those who hate us is not only fiscally irresponsible but downright stupid. These insipid bureaucrats could care less about our troops on the ground and what the commander's of those troops recommended to the President. Even the President chose to take advice from the Commander's, albeit in a roundabout way, he'll still see those photos released, if not by this bill, then by the legislative branch, all so he can turn around and say, well I didn't want these photos being released, but my hands are tied.
I can't believe these POS' will allow more people that I love and care about be involved in deeper danger than they already are by bravely signing up to defend this great nation which is being flushed down the toilet by these red idiots.
***UPDATE*** It passed the house....which I now refuse to capitalize. Pfft.
I can't believe these POS' will allow more people that I love and care about be involved in deeper danger than they already are by bravely signing up to defend this great nation which is being flushed down the toilet by these red idiots.
***UPDATE*** It passed the house....which I now refuse to capitalize. Pfft.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
What is this American dream???
So now the government is in charge of cars, banks, and will be in charge of cigarettes. The country is going down the drain, my dad is going to lose the house I grew up in, and there is nothing getting any better despite the trillions (a 1 followed by 12 zeroes) spent to "stimulate" the economy. Stimulate my ass why don't you? Send me a trillion dollars, I'll bet I could stimulate alot more. I'm so tired of all of this nonsense. No one seems to think there is anything wrong. All these drones are listing to this messianic asshat apologize for America, say it's okay for that crazy ahmadinejad to have nuclear power, when we can't even have it here, and no one says, you know I don't like the way you are talking down America.
It makes me physically sick and tired to see this great nation go down the European Socialist rabbithole. I just hope we can get back out of this in 2010
It makes me physically sick and tired to see this great nation go down the European Socialist rabbithole. I just hope we can get back out of this in 2010
Friday, March 20, 2009
My Father's American Dream
My father is a self-made man, that is about to be unmade by this BS administration, with thier BS dreams of thier fathers that all amount to exactly nothing for the little guy. My father went into business for himself as a chimney sweep the year I was born. He started a business from the ground up, and (on my mother's word) floated a check for his equipment and paid it off with the proceeds from his first job. He was the kind of guy who could put his hands in sewage and come out made of solid gold. He's the luckiest son-of-a-bitch I have ever met. He also didn't stop there and over the years started to try and branch out, with ventures like bungee jumping, pools, and later bathtub refinishing. He never stopped trying to build a better mousetrap. He had to stop business for several years when my mother and him divorced, but as soon as he was able to he got right back in it. Now he's going to lose the house I grew up in and go bum around Florida.
This shouldn't have happened, but all the actions of the current Congress stymied growth, rather than created it. Let's spend our way out of this mess that was caused by giving people on WELFARE mortgages....good idea, everyone else is living on credit in America, why not the government. How about we eliminate some of the useless government programs.....I think everything but the Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security should do it. Well the Bureau of the Census too, since that's in the Constitution and all. That would save us a ton of money, of course there would be alot of unemployed bureaucrats running around, what a shame, well at least they can get a mortgage while they are on unemployment and welfare.
This shouldn't have happened, but all the actions of the current Congress stymied growth, rather than created it. Let's spend our way out of this mess that was caused by giving people on WELFARE mortgages....good idea, everyone else is living on credit in America, why not the government. How about we eliminate some of the useless government programs.....I think everything but the Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security should do it. Well the Bureau of the Census too, since that's in the Constitution and all. That would save us a ton of money, of course there would be alot of unemployed bureaucrats running around, what a shame, well at least they can get a mortgage while they are on unemployment and welfare.
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