Healthcare

As I was writing the below blog, I happened to scan my Facebook page and Larry Schlomer posted this video. This video says much of what I feel.



I have been deliberating on the issue of healthcare a lot lately. Who hasn't. For me though, the issue isn't even about "health care" per se. I am more concerned about how with each new government intervention in our lives we lose the very freedom this country was formed to create. When you get to the core of the American Revolution, it started in order to free the colonies from excessive interference from the government (selective taxation, removal of authority from local governments, replacing local courts with crown magistrates, etc). Also, looking at our own history, the government seems to fail the most when it departs from its original stated purpose of defense, courts, regulating trade, and maintaining infrastructure. Heck even in maintaining some of these essential things the government fails. (Amtrak…let your government railroad you to success)

So the issue for me really is: is healthcare really a right? Who says so? If this more modern phenomenon of manufactured rights is the way America is going to “mature” then a clear majority of Americans should say so then add it to the Bill of Rights. Then we can discuss how to make that happen in America. Could healthcare as a "right" be re-constructed in America? Of course. Could it be done properly in the private sector? Yes and no doubt more efficiently than the government could any hour, any day, anytime. In 1966, the year Medicare law was enacted, the cost was $3 billion and estimated to be $12 billion by 1990. Actual cost in 1990 for Medicare was $107 billion. In 2007, Medicare spent $468 billion on prescription drugs, hospital care and physician services. Yes indeed the government is great at estimating and containing costs. It would appear we finally found those missing weapons of mass destruction and it’s the government itself.

It would be good to first gain a consensus that there even is a healthcare "crisis". A crisis for some may not be for others. For me the crisis is the mini-van, soccer, moms taking their kids to the urgent care for every sniffle and scrape. Stay home. Rub a little dirt and lemon juice on it and tell them to suck it up. Duct tape is an adequate substitute for stitches in certain circumstances.

Please tell me if you had a nasty cancer and in this new world of "choice"...would you choose the Aurora/PHCI/Wheaton Franciscan (Insert Local health system here) clinic or would you sign up for the Veteran's Administration. It seems to me the biggest healthcare "crisis" we have is the healthcare provided by the government already. With these glowing successes, we want to throw more on the government? I wouldn't trust it with my life...or yours.

Of course it’s only a matter of time before education is a right and the wealthiest 200 million Americans will be paying for everyone’s college. Housing should be a right..we should be providing housing for everyone as the government does housing really, really well. We can accomplish this by taxing the wealthiest 325 million Americans and by sharing the large homes of the wealthy. I’m pretty sure Cable TV is already a right so that’s covered. We should be dressed adequately so I’m pretty sure I want clothes to be a right..although I think nudists should have to pay fines for not participating. Oh what a nation of wussies we have become.

The shame of course is that American’s have allowed this to happen. With the decay of Christianity and the rise of humanism it was bound to happen. People and businesses have sacrificed their Christian love for their neighbor and the desire to help others through church and charity by shunning religion and focusing on humanism and greed. Their new god is government and the government should be providing things to them…because after all…it is all about us isn’t it. Despite how the current trend to foist basic human morality on the government puts me out of sorts, it is just desserts for nation that has forgotten God. Indeed our Babylon is approaching.

Re-Grand Launch of Victory

So coming up on September 13th, Victory of the Lamb is having a special service to introduce to the community to our new location at Showtime Cinema. We have been there since May but we have spent the summer working out the kinks and the routine so we can be smooth and efficient.

Although there are some things that are not as cool as the Polonia such as the sound sucking walls and stadium seating that make singing disappear but in general everything about meeting in a theater is better than meeting in a beer hall.

I hope to see you all there on Sunday, September 13th at 9:00am for fellowship and 9:30am for the service.

Checkup on the Hypocrites

I guess that leaves this wide open. It could be about Obama or it could be about the various Lutheran Legalist I follow on again off again.

I had taken a very pleasant break since the WELS convention in following these folks but Joe pointed out to me today that the Ichabod's are fighting again. I had some fun before with Joe back in July in playing up the accusation that we were the authors of the "real Ichabod" vs the original ichabod. We even had a Beavis and Butthead icon made up for us by Greg. It was an interesting experiment in following how a suspicion becomes a fact in Greg's mind and then after enough times saying it it was an immutable truth. This is too tempting for me to resist. If Greg said I was a flaming liberal , I am pretty sure I would run with that to see how many people would then believe it. You might find me finally writing the environmentally friendly, government loving piece on how we should all support the right to choose to kill babies.

Well the "Real Ichabod" author is back. Apparently he is upset about recent postings from Greg and decided to return. I have to laugh that the same tactic employed by Greg is being used against him. Rumor and hearsay with a bit of fact mixed in and then taken to an extreme. Although my dark side enjoys the "How does that feel for all the people you lambast daily in a similar manner.." feeling it gives, I have to admit it is definitely not my flavor at the moment

However now that I'm done having fun taking the credit for the "real Ichabod" site I will set the record straight that Joe nor I had nothing to do with it. I will confess I sent a comment asking who the author was and to email me. I wanted to offer some services to handle a posting here and there but alas...no response. In actuality I don't think the author likes my style any more than Greg as he is bitterly against satire and I of course LOVE satire. I think the blogosphere is THE place for satire. Pretty much those who can't take the heat should get out of the blogokitchen. So although I enjoyed watching the reparte, I don't think he believed I or Joe were the allies he wanted.

It should be known that If I author a site to refute Greg, you will know it is me. I will put my name in capital letters and maybe a good picture too. Secondly I don't think I would ever get personal like the "real Ichabod" is at the moment. I would stick to his doctrinal errors and poorly researched accusations. There isn't one word I have to say anonymously to him. For those so spineless to be anonymous because they know how Greg will drag them through the mud I say in love...stop being a pussy.

I suppose I will need to start watching the fun and games but I promise that my interest in all that nonsense is much less these days.

Quick Update

So Ike has been in school at St. Marcus since the 19th. He started Football on the 3rd of August and has had a scrimmage and his first game this last Saturday. There has been vast improvement from last year, however, they still lost soundly to a very large team. Even though the Jr. Vikings have grown they still seem to come up against bigger teams. Probably the biggest thing our team lacks is aggression. How do you convey to a team that all those things they are told everyday in society about being passive, non-violent and nice does not count for football? Still for a team of noobs that started only last year they are definitely improving at a fast rate.

Kt started school today. She will have a stressful year for sure. She has 3 AP classes and one class at Wisconsin Lutheran College for Spanish. Along with work and CC that should keep her time filled. Phil phone time will have to be worked in there too. Phil is already settling into his job as an Air Traffic Controller at Camp Pendleton. Kt is heading to San Diego this weekend to visit him.

Zach is still plowing through his school as well. He had a two week sidetrack here but he will be done on 9/25 with this section of classes. We'll find out in a few weeks where he goes next. I think it is a bit boring right now since many of those he started with have already moved to the next phases and he is a few weeks behind them due to a few scheduling snafu's. Also I think he has decided he is tired of the base in Pensacola. They are particularly high strung there because the Marines are residing on a Navy base so they clamp down hard on the Marines to keep the Navy happy. Since his MOS has about the longest education track in the Marines it means he has to stay in the somewhat over-regulated training mode longer than most. Once he is in the fleet he will be good.

I have finished work on the temporary projects I had floated to back in April. August 15th I returned to NML's Enterprise division to work on a large project there. It is very interesting technology and requires lots of focus and study. That is partially why I haven't been blogging as I need to keep it all focused on the projects. I did move to a nice window space compared to the old building with a nasty inside room with a view of boxes of stored stuff.

Karen has been on cruise control these days but has been very busy at work. Because there can be 15-18 underwriters out on vacation on any given day the distribution of cases can get quite heavy over summer.

"Death Panels"

Here is an article from a liberal newspaper that struck me precisely because of it's source. Without spewing some of the extreme rhetoric, I think this article gets to the core of the danger of that issue and even better when the concerns of the public come from the Washington Post.

Washington Post - Charles Lane Article

Note the line "Admittedly, this script is vague and possibly unenforceable. What are "key questions"? Who belongs on "a list" of helpful "resources"? The Roman Catholic Church? Jack Kevorkian?"

Why are people so willing to give up their freedom and follow the government so blindly? What a nation of lazy lemmings we have become.

Blogging Absence

I have been absent from the blogging world for a bit. I confess that not only have I not been writing them I have not been reading the numerous one's I follow as well. I guess it was a little vacation. I have often had a thought ot two I wanted to point out here and there but it hardly seems worth putting out. Oh well I will be getting caught up here. I have a few topics I emailed to myself to get out here but never did. In any case it is good to be back