Have you READ Article 1 section 7 of OUR Constitution, "All bills for raising revenue originate in the house of representatives"...and this is a revenue bill. It began in the Senate and it hires 16,000 new IRS agents to harass our citizens.
Page 22 of the HC Bill: Mandates that the Govt will audit books of all employers that self-insure!!
Page 30 Sec 123 of HC bill: THERE WILL BE A GOVT COMMITTEE that decides what treatments/benefits you get.
Page 29 lines 4-16 in the HC bill: YOUR HEALTH CARE IS RATIONED!!!
Page 42 of HC Bill: The Health Choices Commissioner will choose your HC benefits for you. You have no choice!
Page 50 Section 152 in HC bill: HC will be provided to ALL non-US citizens, illegal or otherwise.
Page 58 HC Bill: Govt will have real-time access to individuals' finances & a 'National ID Health card' will be issued! (Papers please!)
Page 59 HC Bill lines 21-24: Govt will have direct access to your bank accounts for elective funds transfer. (Time for more cash and carry)
Page 65 Sec 164: Is a payoff subsidized plan for retirees and their families in unions & community organizations: (ACORN).
Page 84 Sec 203 HC bill: Govt mandates ALL benefit packages for private HC plans in the 'Exchange.'
Page 85 Line 7 HC Bill: Specifications of Benefit Levels for Plans -- The Govt will ration your health care!
Page 91 Lines 4-7 HC Bill: Govt mandates linguistic appropriate services. (Translation: illegal aliens.)
Page 95 HC Bill Lines 8-18: The Govt will use groups (i.e. ACORN & Americorps to sign up individuals for Govt HC plan.
Page 85 Line 7 HC Bill: Specifications of Benefit Levels for Plans. (AARP members - your health care WILL be rationed!)
Page 102 Lines 12-18 HC Bill: Medicaid eligible individuals will be automatically enrolled in Medicaid. (No choice.)
Page 12 4 lines 24-25 HC: No company can sue GOVT on price fixing. No "judicial review" against Govt monopoly.
Page 127 Lines 1-16 HC Bill: Doctors/ American Medical Association - The Govt will tell YOU what salary you can make.
Page 145 Line 15-17: An Employer MUST auto-enroll employees into public option plan. (NO choice!)
Page 126 Lines 22-25: Employers MUST pay for HC for part-time employees ANDtheir families. (Employees shouldn't get excited about this as employers will be forced to reduce its work force, benefits, and wages/salaries to cover such a huge expense.)
Page 149 Lines 16-24: ANY Employer with payroll 401k & above who does not provide public option will pay 8% tax on all payroll! (See the last comment in parenthesis.)
Page 150 Lines 9-13: A business with payroll between $251K & $401K who doesn't provide public option will pay 2-6% tax on all payroll.
Page 167 Lines 18-23: ANY individual who doesn't have acceptable HC according to Govt will be taxed 2.5% of income.
Page 170 Lines 1-3 HC Bill: Any NONRESIDENT Alien is exempt from individual taxes. (Americans will pay.) (Like always)
Page 195 HC Bill: Officers & employees of the GOVT HC Admin.. will have access to ALL Americans' finances and personal records. (I guess so they can 'deduct' their fees)
Page 203 Line 14-15 HC: "The tax imposed under this section shall not be treated as tax." (Yes, it really says that!) ( a 'fee' instead)
Page 239 Line 14-24 HC Bill: Govt will reduce physician services for Medicaid Seniors. (Low-income and the poor are affected.)
Page 241 Line 6-8 HC Bill: Doctors: It doesn't matter what specialty you have trained yourself in -- you will all be paid the same! (Just TRY to tell me that's not Socialism!)
Page 253 Line 10-18: The Govt sets the value of a doctor's time, profession, judgment, etc. (Literally-- the value of humans.)
Page 265 Sec 1131: The Govt mandates and controls productivity for "private" HC industries.
Page 268 Sec 1141: The federal Govt regulates the rental and purchase of power driven wheelchairs.
Page 272 SEC. 1145: TREATMENT OF CERTAIN CANCER HOSPITALS - Cancer patients - welcome to rationing!
Page 280 Sec 1151: The Govt will penalize hospitals for whatever the Govt deems preventable (i.e...re-admissions).
Page 298 Lines 9-11: Doctors: If you treat a patient during initial admission that results in a re-admission -- the Govt will penalize you.
Page 317 L 13-20: PROHIBITION on ownership/investment. (The Govt tells doctors what and how much they can own!)
Page 317-318 lines 21-25, 1-3: PROHIBITION on expansion. (The Govt is mandating that hospitals cannot expand.)
Page 321 2-13: Hospitals have the opportunity to apply for exception BUT community input is required. (Can you say ACORN?)
Page 335 L 16-25 Pg 336-339: The Govt mandates establishment of=2 outcome-based measures. (HC the way they want -- rationing.)
Page 341 Lines 3-9: The Govt has authority to disqualify Medicare Advance Plans, HMOs, etc. (Forcing people into the Govt plan)
Page 354 Sec 1177: The Govt will RESTRICT enrollment of 'special needs people!' Unbelievable!
Page 379 Sec 1191: The Govt creates more bureaucracy via a "Tele-Health Advisory Committee." (Can you say HC by phone?)
Page 425 Lines 4-12: The Govt mandates "Advance-Care Planning Consult." (Think senior citizens end-of-life patients.)
Page 425 Lines 17-19: The Govt will instruct and consult regarding living wills, durable powers of attorney, etc. (And it's mandatory!)
Page 425 Lines 22-25, 426 Lines 1-3: The Govt provides an "approved" list of end-of-life resources; guiding you in death. (Also called 'assisted suicide.')(Sounds like Soylent Green to me.)
Page 427 Lines 15-24: The Govt mandates a program for orders on "end-of-life." (The Govt has a say in how your life ends!)
Page 429 Lines 1-9: An "advanced-care planning consultant" will be used frequently as a patient's health deteriorates.
Page 429 Lines 10-12: An "advanced care consultation" may include an ORDER for end-of-life plans.. (AN ORDER TO DIE FROM THE GOVERNMENT?!?)
Page 429 Lines 13-25: The GOVT will specify which doctors can write an end-of-life order.. (I wouldn't want to stand before God after getting paid for THAT job!)
Page 430 Lines 11-15: The Govt will decide what level of treatment you will have at end-of-life! (Again -- no choice!)
Page 469: Community-Based Home Medical Services = Non-Profit Organizations. (Hello? ACORN Medical Services here!?!)
Page 489 Sec 1308: The Govt will cover marriage and family therapy. (Which means Govt will insert itself into your marriage even.)
Page 494-498: Govt will cover Mental Health Services including defining, creating, and rationing those services.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Self Portrait
It amazes me the things that will send you on a journey of self discovery. We are in the habit of watching VH1’s music videos in the mornings while everyone is getting ready for the day. It usually just plays in the background, with the volume low. After “JumpStart” a countdown show comes on, followed by “Tool Academy”. If you’ve never seen it, Tool Academy is a reality show about couples in dysfunctional relationships. It’s about the girls trying to “fix” these testosterone loaded “tools”. Most of them are just immature steroid junkies, but I won’t get into that. The show features a psychologist that guides them through this process. For the most part, the show is pretty much trash, and has about the same appeal as a Jerry Springer type show.
I’m not in the habit of watching it, but I didn’t bother to change the channel this morning, and I just left it running in the background while I was doing a little writing and web-browsing. At some point, however, it caught my attention. It was probably just another explosion of testosterone resulting in a fight between some of the boys on the show. At any rate, they convened for a therapy session, at which the therapist asked them to separate from the girls to go and draw a picture of how they viewed themselves using markers.
I started thinking of what I would draw if I were asked to do it. As my train of thought chugged down the senseless and scattered track that is my mind, I suddenly realized that I didn’t think I would have much in the way of something positive to draw on it.
It can be difficult and enlightening to turn the mirror on yourself. I think that even the most confident of us can be extremely critical of ourselves, at least about certain things. For me, it’s all about my personality, emotions, spirituality and confidence. I’ve never been one to follow through on things that I start. I have some pretty good ideas, but I can never seem to bring them to fruition. I have already written about my tendency to suffer with defeat. I tend to quit at the first hint of failure, and since it comes around pretty often, I just stopped before I ever left the line.
I decided that my picture would be a statue of me, instead of a vision of flesh and bone. I decided that I didn’t need a flesh and bone portrait because there wasn’t enough of the real me left to justify it. It would be a stone statue, because I had created this shell around me that had hardened to granite. It would be faceless, because faces show emotion, and I have spent years working to hide that part of me, despite being extremely sensitive naturally. One side of the statue would be muscular, well defined, and strong, but the other half would be a shapeless mass, because although I believe I have the potential for a good physique, I don’t believe in my ability to work hard enough and long enough to achieve it. Its eyes would be half closed because I think I’m exceptionally perceptive, but I don’t think I’m empathetic or compassionate enough to do something about the pain I see in other people. The statue would not be standing, but crouched in a corner with it’s head buried in it’s hands because I’ve never felt like I was making progress, but rather, hiding in a corner; small and irrelevant in the world. Its hands would be clenched into fists because anger is the only emotion I’ve allowed my self to show. If I could sculpt shame on a faceless head, my statue would bury you with that impression because I’m ashamed of who I am for the very things that I created in myself.
The most important part of that picture is that it wouldn’t look the same today. You will have to forgive my grammar in this note, because I have been using the wrong tense to get my point across. The truth is that I don’t feel that way anymore. Some of the characteristics are still there, but the stone is finally being chipped away and beneath it is a real man. The man underneath will still have problems to work out, but he realizes that no one is perfect, and is slowly starting to accept those flaws and work to repair them as opposed to trying to bury them.
While I’m happy that I’m making these changes, I still wondered how I let it happen. I explored the possibilities and mulled over all of the reasons why I would let myself turn in to someone I didn’t like, and didn’t want to be.
When I was a kid I was always happy and smiling. I was energetic, I wouldn’t shut up, and I was curious about the world. Somewhere along the line I started building the shell and closing the box around who I was, because at some point, I decided that who I was wasn’t good enough. I became lethargic, uncaring, quiet and despondent. I became what I perceived as cool. While I may have passed myself off as that for a time; it was not who I was. It wasn’t even real. It was James Dean in a movie. It was just as much of an act, but without it I wasn’t good enough. I sold my self out.
If that is the answer for why I let myself become this guy that I didn’t much like, what is the answer for why I am trying to change again? There are a lot of things that I could call motivation. My wife deserves better for one. I don’t want my kids growing up with a hacked-off jerk, for another. I’ve been married for almost 12 years, and had kids for 9, so if that is the reason, I’m a little late getting started. The real reason: God can’t use the me that I created near as well as the me that HE created. I never thought I would want to be “used” by anyone, so that last sentence sort of threw me as soon as I typed it. What I’ve realized is that being used by God creates a purpose, and what’s life without purpose? But I digress.
The reason that I didn’t like the me that God had created is that I wasn’t interested in what He wanted. I decided that I was only interested in myself, and that person wasn’t getting me the results that I wanted, i.e. popularity and chicks. Of course, in the real world, James Dean isn’t very interesting, so there is that, but most importantly how can God use a broken tool? You can’t cut a tree with an axe handle. In reality, I had handicapped myself. Somewhere deep down I knew that I was a broken tool, so how could I have any self worth, if I didn’t have any God-worth. (I’m going to copyright that term, so hands off!) He always loved me, but He couldn’t use me.
Our self-image comes from Him, not just because we’re made in His image, but also because He designed us to fulfill a purpose, and if we’re not on track, and don’t have a relationship with Him, we aren’t completing that purpose and can’t possibly feel good about ourselves. Each and every part of me was designed for something. Even the smallest of my capabilities may at some point in my life be used to accomplish something for Him, but if I have morphed my self in to something other than what He designed me to be, I’m not as efficient as I should be.
I did a pretty good job of messing myself up, so I shouldn’t have any more trouble making myself right again; especially since I won’t be doing it alone this time.
So what would your portrait look like?
I’m not in the habit of watching it, but I didn’t bother to change the channel this morning, and I just left it running in the background while I was doing a little writing and web-browsing. At some point, however, it caught my attention. It was probably just another explosion of testosterone resulting in a fight between some of the boys on the show. At any rate, they convened for a therapy session, at which the therapist asked them to separate from the girls to go and draw a picture of how they viewed themselves using markers.
I started thinking of what I would draw if I were asked to do it. As my train of thought chugged down the senseless and scattered track that is my mind, I suddenly realized that I didn’t think I would have much in the way of something positive to draw on it.
It can be difficult and enlightening to turn the mirror on yourself. I think that even the most confident of us can be extremely critical of ourselves, at least about certain things. For me, it’s all about my personality, emotions, spirituality and confidence. I’ve never been one to follow through on things that I start. I have some pretty good ideas, but I can never seem to bring them to fruition. I have already written about my tendency to suffer with defeat. I tend to quit at the first hint of failure, and since it comes around pretty often, I just stopped before I ever left the line.
I decided that my picture would be a statue of me, instead of a vision of flesh and bone. I decided that I didn’t need a flesh and bone portrait because there wasn’t enough of the real me left to justify it. It would be a stone statue, because I had created this shell around me that had hardened to granite. It would be faceless, because faces show emotion, and I have spent years working to hide that part of me, despite being extremely sensitive naturally. One side of the statue would be muscular, well defined, and strong, but the other half would be a shapeless mass, because although I believe I have the potential for a good physique, I don’t believe in my ability to work hard enough and long enough to achieve it. Its eyes would be half closed because I think I’m exceptionally perceptive, but I don’t think I’m empathetic or compassionate enough to do something about the pain I see in other people. The statue would not be standing, but crouched in a corner with it’s head buried in it’s hands because I’ve never felt like I was making progress, but rather, hiding in a corner; small and irrelevant in the world. Its hands would be clenched into fists because anger is the only emotion I’ve allowed my self to show. If I could sculpt shame on a faceless head, my statue would bury you with that impression because I’m ashamed of who I am for the very things that I created in myself.
The most important part of that picture is that it wouldn’t look the same today. You will have to forgive my grammar in this note, because I have been using the wrong tense to get my point across. The truth is that I don’t feel that way anymore. Some of the characteristics are still there, but the stone is finally being chipped away and beneath it is a real man. The man underneath will still have problems to work out, but he realizes that no one is perfect, and is slowly starting to accept those flaws and work to repair them as opposed to trying to bury them.
While I’m happy that I’m making these changes, I still wondered how I let it happen. I explored the possibilities and mulled over all of the reasons why I would let myself turn in to someone I didn’t like, and didn’t want to be.
When I was a kid I was always happy and smiling. I was energetic, I wouldn’t shut up, and I was curious about the world. Somewhere along the line I started building the shell and closing the box around who I was, because at some point, I decided that who I was wasn’t good enough. I became lethargic, uncaring, quiet and despondent. I became what I perceived as cool. While I may have passed myself off as that for a time; it was not who I was. It wasn’t even real. It was James Dean in a movie. It was just as much of an act, but without it I wasn’t good enough. I sold my self out.
If that is the answer for why I let myself become this guy that I didn’t much like, what is the answer for why I am trying to change again? There are a lot of things that I could call motivation. My wife deserves better for one. I don’t want my kids growing up with a hacked-off jerk, for another. I’ve been married for almost 12 years, and had kids for 9, so if that is the reason, I’m a little late getting started. The real reason: God can’t use the me that I created near as well as the me that HE created. I never thought I would want to be “used” by anyone, so that last sentence sort of threw me as soon as I typed it. What I’ve realized is that being used by God creates a purpose, and what’s life without purpose? But I digress.
The reason that I didn’t like the me that God had created is that I wasn’t interested in what He wanted. I decided that I was only interested in myself, and that person wasn’t getting me the results that I wanted, i.e. popularity and chicks. Of course, in the real world, James Dean isn’t very interesting, so there is that, but most importantly how can God use a broken tool? You can’t cut a tree with an axe handle. In reality, I had handicapped myself. Somewhere deep down I knew that I was a broken tool, so how could I have any self worth, if I didn’t have any God-worth. (I’m going to copyright that term, so hands off!) He always loved me, but He couldn’t use me.
Our self-image comes from Him, not just because we’re made in His image, but also because He designed us to fulfill a purpose, and if we’re not on track, and don’t have a relationship with Him, we aren’t completing that purpose and can’t possibly feel good about ourselves. Each and every part of me was designed for something. Even the smallest of my capabilities may at some point in my life be used to accomplish something for Him, but if I have morphed my self in to something other than what He designed me to be, I’m not as efficient as I should be.
I did a pretty good job of messing myself up, so I shouldn’t have any more trouble making myself right again; especially since I won’t be doing it alone this time.
So what would your portrait look like?
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