Health Care and the State

Pastor Rick
7 Comments »


This is the most serious post I have made to date on this blog.


Sometimes I have written about personal stuff; sometimes I have gone on rants; sometimes I have just been having fun writing about the teams I follow.


This is serious. I am making an urgent plea for you to consider carefully what I will share below.


I believe that the health care legislation now before the US House of Representatives and being pushed by the President is the greatest threat to liberty that I have experienced in this nation in my lifetime. I am not making that statement casually--I make it in all soberness and urgency. I will seek to be measured in what I write below because I want to gain your ear and urge your advocacy against this proposal. It is, I believe, a bill that carries evil consequences.


We could argue the pros and cons of a state-administered health care service. Personally, I am opposed. My personal bias is almost always against the growth of the state. If the 20th century taught us anything it surely ought to be that the greatest threat to human rights and liberties is embodied by massive socialistic states that espouse the highest of ideals. My equation is simple--the more the state grows, by definition the more my liberties shrink.


But this post is not to debate the pros and cons of government run health care. It is to highlight the furtherance of the state-sponsored death agenda that is written into the very language of this bill. By the way, most representatives who are supporting this bill confess they have not read it. Some House leaders have even suggested that reading it would be a waste of time. This should set off massive warnings that our system of representative democracy is very near a total breakdown. When our elected officials state that reading the very pieces of legislation that will massively overhaul the country is a waste of time, how are we to respond but in outrage? Yet despite not reading the bill, these same legislators go on various media outlets stating that it is absolutely urgent that this bill be passed immediately.


But here is the heart of what I want to share with you. Concerned citizens have begun to do what the legislators have scoffed at doing--they are reading the bill. And I want to highlight just one of dozens of things about this bill that terrify me. Pages 425-430 of this 1018 page bill speak about end-of-life issues. the government will mandate 'Advance (Death) Care Planning' (p. 425). The government will instruct and consult regarding living wills and mandatory powers of attorney (p. 425). The government will provide an approved list of end of life resources, guiding you in death and mandating a program that will give the government a say in how your life ends (p. 427). An 'advance care consultation' will be used frequently as the patients health deteriorates and may include an ORDER for end of life plans (p. 429). The government will specify which doctors can write an end of life order (p. 429). And the government will decide what level of treatment you will have at end of life (p.430). (You can check this out for yourself on Congressman John Larson's website--the entire 1018 pages are there in a pdf file.)


What the above sections of the law does is give a government bureaucracy the power over the end of your life--or the life of your parents. This is euthanasia--either incrementally or passively or paving the way for active euthanasia. HEAR THIS--THE ABOVE PORTIONS OF THE LAW DO GIVE THE GOVERNMENT THE AUTHORITY TO EFFECTIVELY DETERMINE WHO LIVES AND WHO DIES. I have quoted sections of the very bill that House leaders and the President are actively seeking to rush through Congress.


Let me say one other thing that makes the above so insidious. Those in favor of this bill are all over the media and junketing around the country telling us that we will be able to keep our doctors and our private health insurance, should we so desire. But other provisions of the bill make these promises to be empty. This bill is written in a way that businesses and individuals who do not participate in the public (government) option health plan will be severely taxed and ultimately mandated to enroll in the public option. When private companies have to compete against the government they always lose--because the government does not have to turn a profit to stay in business. Yet our elected leaders are promising us things that they know are flowery fictions, while they seek to rush this measure through without adequate debate.


I have not even mentioned how the government taking over the health care system will be the tipping point from a market driven economy to a state-run managed economy, because the percentage of our economy that is related to health care is so great. That is also in the balance. But that is another legitimate debate that is philosophical in nature--one about which good people can disagree.


But the alarm I raise in this post is about an evil agenda of euthanasia written into the very language of this proposed legislation that leaders of Congress and the President are selling us under the guise of reform and cost control and providing health care for those who do not have access to it.


It is time to pray and advocate for life and against this evil measure.


RM




Three Cheers for Debbie!

Pastor Rick
1 Comment »


Hip! Hip! . . Hooray!


Hip! Hip! . . Hooray!


Hip! Hip! . . Hooray!


Tomorrow is my lovely bride's birthday! The exact number remains a matter of family security.


She deserves a medal for putting up with me all these years.


Faithful and dedicated wife.


Excellent mom.


Awesome grandmother.


Gifted partner in ministry.


So Debbie--this Bud's for you!


RM















Wake Up Connecticut

Pastor Rick
4 Comments »

So . . . our state is one of a handful that still does not have a budget for the fiscal year that has already two weeks old.

So here are some numbers, statistics that I have gleaned from the paper of record in the state, The Hartford Courant, over the last several weeks. See what you think . . .

A couple months ago George David wrote a column in the Courant that offers one very significant perspective. (Where he got the time in the midst of his messy divorce proceeding, I don't know--but that is a subject for another post.) Since this state enacted an income tax in 1992 our population has grown by a whopping 2%. During that same period the size of state government has grown by 24%. In this past Sunday's Courant we learned some other numbers. Our current budget deficit is the highest per capita of any state in the nation--a whopping $2,513 per citizen of our beloved Nutmeg State. That's right--your state government has overspent by over $2500 per man, woman and child.

Here are some other numbers to ponder. Over the past 20 years, Connecticut ranks dead last nationally in job creation, but first in exodus of its youth, our best and brightest leaving for jobs elsewhere. Connecticut alone among all states has seen the number of its businesses shrink, while high skill, high-wage jobs disappear and are replaced by low-paying, low-skill jobs. The state's tax structure and other bureaucratic burdens have been a disaster for business in CT.

So what to do? Your brilliant legislators seem stumped. If you are also stumped, review the above numbers again remembering the axiom about doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. That is the definition of what? How about government in your home state?

RM

Michael Mania

Pastor Rick
2 Comments »

So it's been a while since I have posted anything . . .

Been busy; traveling; working; watching rain drops; etc. etc. etc.

Now--about Michael Jackson. He was the King of Pop--I get it. I grew up with Motown--loved the young Michael and the Jackson 5; understand that Michael changed the world of Pop entertainment.

But yesterday watching just a smattering of the coverage of the memorial service I can't help but come back to this one point/question: When are we going to get over race in this nation?

Black celebrity after black celebrity celebrated how much Michael did for race relations in this nation. How he opened doors for other blacks to follow. Magic Johnson said it was Michael who paved the way for Americans of all colors to have his Lakers jersey hang on their bedroom walls.

Please stop! Before I throw up, please stop!

Michael Jackson was more conflicted about race than any of his white fans. He was a BEAUTIFUL young black boy and an extremely handsome young black man. Then he became something freakish and ghoulish in appearance. White skin that looked like all the life had been bleached out of it. Long un-African locks of hair. Very thin Nordic nose. He looked like he acted--weird. If you want to make an argument that Michael's internal conflict about his looks arose out of the tensions of growing up black in majority white America, OK. That is a discussion that would seem to have some merit. But white folks loved Michael and his music long before he started looking like us.

As for Michael Jackson paving the way for young white Americans to idolize and relate to African American athletes--that is patently ridiculous. I grew up always, always, always wanting to wear number 14 in basketball. I seldom ever got to because I was never the best on my team. But we all wanted to wear Oscar Robertson's number. You ask who was the Big O? He was Magic before Magic Johnson. One SEASON in the NBA he averaged a triple double--double figures in scoring, rebounding and assists. Nobody has ever come anywhere near to that--ever. We loved Oscar for the purity and beauty of his game. Oh, did I mention that Oscar Robertson was black and that I am white? Oh, by the way, there is another reason why we did not have Oscar's jersey hanging on our walls and it has nothing (repeat--nothing!) to do with Michael Jackson. First of all, the NBA did not merchandise its soul back then (no pun intended) and second of all, we could not afford such luxuries back in the day. H-E-double hockey sticks---we got one new pair of Converse sneakers a year and they cost all of $8 a pair!

So please stop this nonsense about Michael being some kind of door opener. People loved his music. People loved his style. People loved his charisma. People loved his edge. End of story. (Just like Elvis for the prior generation, I might add. Another King who died pathetically after the ravages of fame warped his final years.)

So I am wondering if fifty years from now people will still be talking about how this latest African American celebrity to die opened doors for younger black Americans. Unless they are talking about Barak Obama I don't want to hear it. It is so old and tired. Can we just get over it and let people be people? Let their talent speak for itself? Their accomplishments. Their whatever.

And that's all I'm gonna say about that.

RM