Medical Care for Seniors. "Let nature take its course."

This is a paraphrase from a person who will remain nameless, but obviously my junior.  The implication is we should not strain our government's financial resource to provide anything beyond simple pain medication as we age.  I would remind you of a few facts.  First, you are lucky that abortion wasn't so prevalent when you were blest on the woman you call mom.  We had many choices that we didn't exercise in your early years, that of adoption or putting you in the hands of what might be sarcastically called a "caring government".  We changed your diapers and used cloth diapers to save money for your future education, and hopefully for a retirement for us that seemed far off.  When you ran a temperature of 102, we called the doctor, put you on expensive drugs that sometimes cut into what might have been a meager budget.  We chose to have old cars, rather than the new models, because we had kids to care for at home.  We worked two jobs at times to buy a house in a neighborhood that had a good school for you.  We bought you what we could afford, but at times "blew the budget" to buy you expensive Christmas gifts.  That bicycle wasn't something that the government bought.  We fought our way through your teen years, and the crazy comments you sarcastically made about your mother and me, and loved you despite the midnight rides in the car trying to figure out why you violated our curfew.  We did our best!

Our retirement is made up of a meager pension, some savings, social security that our government has chosen to raid, Medicare that often puts us in front of a nurse rather than a doctor, and inflation that is causing great concern as we reach our weakest years.

Now you and your generation are saying, not very skillfully, that we should let a government we don't trust decide what health care we get, and how it will be delivered.  As we reach our waning years you now say, "let nature take its course"!!!  It is taking it's course, and the idea that a government bureaucrat will decide what health measures are taken for me and your mom is disgusting!   -- Enough

Minnesota

For over fifty years I lived in Minnesota and raised my family in the State.  I loved the beauty of Minnesota, and enjoyed the people who we called neighbors and friends  There is much positive that should be said about this State.

However, I remember the $600 given away to anyone who walked into the Minnesota welfare offices.  I drove the 94 highway to Chicago and remember the many cars from Indiana heading for our welfare offices to receive the freely given $600. 

I remember, after losing my wife, inviting another lady into my life and the first time she voted in Minnesota.  She was shocked at how little it took to exercise one of our most important acts as a citizens, the vote.  It was embarrassing how easy this could, and is abused.  

I remember when Minnesota became the fourth highest taxed State in the US.  The list of foolish, and often laughable things done by the government in Minnesota is voluminous.  I find it further laughable that Minnesota would elect people like Jessy Ventura, and now Mr. Al Franken.

Where DID my family get our news when we were raising our family in Minnesota.  Channel 5 and the Star and Tribune.  Anyone who thought either of these “news” outlets presented an objective view of what was happening politically in Minnesota or nationally cannot be serious.  When I “found” Fox News, at least there is an attempt at objectivity, which certainly can’t be said of the New York Times, ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, MSNBC, and most importantly the publicly subsidized PBS.

It is apparent that many of us who now live elsewhere might be portrayed as not very “bright bulbs” to have found something on FOX we can’t find with other media outlets.  If you feel FOX is biased, or if you feel we aren’t very smart, be aware that we who watch FOX and/or are active in the “tea party” have reached a critical mass where we are no longer going to accept “bridges that go nowhere”, government paid frisbee golf courses, government that “deems” bills past rather than take a vote, Representatives who believe the island of Guam will turn over if there are large numbers of military on the island, tax making done by people who don’t pay their taxes, etc.  Being blunt, we are “pissed off” and aren’t going to accept government that has no idea what a budget is, or a Congress that can’t even run their own bank or restaurant and chooses to create health care law that we “have to wait until it is passed to know what is in it”.   FOX isn’t perfect, but sheer stupidity of what is going on in this country isn’t going to continue.  You will more than likely make negative judgements about me and a lot of people like me who actively participate in tea parties, listen to Rush Limbaugh, and find Glenn Beck’s attempts to restore honor as hokey.  

We will be heard from from now on!

Freedom Writers

I just got through watching a movie called "Freedom Writers".  It was about a very successful high school teacher in Los Angeles who had great success with some very difficult students who were mostly gang members, and these kids probably should have been dismissed as impossible to teach.  The story is true, perhaps embelished by Hollywood, but indicative, I believe that we need to find a way to get through the blur of beaureacracy to succeed in today's compromised education environment.  The woman is Erin Gruwell, and she now has taken on a campaign to help disadvantaged kids.  To me, it brings home the need to find and reward teachers who excel in that which we all claim to be the most important task in our nation, that of educating our kids regardless of their background or environment.  -- Enough

If I were black

I wonder how I would feel about the President if I was black after four years.  Unemployment among my teen agers has gone up by over 3,000,000.  Employment among those with my color skin has risen to 18+% if counting those who have given up looking for a job or chosen to take a medical problem and go on Social Security benefits.  If I am in poverty, I probably depend heavily on food stamps and now have a free cell phone from the government.  My wages if I am middle class, have dropped by about $3,000 during the last four years.  The cost of gasoline to get to my job has almost doubled from roughly $1.89 per gallon to $3.58 at this "low point" January 2013.  If I choose to align myself with the Republican Party, I am an "Uncle Tom" and am ostracized by my black Democrat neighbors and organizations like the NAACP.  If I am a teenager in high school, and if I do well academically, I am criticized by my peers.  My heroes are basketball and football players and I view my only options to success are through these fields, or other, perhaps nefarious fields of endeavor.  I have been taught that working at McDonalds isn't a starting point in a career, but a "dead end".  We who are not black ask these questions and are viewed as racists, and how dare we make these statements!  -- Enough   Statistics based on CBO and Bureau of Labor Statistics data.

Cliff hanging is over!

Witnessing the Republicans and the Democrats bicker over the U.S. debt is like watching two drunks argue over a bar bill on the Titanic.

However you look at what happened, it is disillusioning!  On the Democratic side you will have irritations about having less money going into the Federal coffer.  If you are Republican, you can't believe that we once again caved!  It is embarrassing!  Doesn't anybody recognize that the deficit is unsustainable?  Doesn't anybody in our government realize that the price of Velveeta and all our groceries are rising at an alarming pace?  Don't they realize that so many of our neighbors and friends are out of work?  Don't they accept that we who pay for the extravagances of government have to stop?     This is "nuts" folks!   -- Enough