Healthcare Ranting

March 22, 2010

It’s been a while since I posted a blog.   I had to stay away for a while because the only thing really on my mind was political stuff that just moved me to angry and that was not good.  I’m still upset with what the Democrats in Washington have done, but I have a better perspective to handle it now.  As the votes came in Sunday,  I saw the writing on the wall begin to take form slowly as the news media began to announce 1 by one those who would now vote yes for the bill in question.    I will share a view thoughts I’ve had over the last few weeks and them share the last and final thought that gives me peace about the situation no matter what.

First, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a country so upset with a leader or party as I have now.  I know I’m rather young and have only paid attention to politics over the last 15-20 years of my life.  Perhaps my older more experienced friends could add some thoughts to that opinion.  Regardless, for me the healthcare reform that passed late last night has 10’s of millions of people very upset.  It will be interesting to see what will happen over the next months with the people.  Will people remember in November what took place in March, we have a tendency to lose steam and allow time to heal wounds, but this issue is too big to ignore or to let it fade away.  We will see come November, when the people get to speak for themselves instead of  a few hundred in power.

It will also be interesting to see what happens to costs, taxes, and medical care over the next few years to 10 years.  It’s to bad that we can’t track that with some degree of absolute certainty.  When costs and taxes go up the Democrats will say it was for some other reason, I’m sure.   It’s also too bad I can’t bill my insurance premium increases to the 219 “yes” voters when things do change.   Some may not be in power anyway after November.

Secondly, I noticed the last democrats to switch from no to yes were the group led by Michigan  Representative, Bart Stupak.   This group of Pro-Life Dems wanted to see in writing how Abortion would not be supported in any way by Federal monies.  They finally gave in to an agreement by Obama that he would write an executive order to back up the already fuzzy legislation.   It was this last group of switch voters that enabled the vote to pass.  There were anywhere from 4-8 dems who would not vote yes until their Abortion issues were handled.    If Obama had not written an executive order they would not have passed the bill, because they only had 219 votes and the minimum of 4 representatives would have turned the vote the other way.  As a strong supporter of life and against abortion  I was only mildly satisfied with this solution.  The reason being that an executive order is only as good as the president makes it and if the next person to take the office of president can change it with the stroke of a pen.  In addition to that, Any court that hears cases based on the issue of abortion is bound by the law and not the executive order, it in effect means nothing.  I use the example of trying to catch a baseball using a wet piece of toilet paper, it’s not going to happen.

This is another government entitlement program that will expand over the next decades and eventually become too bankrupt to work much like the social security program that was started years ago and that I will probably not see one penny of.  I love the sign I saw on a protester on TV last week.  “Equal rights, not Equal Stuff.””  We have come so far from the desires and beliefs of the past country founders and it’s not looking pretty where I stand.  It’s a proven fact: The more handouts you give, the more people are going to take.  The more they take, the less they will want to work for and earn for themselves.  If I’m a student who makes bad grades, of course I would want the class average for a grade rather than my own grade of D or F. 

Last, the one thought that gives me peace in all the frustrating times is that, God is still in control.  Even when things don’t go our way or when bad things happen to you.  God is still in control.  Yes, things will start to change and bad stuff will always be around to rain on your parade, but God is still charge and there is NOTHING that happens that he does not permit to take place.  HE took care of you for years now and he will also take care of you in the next years to come.  When you think about all the stuff that gets you upset and moves you to action, it may be good, but also keep in mind that one day this will not matter anymore and those who have a relationship with Christ Jesus will spent eternity with Him in Heaven.   I am reminded of the old Audio Adrenaline song “You Can’t Take God Away from Me.”   It was big back in the 90’s when schools were under fire for not allowing Christian clubs to meet on school grounds.   The chorus says the following:

You can’t take God away from me, you take my life, my land, my liberty.  You lock me up, I’ll still be free, because you can’t take God away from me.

Government is not the answer to all our problems.  God is the answer to the issues at hand.  If we search the Bible and ask God what he desires for us to do and how to live our lifes we will find an answer.  The Bible does speak on the issues and if we will listen and not turn away from His rules desires for our life I know that He will guide us through every step of the process.


Superbowl Commerical Recap

February 8, 2010

You're playing like Betty White

Well, another year of great Superbowl commercials has come and gone.  I enjoyed the game and the commercials both this year.   For years, the beer commercials have had the market for the most funny commercials, but this year I think they have stepped aside and made room for several new winners.  This years commercials seemed to want to stick it to the guys more than usual.   Between the Dove, Dodge, and FloTV commercials I felt a little more manly after watching them.  I thought to myself, “At least I don’t do that!” 

We have also gone from the “Pant’s on the Ground” to “wearing no pants at all” in two of the commercials. (Dockers and Careerbuilder.com)  My daughter happened to be walking by the TV when both commercials came on back to back and she exclaimed ” They’re not wearing any pants! Gross!!”  I thought to myself, “but it’s supposed to be funny.”

I think my favorite commercial of the night was Snickers staring Betty White.  It was funny and nice to see the “old gal” can still bring the laughs.  She is a good sport and showed the world that she is not done making you laugh.

Focus on the Family – Tim Tebow Ad @ Yahoo! Video

Tim Tebow vs. GoDaddy.com  Well, I was looking forward to seeing the Focus on the Family Ad staring Tim Tebow and his mom.  It was highly criticized by many women’s rights groups for weeks before anyone actually viewed the ad.  As a strong pro-life person and against abortion I was excited that they took the opportunity to celebrate life.  Doctors are not prophets.  My wife and I have personally experienced when the doctor recommends “terminating a pregnancy” and then we trust God for the results and we now have a happy 9-year-old bundle of joy who I can’t imagine life without. 

Focus on the Family led by James Dobson is a great organization and  much of the hate they receive for standing up for their beliefs comes from people who don’t know them and what kind of people they are.  I heard so many lies about James Dobson in the weeks before the ad.  One person called  Dobson a “homosexual hater” and others made him out to be a loveless preacher of God.  They simply don’t know what they are talking about.

I think the woman’s right’s groups should be more upset with the GoDaddy.com commericials than the Focus on the Family ones.  GoDaddy.com shamelessly used the woman (Danica Patrick and others) as sex objects and not view them as women with standards and of the 21st century.  I’m sure that the GoDaddy.com website had several million hits last night to see the rest of the commercial that teased millions of men.  SEX SELLS.   After all was said and done last night I hope the women’s right’s groups noticed how much they over-reacted and took note of the GoDaddy.com comercials like I did.

You can leave your comments or take the poll below to cast your vote for your favorite commercial.

Get your hands off my Doritos!!


Intolerance, a good thing?

January 30, 2010

"You're Intolerant!"

With all the latest current events between the Senate race with Scott Brown, the political partisanship between the left and the right and the recent controversy over the Tim Tebow Pro-Life commercial airing during the Superbowl.  The word “intolerance” has come to mind more than once over the last week.  Most of the time it is meant to hurt someone who believes differently (than they do) on an issue or conviction. 

Anytime I hear the word intolerance I think about a shirt that I have seen produced by Josh McDowell, a Christian apologist.  On the front it said “Intolerance is Great” and on the back it had a list of famous people and what they were intolerant of.  I can only remember a few of the names.  Mother Teresa was intolerant of Poverty, Gandhi  was intolerant of hungry, Martin Luther King Jr was intolerant of racism, and at the end it said Jesus was intolerant of sin.    Most people view intolerance as a bad thing, but as you can see that is not always the case. 

So next time someone calls you intolerant be sure to thank them and then you know you have stuck to your beliefs and don’t flip-flopped in your convictions and beliefs.  I’m trying to keep these blogs shorter and easy to read, so feel free to add your comments and what you are intolerant of.


Tim Tebow On and Off the Field

January 26, 2010

As the end of the college football season came to a close just a few weeks ago.  All remaining college football fans begin to look toward the NFL draft that will take place in late April.  This is the last time they will get to talk college football in relation to the 2009 season.  Personally I go into a NCAAF coma that is only kept alive by the life-support of the occasional blurbs about my home team, the Georgia Bulldogs.

There has been much talk about Tim Tebow and his highly successful years as the Florida Gators quarterback and his next step into the NFL, negative talk that is.  My purpose is not to get into the specifics of the criticism, but only to say that the criticism is over-rated  for the most part in my humble opinion.   I question the source and slant of the criticism from many. Besides the fact of being one of the greatest college football players of all time, Tebow is also known for his strong faith in Jesus Christ.  His faith is mixed into every aspect of his football life such as  interviews and scriptures references on his eye paint.  In reality, Tebow is the same type of person on the field as he is off the field.  He doesn’t change his life to fit around his faith and visa versa.  I can not think of a better role model for young kids and teens to aspire to be.   Tebow works hard to keep his reputation as a Christian with integrity.  In the days where sports celebrities are dropping like flies in drug and steroid use and the recent fall of Tiger Woods in multiple occurences of marital infidelity, Tebow is a breath of fresh air.

Tim Tebow

The die-hard sports fans and critics can say that morals don’t matter on a football team, but that I believe is a lie and a cop-out given as an excuse to not like him because of his faith.  I say that because of two reasons, first, if you were the father of a college or pro athlete would you want your son or daughter to live the life style of Mark Maguire, Barry Bonds, or Tiger Woods?  Successful and rich, yes, but the lifestyle of drama I’m sure you would not wish on your own flesh and blood.  Secondly, the NFL teams that draft these players would rather take a great player who is not known for “off the field antics” over a great player who is known for perhaps getting into trouble from time to time.  These are there assets and they don’t want to have to worry about a player who causes trouble.  Unless you are Jerry Jones and Al Davis, who are known for picking the “bad guys”, but hey, they are in the minority.  Again if I asked you as a parent, would you rather have a son or daughter who are both successful in life, but one of them gets in trouble often, you have to bail them out of jail, constantly keep an eye on them to protect them, which would you choose?  Need I say more?

Yes, Tebow has some issues with his mechanics and perhaps with the NFL system that he hasn’t seen much of at Florida, but just watch come draft day, I will shave my head bald if Tebow is not taken in top 10 of the draft.  Personally, I’m just glad he is no longer a Florida Gator, since I am a Georgia Bulldog fan.  I can now get back to 100% hate for the Florida Gators instead of the 99% I had for them the last 4 years and I will enjoying hearing about his success in the NFL and his walk with Christ.

On a related note, I have also recently heard that Tim Tebow and his mother will have a 30 second commercial played during the Superbowl.  The commercial will have a Pro-life message and share a story from his mother’s past where she was advised by a doctor to terminate a complicated pregnancy.  She didn’t heed the advice and Tim Tebow was born.  The commercial cost 2.5 million and was paid for by several donors and sponsored by the Focus on the Family organization, lead by Dr. James Dobson.  The commercial has come under fire by womens’s groups and they are asking CBS to pull the ad.  The groups have resorted to name calling and denial of free speech to try and get their way.  So far CBS has not taken any action.  You can read more about it here.  http://backporch.fanhouse.com/2010/01/26/womens-groups-want-cbs-to-drop-tim-tebow-super-bowl-ad/