STUPID IS AS STUPID DOES!!

There is a truism in politics that if an election goes too far to the right the next election will swing too far to the left or too far to the left the next one will go too far to the right. I think that is what is going to happen in the next two election cycles. I’ve seen too many situations where unchecked power is corrupting and I’m seeing it now on the federal and state level.

Unfortunately I believe the Democratic Party has been infiltrated by the liberal socialist element of our country. The Republicans have always had a fringe element of nuts and maybe I just have gotten use to dealing with and fighting with them.

What I see is a dismantling of the American historical structure of government and the economy. I also see the present government treating us like idiots and those who see it and disagree are all labeled as right wing extremists by the left wing socialists. What is even scarier is the evangelical fanaticism of the left in their blind obedience to Obama. I try to look at things objectively so I can understand what is going through someone’s mind. What I see in DC is scary.

If a politician has to lie to get his agenda through, it is probably not a good agenda. For example when DC tells us we have to spend our way out of this recession. I always thought if you’re in debt, stop spending until you get your revenues in line with your expenditures. Both the state and federal government are doing just the opposite. I guess they know more about it than you and I do because we elected them. On the other hand I was asked, a long time ago, who is the real fool; the fool or the people who follow to and listen to the fool?

As a probation/parole officer I use to tell people I supervised that if faced with any situation, if it doesn’t feel or seem right, don’t do it. I think, to a point, this advice still holds true, if it doesn’t sound right, it probably isn’t.

The government already has socialized health care, it is called Social Security and it is doing well. WRONG: It is going broke. We have the VA and that is doing well: WRONG: At best it is hit and miss, remember in S. Florida where the VA hospital did numerous Colonoscopies and never cleaned the scope, between procedures.

Now let’s take a look at how this national health care program is being sold. First we are going to have a public option, which is the government run alternative to private insurance. Now that has been taken out, oops, then put back in, oops I think it was taken out, no they just changed the name to cooperatives; then Obama went to the religious community and invoked god into the discussion. Now he is naming the bill after Ted Kennedy. If Obama thought it would help get this bill through he’d name it the Lee Quandt National Health Act of 2009.

I think the DC crazy bug has bitten some of these people. The only hope that we have left is the 2010 elections, we have to bring (star wars phrase), “balance back into the force” by taking back the State Senate, the US Senate and the US House of Representatives and the State Legislature, that way we can keep stupidity in check.

EXETER TAX BILLS

I’m not sure what one of the selectmen is trying to do by pushing the message about our citizens and taxpayers falling on tough times and not being able to pay their tax bills/water and sewer bills on time. The innuendo is being pushed that those who have fallen on tough times are dead beats and trying to “game the system”. Although this economy is tough on all of us my family was lucky enough not to have fallen on times as tough as some and our bill is paid.

I am probably one of the most fiscally conservative people when it comes to spending taxpayer dollars you’ll find. I will spend money on stuff we need; but, not always on what we want. Tax dollars do not belong to anyone but the taxpayers, plain and simple and it is governments responsibility to spend as few of them as possible to keep government running, understanding that government needs that tax revenue to run. Let’s use Obama’s line, this is a teachable issue. As a town we need to cut back on spending because our revenue stream is not there. This isn’t the state where phony revenue projections are used to balance a bogus budget.

People can argue over the current way we raise our tax dollars, property taxes vs. income and sales tax; but, the bottom line is if people are having a hard time paying their property taxes they probably would have a hard time paying their income taxes because they don’t have any money.

Holding them up to public embarrassment and perhaps scorn is not the way to increase the money flow into our town coffers, in fact it is kicking someone when they are down. This is public information and people have a right to know who is not paying their taxes and can go to the town offices and see the info; but, this time it is a little different when the local paper puts it on the front page and we don’t see the same treatment for other towns. The question needs to be asked, “What is the agenda here and who is behind it”, because this is not how to collect delinquent tax revenues.

Exeter is a caring town, a tolerant town and a generous town to a point. Three million dollars is a lot of money to be owed and we all share in the fact that the town is down that 3 million; but, again we have a process to collect this and we should; but, if people don’t have the money right now, then they don’t have the money right now. We shouldn’t be putting them under more financial or emotional stress by holding them up for public embarrassment or ridicule.

We have a statutory procedure on how to deal with the non payment of property taxes and it doesn’t include intentionally embarrassing the taxpayers who are behind in their payments nor will it help bring in the payments due.

As a country we will pull out of this recession and as a community we will survive. For those of you who are having a tough time I can only say don’t give up, keep the faith and we will come through this OK. No matter if you’re a town official or not, this will give you a better understanding of what tough times are. I can’t say it will make you a better person; but, it will make you a wiser and more compassionate person.

Let’s stop trying to get cheap name time in the newspapers and understand that we are still in the worst recession since the great depression and people are feeling the pain, some are feeling a lot of pain, member(s) of the board of selectman need not capitalize on this for political gain.

CAN ANYONE TELL ME?

Can someone tell me how many people are uninsured? Obama started out saying there were 48 million, then it went down to 47 million then in one of his last speeches it was 46 million then I heard another Obama administration official say it was 45 million. My god, the longer we wait the less the numbers and the cheaper it should be. It is like a reverse auction.

The republicans claim the number is about 5 million, which, depending on how they define uninsured, is probably an accurate number. The problem is government is government and politicians are politicians. Both lie, manipulate and work numbers to fit their arguments.

The people I feel sorry for are the ones who don’t question how these numbers come about and how did they arrive at them?

The current discussions and plans for reforming our health care or health insurance programs have gone right off the scale of common sense and meaningful reform. It is no longer even a question of whether we need reform; it is a question of trying to find who is telling the truth in the discussions. Obama has committed political capital in pushing through a reform. He is a very good speaker; but, frequently does not know what he is talking about without his teleprompter and even then the info is wrong, and gets off message easily. Those who have a praise a rock star mentality will go nuts because I said something negative about their hero who can do no wrong, say nothing wrong and do nothing right. One of the funniest emails I’ve read was saying the difference between god and Obama is god never thought he was president. President Bush was never classified as Roman Orator when he was in office either.

The political battle and firestorm surrounding health care and health insurance reform is now centering on trust. Who do you trust and who is telling the truth and who do you believe. Inherently, republicans do not trust government or bureaucrats neither did our founding fathers when they wrote the constitution.

Some of the rhetoric, at face value is invalid and our common sense tells us that: Government is going to save us money. I don’t think so.
Government is going to make the system more efficient. I don’t think so.
Medicare is more efficient. I don’t think so; Medicare is so racked with fraud and bureaucratic mismanagement it needs an over haul.
Government is not going to knock off Grammy and Grampy. If most of our health care spending is spent in the last 6 months of our lives trying to save us (many times in vain and this is very sad) then savings comes from a triage program that determines who can make it and who can’t and don’t spend the money on cases that government feels cannot survive; that is a savings and I am against it.

We could go on and on; but, the bottom line is there is no real bill ready for prime time so all of these discussions are just Pelosi (read prior posts).

OBAMA’S CREDIBILITY IS GONE!!

Many of us, both democrats and republicans have worked hard over the years to make our health insurance program in NH fair, equitable and assessable. I don’t think there is any question that every person in our state and country should have access to health care. The problem that kept arising was who was going to run it and how was it going to be paid. Each time a proposal was put forth, even to look at, the insurance company lobbyists would come by and take well positioned state reps and senators out for lunch or make sure they bought a few $250 tickets to their fundraisers so they could talk in a more relaxed setting.

I must be one of those angry people who have had enough. Although there is some anger most of it is pure frustration. First of all when my fellow republicans were in charge nothing of any substance changed, we blew it and health care and insurance became a debatable divisive issue.

The democrats didn’t have control of the political process so they, and it is how the system works, threw stones and criticized the republicans posturing for the next election and nothing got done; again money and influence controlled the process.

Now we have Obama, who in my and many people’s opinion is a socialist, pushing a socialist’s political agenda, with health care and insurance being the issue of the day.

The issue of health care and health insurance has been trumped by whether Obama wins or loses a political issue or whether we republicans can stop or not stop that agenda. It is not an issue of right or wrong it is an issue of winning or losing. Politicians are watching the polls and tailoring their arguments to fit the mood of the day. This equals not getting any straight forward, simple, honest answers; only political rhetoric that sounds good with no meaningful answers or resolutions to our questions.

This bill will do this; this bill says that from the democrats. No this bill will kill our senior citizens and because of the lack of doctors will cause health care rationing from the republicans. What I laugh at is there is no bill; it is only the first round of ideas coming out of the House of Representatives on the way to the senate.

The real fight will be in the senate because there are less members and they are cheaper and easier to buy; the special interest money will be flowing, honesty and integrity will once again be compromised and we will end up with something that totally screws up our health care, probably our economy, and we will be worse off.

Obama is more concerned about nationalizing our country than he is fixing what’s wrong. Politically speaking the Democratic Party leadership has become the leadership of socialism which conflicts with our countries very fabric. What the current political establishment is showing is that they do not want some of our socialist programs to fit into our capitalist society; they want the socialist agenda to take over and control our country and us as individuals. This is why Obama is losing credibility.

Health Care Discussion Way off the Mark

I have heard two true statements about healthcare in our country. 1. It is the best in the world. 2. It is the most expensive in the world. The reason it is the best is because it is one of the most competitive in the world, with a population willing to spend for research and innovation, and entrepreneurs who see health improvement as a worthy, as well as rewarding goal.

But it is the second part, the most expensive, that the President and Congress are not really addressing. With all the money that flows through our health system, it becomes a target for lawyers. When a doctor pays half of his income in liability insurance we know there are abuses. I heard statements by the President of Doctors’ Insurance Company. He said, “For obstetricians, it is not whether you will be sued, but how often in a year.” He also said, “ In court, it is not whether the doctor made a mistake, but how damaged the patient is that determines the award.”

Insurance companies also see a chance for big rewards. As lawyers drove up costs for health, no family budget could cope with the typical costs. So it became necessary to have health insurance. Insurance companies had many years of double digit increases to insure profitability. Doctors reacted with extra tests and procedures that had more to do with protecting themselves than with helping the patient.

So why are we talking about creating government insurance? The real solution is in limiting lawsuits. Some states have led the way by creating medical review boards, a less expensive way of reviewing the case for merit. Other states have capped the rewards. How can someone who never earned more than $500,000 in a working life, and only bought life insurance worth $50,000, somehow get ten million dollars for pain and suffering?

Here’s the dirty secret. The largest contributors to the Democratic Fund Raisers are the trial lawyers. The President is a lawyer, and it is the most prevalent profession in Congress. Don’t expect any of these lawyers or Democrats to point to the real problem, with even less chance that they will fix it.

Let me make an analogy. Let’s compare our health care system with an automobile. The public, the car owner, brings it to a shop, the government, and says, “The engine isn’t running right.” One mechanic, representing the US House, says, “No wonder, it’s the wrong color. It should be blue.” Another mechanic, representing the Senate, says, “You’re wrong. It should be green.” So they argue the color. The manager, representing the President, says, “Just make sure the tires are properly inflated.” The captive media, always anxious to glorify liberals, duly reports these discussions as if they are serious. All parties ignore the engine. Some of the public gets distracted from the real problem as well.

Look at some of the other players in this debate. The American Medical Association sees an opportunity to deny participation to all alternative practitioners, such as naturopaths, chiropractors, herbalists, and some others who sometimes are producing better results than standard medicine.
AARP, which many years ago became just another captive of the Democratic fund raising machine, shows its real colors by endorsing whatever Congress comes up with as another move toward socialized medicine. AARP hardly notices how real socialized medicine ignores the elderly.

This whole debate brings to mind only one word… CORRUPTION!



Ken Weyler is a former state representative from Kingston, NH