Healthcare and The Rights of Man

With our Congressional Democrats writhing about trying to find the votes to pass the latest version of so-called "Health Care Reform", I've been doing a lot of thinking about rights, obligations, and freedom.

Here's the thing: everyone having health care sounds good.  Yeah.  I mean, all things being equal, who doesn't think that's a good idea?  And there may yet be a smart way to get there, but all the bills waved at us by the Dems so far aren't the way.  Why not, you ask?

Ok, let's say that we agree that all citizens have the right to health care (I do not necessarily agree, but for the sake of discussion, I'll concede the point).  Now, we have created a right, all shiny and new.  But now there's a problem, some of us can't afford it.  So we have to help them pay for it, because despite what you may have heard, it ain't free.  Who's gonna pay for it?  Why the government, or course.

But hang on..where does the government get their money?  Well, they can borrow it or they can take it.  Borrowing it means they took out a loan in your name (as a taxpayer) without your permission or signature, and you are partially responsible for paying it back.  Or they can just raise your taxes, tax the health care plan that you worked hard for, or just take it out of your check...also without your permission by the way.  Do you have a right to your money?  Is your right to the money you earned more important than your neighbors right to health care they didn't work for?

Secondly, let's look at this notion of health care as a right.  The government cannot create a new right, regardless of what they tell you.  Rights are inherent in man from birth, you have them simply because you are alive...endowed by your Creator, you might say.  Our Declaration of Independence says:


"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness..."

Ok then, so rights come from God (or whomever you chose to call him).  Did God give us the right to health care?  And then  if we already have rights, what is the government for?  Most people don't read the next sentence in the Declaration, or they'd know:

"That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,..."

Did you catch that?  To secure these rights.  Governments are supposed to protect our liberties, not create or enforce them, or even make us pay for them.  And the consent of the governed is required...if you don't want government help, the Declaration of Independence says that's your choice, not Nancy Pelosi's. Read the rest of the document if you want to know what happens to governments that rule without the consent of the governed.

Rather that create a right that doesn't exist, or fund this new right by unconstitutional taxation, why not work to fix the problems that exist in health care now?  Stop listening to the special interests groups and lobbyists, and start listening to doctors, nurses, and other health care professionals, and their patients.  Find out why people can't get or keep health insurance, and remove the roadblocks where we can.  Find out what makes health care so unnecessarily expensive (like baseless lawsuits) and let's work to streamline the process without adversely affecting cost or quality.

Why won't they?  Because then they can't claim to have given us a new right, and claim victory.  And because it makes too much dang sense.

Nolanbuck

The Fort Hood Shooting

I'd like to begin by saying my thoughts & prayers go out to those who have lost loved ones in this unspeakable horror, and I pray as well that those wounded make a complete (and hopefully speedy) recovery.  And thank God for heroes and heroines like this lady.

It is a shocking thing to know that our soldiers aren't safe on their own bases on U.S. soil, but I guess that just speaks to the dangerous world we live in.

We have been told by our President (the same guy who apparently nearly forgot to mention the shooting at all yesterday) not to jump to conclusions in this matter, and for the most part that's good, if mostly self-evident, advice.  But a few conclusions can be made here based on what we know.

1. 13 unarmed people were gunned down in cold blood.
2. The killer was, by all reports, motivated by religious and political views.
3. That spells terrorism.

Terrorism does not have to be a grand nefarious plot cooked up in a cave in Waziristan, an act of violence to further a political or religious agenda is terrorism, even if performed by a lone wacko.

Don't tell me to wait and see, the forthcoming facts are just going to fill in the blanks.  But the question of whether this was terrorism had already been answered when the first bullet left Hasan's barrel.  And don't make this into an anti-muslim discussion.  It's not terrorism because he's Muslim, it's terrorism because he did it because he was Muslim. This was not a "man-caused disaster" (the Dust Bowl was a "man-caused disaster") this was an act of terrorism...albeit by a lone crazed assailant.

Nolanbuck

Same Old Song & Dance

Today I read this brilliant column and it encapsulated perfectly what I've been saying & thinking for months: this administration is using the financial crisis to make the social and governmental changes it wants by blaming the whole thing on Bush and saying their way is only undoing the wrong done by the previous administration.  I call B.S.

[Nolanbuck's note - Most of you know where I stand politically, but for those who may not, I am a social conservative and a classical liberal in most other matters, including economics (which is not to be confused with modern liberalism, which is not true liberalism but rather progressivism...but I disgress.) I am a member of the Republican Party who has become increasingly disenchanted as the GOP turns out more & more to be "Democrat light".]
Everything that Mr. Obama has tried so far or proposed has been tried before, with mostly poor results. All of this "hope & change" is fancy wrapping for tired old progressivist ideas that didn't work in the previous century, and won't work in this one. Economic "stimulus" is creating a false recovery that has included a drastically weakened dollar and increasing unemployment, all of which will (if history is any indicator) lead to a second downturn in the economy in the coming months and years that I fear will be deeper than the first (see the late 1930's "second crash"). Regulation and government involvement in business during the 50's & 60's caused the stagnant economy of the 70's (also see the 90's in Japan, the so-called "lost decade").  This is nothing new, and most of the old ideas are the bad ones.
True laissez-faire, free-market policies will produce prosperity every time in the long run. Every.  Time.  I will grant you, free market capitalism is a dangerous beast sometimes, it can buck and thrash wildly on occasion and some companies and people will get hurt economically. But I will posit that many (if not all) of the undulations of the market are caused by our meddling and not by the market itself. And yes, corrupt businesses and people will taint the system and cause it to falter, but that is not the fault of the market, but of those unscrupulous few who would spike it for political or economic gain. In short, I am not pro-business, or even anti-government, but staunchly pro-market.
And I want to tear my hair out when the neo-con "borrow and spend" policies of the Bush administration are called free market or conservative ideals. Bush was not a conservative in the truest sense, he was a neo-con. Neo-cons began as liberals who abandoned the Democratic party in the 50s & 60s due to it's left turn on social issues. I was against Bush's spending and borrowing, his ridiculous immigrant amnesty bill, and a host of other things. The true conservatives biggest mistake was not loudly criticizing Bush when we disagreed, for fear of weakning the GOP's grip on power. Well, we let Bush crap the bed and the progressives now run the government, so in that we failed utterly. Lesson learned.

Nolanbuck

Building a Better Monster

The end of the U.S. dollar as the world's go-to currency began this year, as world banks put 63% of their cash in Euros and Yen over the summer, a stunning reversal from all of recent history.  With the Fed printing greenbacks like monopoly money to pay for the Obama administration's many spending programs that we can't afford, and low interest rates depressing the greenback's value, Fed chairman Bernake has killed the "meltdown" monster by creating a bigger one, making our dollar worthless to comsumers and foreign investors alike.

The problem is, we are paying off the massive debts incurred by Bush and Obama with dollars...dollars that are dropping in value, and foreign banks can't afford to overextend their dependence on the sagging greenback.  But raising interest rates and slowing the printing of money to strengthen the dollar will slow down any economic growth we may be producing and extend our recession.

This, ladies & gents, is why you cannot fix a recession or depression with government spending.  The governemnt can't afford this rampant spending that seems to be mainly going to Democrat-aligned groups like unions and the indigent (so much for "shovel-ready" projects).  And the spending hurts our currency's value, and leaves the government in an ever-increasing portion of our lives.

And Congress is about to stick us with paying for a disaster of a healthcare bill,and even a second stimulus bill.  Hang on to your wallets, folks.

Nolanbuck

We Come In Peace?

Our President has won the Nobel Peace Prize today, in what was a shock to everyone including POTUS himself.  Mr. Obama said in a speech today that he would accept the Prize as a "call to action".  I'm sorry, but isn't that the political equivalent of giving trophies to every kid in little league whether they won a game or not?  Whether you like the President's policies or not, you'll have to admit he hasn't done much yet, he hasn't had time to do much, even he said so.

Furthermore, in a cruel twist of irony, this award was bestowed upon our Prez of Peace the very same morning that he unleashed a brutal and unprovoked attack on our nearest celestial neighbor and constant companion, the moon.  Yes!  On the same day he was hailed as the bringer of peace, NASA rammed a "kinetic bomb" into the south pole of the moon, knocking off enough green cheese to supply salad bars the world over for years.  No comment from the little green men on this unjust assault.

Seriously though, I guess our President is as deserving of the Peace Prize as anyone else in the running this year, I'm sure he's in favor of peace, even if he's done little to achieve it anywhere so far.  I'm happy for Mr. Obama, for whatever the prize is worth...now that he shares it with the a peanut farmer, the guy who invented the internet, and the butcher of Palestine.

Nolanbuck

Crazy People

(Nolanbuck's note: since I started using Blogger.com's new posting format, I inadvertenly saved a couple of posts as drafts without publishing them.  Here's one)

I posted this vid on my Facebook awhile back, saying this is where jazz harmony came from.  I stand by that statement.  Even if this music isn't your cup of tea, the end of the song will impress you.



Those are the Boswell sisters, from the year19 and 32.  The owner of those magnificent pipes seated on our left is Connee Boswell, who went on to have a successful solo career after her sisters Martha and Vet called it quits.  She credits the legendary Mamie Smith as her earliest influence (and it shows), and Connee herself went on to be a huge influence on one Ella Fitzgerald (maybe you've heard of her).

And as if her talent and showmanship weren't impressive enough, our little songbird Connee there...she was a parapalegic from childhood, she always performed from a wheelchair or seated.  Now that's moxy.  Anyway, as you can tell, my tastes in music can be somewhat ecclectic.  Check out more of Conne and her sisters on YouTube.

Nolanbuck

Make Mine Freedom

Sometimes, even cartoons get it right.



The world has changed since this cartoon was produced, but the facts remain the same.

Nolanbuck