Sunday, March 21, 2010

Sunday March 21, 2010...What the majority wants

So, after hearing all the protests and shouting about how nobody wanted the healthcare and that the congress was shoving something down our throats, I went to the internet to find out what the majority of the citizens of this country really want. Neutral polls seem to be the fairest and most accurate method of obtaining this information and here is what I found out.

It seems that the minority of the people have the loudest yelling voices and make the most obnoxious demonstrators while the silent majority just trust our legislators to do the right thing.

March 20, 2010
"A new study by SurveyUSA puts support for a public option at a robust 77 percent, one percentage point higher than where it stood in June.
In asking its question SurveyUSA used the same exact words that NBC/Wall Street Journal had used when conducting its June 2009 survey. That one that found 76 percent approval for the public option: "In any health care proposal, how important do you feel it is to give people a choice of both a public plan administered by the federal government and a private plan for their health insurance--extremely important, quite important, not that important, or not at all important?"
To ensure that its respondent pool was composed of people from similar demographics and political mindsets, SurveyUSA asked respondents a question pulled directly from NBC's August survey. The results were nearly identical."


Now I know that if you ask only rich white Republican voters over the age of 40 you will get different replies than if you ask poor hispanic young voters. An accurate poll will be representative of all the voters and this is what we're dealing with here. So all I can say to the naysayers is to get your facts straight before you shout out your opinion. Hopefully, truth will prevail.

Saturday, March 20, 2010

Saturday March 19, 2010...Fear and hate

I received the following note from a fellow classmate that I haven't seen in many years. He had been following some of my statements on Facebook or some other blog and apparently disagreed.

“You are at the opposite side of the political spectrum as I am. I am deleting you and the entire Paseo links. Thank God I had sense enough to ignore the reunion.
The Corruptocrats forced me into the Medicare program, now they want to reduce it to the point that my health care will be jeopardized. Damn everyone of them. “

What we don't understand, we fear. And what we fear, we often hate.

Ignorance and intolerance seem to go hand in hand. It isn't that some of us aren't intelligent, it's just that we fear change and often won't take the time to learn about new ways. I remember many of my friends saying that they would never own a computer! There was no reason for any ordinary person to need a computer!

Life changes and you need to adapt. Often we fear the changes and assume that somehow we will be left behind or lose what we have with the changes. We assume that it's us against the world and that everyone is out to take advantage of you. Sometimes it's true, but not always.

Right now it's pretty obvious that the present healthcare situation in the United States needs some changes made to help all of our citizens and provide for our general welfare (per our Constitution). The system or lack thereof we currently have is way too costly and leaves too many people without healthcare. We need to fix that. People don't have to join the Medicare program – they can take care of their own health if they want, but the majority of retirees want the Medicare system – it works for them. Now the congress is considering a Medicare system for all of the people and many people are afraid of the change, but I believe most will welcome the changes after they understand. We are one of the last major countries to initiate a national healthcare system and it's really a shame that we put it off for so long.

It's obvious that many companies who profit mightily from the current status quo don't want anything to change, but they don't represent all of us – they don't answer to all of us – they really don't care that much about all of us – they are in the business of making money. You need to understand that making money isn't all bad, but in this case it isn't good for our country's health.

This is the first time in a century that our representatives have had the gumption to stand up to the special interests and the big contributors and try to pass legislation for the good of the people. It's a good first step. I'm sure there will be corrections needed and adjustments will have to take place, but that is the nature of life. We need to adapt to changes and learn from mistakes and learn to fear less and hate less.

Thursday, March 04, 2010

Thursday March 4, 2010...Come on, Spring!

My sister is still down in southern Texas enjoying the warmth. Meanwhile, I am watching the snow melt on the north side of the house.

I'm really ready for spring! The days are getting just a bit longer and it's light even up into dinner time, but the grass is still brown and the trees are still bare and I'm no tired of the drabness of winter. At least we avoided the heavy snowfall that hit the east coast. They have had a really rough winter and I'm sure they don't sympathize with me at all. The weather here is slowly climbing (more like inching up). The high is going to be in the 50s this weekend but the nights are still in the 30s.

I want 80 so badly. 80 degrees with a light breeze and blue skies and fluffy clouds will be no nice. I won't even complain about mowing the grass. I will open the window in my bedroom and smell the springtime smells. It will be so nice.

Come on, Spring!!