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Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Out early today!

Yay! I got to go home early today and when I got here I was all alone. It's nice to have some quiet time. The teacher for the afternoon had to leave for a doctor appointment so we had the choice to go home or sit in with another class and I went home. There is some reading for me to do later and I will do it. Right now it is nice to sit in the kitchen and have my lunch and have the windows open and just hear the quiet. It was supposed to be around 102 today and right now it is just in the 70's and it is a little cloudy. I might try to do the raisin pudding and brandied lemon sauce and call it studying!

One of the guys at my school is being a pest with trying to get me to go out with him. I told him that I was married and he doesn't seem to care. One of my email friends told me restaurant people can be a little slutty and I guess with some of them that is true. It is helping me get over the idea of working in a restaurant when I graduate. I am thinking I might do catering because that is something I can do from home and it is not a full time job. You just work when there is work to do and the rest of the time I can be with my family.

The morning teacher was asking us about supporting President Obama and his health care thing and he was not so happy when I told him I think people need to take responsibility for themselves instead of asking the government and everyone else to do this for them. I didn't have health care until I came here so I know what it is like and the reason my parents didn't have health care is because my father wanted his drugs more than anything else and then my mom would not spend the money. Who's fault was that? Yeah it sucked to be me but then would it be right for me to say to everyone else to pay for my health care because my parents wanted drugs and a new car more than they cared about something really important? I know I am lucky now to be where I am but Steve and Christie are not lucky because they work really hard to make sure the family has everything we need and it would not be fair for the government to take away what we have just because someone else isn't doing what it takes to have those things too. Pastor Jeff talks about how envy is a sin and this subject really makes the point why it is bad. You hear people slamming on people who they call rich as if they got that way by magic or by winning a lottery. You have to wonder if it would make them feel better if everyone was poor and no one was rich?

Sort of like how some people post on the comments here upset that I am happy. Would it make them feel better if I was not happy? If I was miserable again would that do anything to make their life better? So who cares if someone else is rich because them being rich doesn't make you poor. You make you poor. My father could have had a good job and we could have been a lot happier but he loves drugs more than anyone else so he made us poor and my mom went along with a lot of it.

The teacher did not make me so happy asking the question because I am going to school to learn how to cook and I am not going there to talk about politics. That was something I really hated in high school was all the teachers pushing their politics all the time. I guess I needed to get this out because I felt a little cheated having to have someone tell me about President Obama when I was up late to study something that was supposed to be why I was in class this morning.

Politics is something I never cared for all that much. Arguing about stuff is not my idea of a good time but some people really enjoy it and I guess that is fine for them. I've had enough fighting in life people telling me what to do and having someone try to make me say what they want in class really pissed me off. Like I am supposed to repeat what they want just to make them happy?

Different subject.

An email friend sent me 37 questions that she sent to a lot of people and I like questions so here they are:

1. Do you like Blue cheese dressing? Yes.

2. Have you ever smoked cigarettes? No. I never smoked anything.

3. Do you own a gun? No.

4. What flavor Kool Aid was your favorite? I never tried Kool Aid.

5. Do you get nervous before doctor appointments? Only the OB-GYN.

6. What do you think of hot dogs? With chili and cheese! Yummy!

7. Favorite Christmas movie? Home Alone.

8 What do you prefer to drink in the morning? I'm starting to like coffee.

9. Can you do push ups? Yes. I can do about thirty before I get tired.

10. What's your favorite piece of jewelry? My wedding ring.

11. Do you have A.D.D.? No.

13. Do you wear glasses/contacts? No.

14. Middle name? C is my middle name for real. My mom put it on my birth certificate and it was supposed to be Catherine but all it says is C so legally my middle name is just C. I just say it is whatever I want it to be.

15. Name 3 thoughts at this exact moment. I wish Steve were home. I should do some chores. It will be nice to go swimming later.

16. Name 2 or 3 drinks you regularly drink? Water, milk, coffee.

17. Current worry? I want to be pregnant soon so I won't be pregnant next summer.

18. Current hate right now? People who want me to be anything but who I am.

19. Favorite place to be: That's private! (-:

20. How did you bring in the New Year? I got drunk on tequila shooters with Carmen at her house.

21. Name three people who will complete this: Carmen, Marcus, Macy.

22. Do you own slippers? Yes.

24. What color shirt are you wearing? White tee shirt.

25. Do you like sleeping on satin sheets? YES!!

26. Can you whistle? No, I never really tried.

27 Where are you now? At the kitchen table writing on my computer.

28. Would you be a pirate? I could never steal from anyone so no.

29. What songs do you sing in the shower? Baby got back...really! That song is so funny!

30. Favorite girls name? Laurie

31. Favorite boy's name? David

32. What is in your pocket right now? Nothing.

33. Last thing that made you laugh? Seeing one of my chickens running!

35. Worst injury you've ever had? Got hit in the hand with a hoe when I was little.

36. Do you love where you live? Totally!

37. How many TVs do you have in your house? One, in the living room.

Bordelaise sauce over beef Wellington.

38 comments:

  1. Yikes! Pretty disturbing to see the political slant today. As a Brit you know we have the NHS, the National Health Service, it is the best bloomin thing in the world (and no it isn't perfect) but I feel it is sad that people seem to think health care should be something you have to take care of yourself. Everyone and especially children have the right to full access to good healthcare without their parents being bled dry for it.

    There are many people who would be dead today without the NHS, thank goodness for it.

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  2. Don't let the health care politics get to ya, Megan. We as Christians belong to a kingdom not of this world, and we can do our part to subvert this world's systems by helping those people in need of health care so that they don't have to rely on the government... and of course, by not relying upon the government ourselves.

    The political slant present in so many schools (from grade school on up) is one of the best arguments for home schooling there is.

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  3. That's always a frustrating one. Last semester I had a professor who made it a point to hold us hostage and rant/vent his political views for a good 5 minutes every class. And to make it worse it wasn't even debate style, more a lecture on why our world was coming to an end. Every time he started on his view groan, moans and snickering started up.

    Oh and fact # 29 was pretty funny.

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  4. does your family have a pool? or do you swim in a pond? just curious.

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  5. Charmed, we have a swimming pool. The people who had the house before us built it.

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  6. Megan, you are so very right that health care is not a 'right'. The people who say otherwise do not understand what a right is.

    "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."

    Rights are inherent within and not without a person. That means that you do not have a "right" to health care because to fulfill that "right" requires that you compel someone else to fulfill it for you. A taxpayer must be compelled by force of law and by the force of the law enforcers to pay for that 'right'. Doctors and other healthcare professionals must eventually be compelled by governmental force or coercion to fulfill that 'right' if it is required. In the USA this is already the case as no one can be legally turned away from an emergency room. This forces doctors to provide health care services without compensation.

    In short, there is no such thing as a 'right' to health care any more than there is a right to have a haircut and a right to force someone else to cut it for you.

    As to the lovely and charming lady from the United Kingdom, she is failing to grasp the notion that a government big enough to give you what you need is also big enough to take it away. But, of course, the British don't have to suffer the hazards of freedom and liberty as they are subjects to the Crown and they have no inherent rights, just mere privileges bestowed upon them by a magnanimous government.

    Natja mistakes the UK government's provision of health care as a right when, in fact, it is every bit the emblem of oppression that was the fact of a slave holder providing food, clothing, and, yes, health care to his chattel and bondservants.

    If she and the rest of the chattel beholden to HM Government are content to suffer constraint so long as they have 'free' access to a doctor then I have no argument with them. Truly, I do belive they have the right to sell themselves into slavery if they wish.

    Myself, I no more want government dictating or influencing my choices for health care than I want them controlling what I read, eat, think, do, say, write, wear, or etc.

    The daily contest of liberty and freedom is not for the weak of heart nor is it for those timid souls who willingly trade liberty for a mercurial security. Yes, the British have the NHS. They also have a government that censors the press when it suits them, the government can arrest and detain UK subjects without cause, and the Brits live in the most highly monitored society in the world where the average person is on a security camera ten times a day. Oh, but for surrendering their basic and fundamental liberties and freedoms they have a 'right' to health care.

    Oh, but wait! Is this an article from the left-wing Telegraph decrying the fact that 120,000 Brits die every year because they've been DENIED treatment for cancers that are easily treated elsewhere in the world?

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/2403607/Tens-of-thousands-of-cancer-victims-denied-drugs-which-could-extend-their-lives.html

    I'm sorry, but where in this is this spurious "right" to health care being invoked? Yes, that's right, no one is invoking a right that does not exist at all.

    Natja thinks it is 'sad' that people like me think we should take care of our health care on our own yet 120,000 of her countrymen die needlessly every year because they were denied treatment by that same system. Thanks, but no thanks, Natja. You go on believing in your 'right' to health care (which is clearly a delusion according to your own left-wing press) and I'll go on paying out of my own pocket for health care that won't elect to let me die when it's cost efficient.

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  7. Wow, I love the fact that MA seems to think I care to read all that he has written about my opinion. Fact is, I don't. I am not going to argue the benefits of a national health service with HIM, I have actually read his other posts, his opinion doesn't matter to me.

    The NHS is not perfect but it is a damn sight better than what you have over there from the pov of someone in need, I know, I have lived both systems. We continuously fight and win cases so more people can get the drugs they need FOR FREE.....

    So smoke that in your pipe luvvie, I know what I prefer.....

    x

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  8. Marcus you are one big bore. And if I'm not using your style of genital language to refer to you, it is because only big bores do that.

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  9. Did he swear at me also Helene? Wouldn't surprise me, all I managed to see when I skimmed past it without my glasses on was my name several times, did he honestly think I would read all of THAT? He has more time on his hands than I do.......what a dork!! hahahaha

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  10. Natja,
    No, he swore previously at ALM, in the most vile fashion. And she has since quite posting. Can't say as I blame her.
    H.

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  11. Ah yes, I read that post...what a nasty piece of work he is, but you know what they say about 'empty cans'?

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  12. Hmmm, As someone who grew up with Health Care and has to fight for a proper health plan that I pay for right now, I think I'd prefer a government run health plan like the Brits have. Seriously, I'm paying for one of my Areas best health plans and have "Great" coverage, but yet I need to wait and fight to get a referral to see a Psycologist when I feared I was suffering Post Pardum Depression after having my second baby, By the time I got the referral I had survived the ordeal and my daughter was 4 months old. Right now I am fighting our health plan to get my 2 year old into speech therapy cause she has a lisp and stutter like I had.

    I think its different for everyone. In my area we have the best health coverage, the most expensive and most options, yet it is still severly falues(Spelling?). A family friend died cause Kasier refused to give him an emergency scrip for his diabetic insulen, cause his DR was on vacation and unreachable. His family is currently sueing Kasier.

    I think a unverisal health plan would help stop unneeded spread of diseases and illnesses. I think by everyone having free health care, they would seek care and be able to live a healthier life.

    Excuse my spelling errors, I'm sleeply, LOL. Also before ANYONE starts picking my post apart and argueing with me on it, DONT START. I dont care to argue my own personal opinon with anyone, it is my opinon and only that. So thanks.

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  13. Helene

    I'm sure MA would love to think that his insane vulgarity drove me away, however my absence from here has nothing to do with him. Trying to get a child off to college and aclimating to a new position at work has consumed my attention. MA has consistantly demonstrated via his posts that he is a degenerate. Someone of his caliber is hardly a reason to turn tail and run. He cut's his own throat every time he opens his mouth.

    As for national health care, I am for it. It is a fallacy to say that doctors and medical institutions go uncompensated when treating the uninsured. The cost is tacked onto the the cost of health care procedures. That's part of the reason why anything medical is so outrageously high. Those who can afford health insurance pay for those who don't. The other reason why medical care is so expensive is because of the cost of malpractice insurance physicians have to carry. I have a friend who's husband is a neuro-surgeon. His mal-practice insurance premium is over a million dollars a year.

    As taxpayers we all are already funding state programs that provide free medical care to the poor. Taxing me more for a national health care system while not having to pay annually escalating insurance premiums is okay with me. If it drives down the cost of medical procedures and medication we all win.

    A national health care system would even the playing field for both patient and doctor. We would no longer be hostages to insurance companies who are basically playing God by determing if you're illness or condition is going to be covered by them or not.

    I hardly see anything Christian-like in the attitude that everyone is on their own and to hell with those who do not have and bully for those who do.

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  14. >>I hardly see anything Christian-like in the attitude that everyone is on their own and to hell with those who do not have and bully for those who do.

    Or better yet Amy, it is somehow very Christian that these poor have to rely on charity!!! What is THAT about? So more wealthy Christians can feel good about dispensing money to the needy?
    Yes it is good to give to charity but to ASK people to rely on charity as if it is better than the government providing for everyone??? Madness....

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  15. I'm poor because I'm a college graduate who can't get a job that pays more than $7.25 an hour because no one in this economy is hiring. My choices are really to either pay my rent or pay for health insurance.

    I think I deserve free health care right now, and I think a lot of people that graduated from college recently are in the same boat.

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  17. Marcus, you paint everyone who argues the benefits of tax-funded health care as ignorant and naive by twisting their words… Of course none of this is free, and no one is arguing that. No system is perfect either. But you have to stop and ask yourself, why do we have a system of government in the first place, and why do we pay taxes? Your logic appears to be, remove all assistance, let everyone fend for themselves, and everything will work out for those with a strong work ethic. Worship the shiny god of capitalism all you like — but there are many people working their ass off to provide for their families who are really struggling through no fault of their own. The reasons for this are many, but since we're talking about health lets start there. Imagine you were a single dad trying to support a family of four kids on a low income. Now imagine one of those kids had severe cerebral palsy and required constant care. Or imagine you were injured in a car accident, requiring significant time off work and medical treatment.

    Here's the thing about illness and injury… It will affect some people worse than others and you can never completely safeguard yourself against it. We pay taxes to the government to pay for services that benefit us all as a society… It's a system that should (if it is functioning well) protect those in more vulnerable circumstances.

    Is it Biblical to have a system that supports those who do not have the means to adequately support themselves? You bet…

    At the end of every three years, bring all the tithes of that year's produce and store it in your towns, so that the Levites (who have no allotment or inheritance of their own) and the aliens, the fatherless and the widows who live in your towns may come and eat and be satisfied, and so that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands. (Deuteronomy 14:28-29)

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  18. Megan, while perhaps I take a different view of health care than you do, I do agree with the principles you wrote about… It's not right that people use what money and resources they do have on unnecessary and selfish purchases and then complain that their necessities are not provided for. Since I quoted the Bible to argue my case for tax-funded care, it's only fair that I acknowledge the Biblical principals of being responsible and providing for your own…

    'Give proper recognition to those widows who are really in need. But if a widow has children or grandchildren, these should learn first of all to put their religion into practice by caring for their own family and so repaying their parents and grandparents, for this is pleasing to God. … If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.'
    (1 Timothy 5:3-4, and 1 Timothy 5:8)

    'In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we command you, brothers, to keep away from every brother who is idle and does not live according to the teaching you received from us. For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example. We were not idle when we were with you, nor did we eat anyone's food without paying for it. On the contrary, we worked night and day, laboring and toiling so that we would not be a burden to any of you. We did this, not because we do not have the right to such help, but in order to make ourselves a model for you to follow. For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: "If a man will not work, he shall not eat."' (2 Thessalonians 3:6-10)

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  19. Also an added note. I'm in the Health Care feild (Nursing) and I know from speaking to my co-workers and people at the Hosiptal, that atleast 95% of the health care workers are for the unverisal health plan. Finally DRs will not have to say No to someone because they can't pay. Drs and Nurses will finally be able to be able to be caring and giving without worrying that the Patient can't pay. Drs will be able to prescripe medicines and know that the patient will be able to get it filled. Us Nurses will be able to lecture our patients on proper aftercare and know that the patient is gonna follow up with it.

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  20. Amy,
    So glad to read your post, thanks.

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  21. Fallen Star, doctors in the UK are saying 'no' to the 120,000 people who die annually because they are being refused treatment for cancer. You don't see that the same people who run the HMOs and PPOs in the USA will be the very same people who will be running the new bureacracy except now there won't be any appealing their actuarial decisions to the bioethics committees because the word of the bureacrat (as it is in the UK, Canada, and etc.) will be final.

    But who am I to argue with this Brave New World?

    You people have your High Priestess of Public Health and here she is in all her glory:

    "Such human weeds clog up the path....We must clear the way for a better world; we must cultivate our garden."

    Margaret Sanger (1883-1966)
    Founder, Planned Parenthood

    Those who live by the sword shall surely die by it and I hope, with all my heart, that all of you who are wantng to force this insult to liberty upon this nation will die by the very monstrosity you create.

    When you're 67 and (as in Canada) you contract a treatable cancer and the doctor tells you you can't have the treatment because you're too old be sure to remember your 'right' to 'free' health care. If I'm around, I'll enjoy pissing on your graves.

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  22. One article and he thinks he knows the NHS.

    Blessed are the ignorant...for they will display it with pride.

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  23. Thanks Helene

    To Megan

    At the risk of incurring the wrath of the vast majority here I have to point out that I see a disturbing double standard when you say

    "I told him I think people need to take responsibility for themselves instead of asking the government and everyone else to do this for them" and then in the same breath you say how lucky you are that Steve and Christie are providing you with health insurance.

    You are benefiting from the generosity of others. As you said, it is their hard work that makes it possible for you to go to the doctor whenever you need to. Because of someone else, you can have peace of mind when you become pregnant knowing that you and your baby will have the resources to ensure a healthy pregnancy and know that you will be able to afford any medical services that might be incurred if complications arise.

    I would think that you of all people (with your childhood of deprivation) would be more sympathetic to those who have had some bad breaks in their lives. It's rather judgemental to imply that our social responsibility to our fellow humans stops when it comes to supporting a bare necessity such as health care. By helping others we are also helping ourselves.

    Maybe it would be wise and humbling to think about what kind of life you would of had if you hadn't joined such a affluent family that can provide you with a free education and free health insurance.

    Under different circumstances you might have found yourself single, pregnant, working a job paying minimum wage and no health insurance. It's plausible that under those conditions you might have a different opinion regarding a national health care plan.

    There will always be taxes and there will always be government. I'd rather my taxes go towards helping those who cannot afford health care rather than paying for a needless, senseless war or paying for some senator's "travel expenses".

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  24. Natja, Great comment: "Blessed are the ignorant...for they will display it with pride."

    But I didn't understand what it meant until I actually read Muddy Azalea's entry word for word. He obviously knows absolutely nothing about British history. "HM Government"? Priceless.

    PS: if you don't know what that last phrase in quotations refers to, then you have wisely chosen to skim past his entries.

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  25. ALM/Amy,
    As I see it, Megan is blessed to be with a good family but as she pointed out, they are neither 'fortunate' nor 'lucky'. They work hard and they reap the harvest of their work. I noted the post where Steve was going to work after dinner and then not coming home until late morning. That's not a "lucky" man, that's just a man doing what he needs to do to take care of his family.
    Megan has amply paid her dues in life and she took an enormous risk doing what she has done. I doubt the health and benefits package were what attracted her to her life style or do you think she whored herself out for 'free' health care? Yes, I know you'd do that but then not everyone shares your values and you'd do well not to make such an assumption.

    Helene, you accuse me of ignorance in the use of the term, "HM Government", and all you've done is betray your own ignorance.

    'Her Majesty's Government' generally refers to the civil government of the United Kingdom and the term is still in use although it is freqently abbreviated to the less proper 'HMG' on quasi-official documents and communications of less than state level. I won't have to explain what a 'state level communication' is, will I? Because that, too, is a term used by HM Government.

    A branch of MI5 that is currently in operation is known as "Her Majesty's Government Communication Centre" and it is roughly an equivalent to the American NSA.

    If you'd bothered to do your homework before you made an ass of yourself you'd have saved us both some time. But there is the saving grace that you proved yourself an ass and in doing so have saved me the effort. For that I thank you.

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  26. Oh Helene,

    I seriously don't read anything he writes, I noticed a quote from a paper and my name many times but no, I have not read it. People like that argue for their own pleasure anyway, I daresay he doesn't have much else to do with his life.

    We should pity him really.

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  27. Re: Healthcare --

    Everyone's entitled to their own opinion, but scripture points to there always being a poor class. Some people are poor because of their circumstances. I wonder what people affected by the economy who are currently living in tent cities would say about them making themselves poor.

    Scripture also points to caring for the poor IN SPITE OF whatever made them poor -- i.e., in Ruth's situation, the Hebrews had a tradition of leaving the grain they dropped in the field so that the poor people could come and pick some up. They COULD have gone back and picked up all that they had dropped because it was, after all, theirs to retrieve. But they did not.

    Here is a saying. It is VERY true --

    "There are four types among men:

    He who says, "What is mine is mine and what is yours is yours"
    — this is the common type, though some say that this is the type of Sodom.
    He who says, "What is mine is yours and what is yours is thine own"
    — he is a saintly man.
    He who says, "What is mine is yours and what is yours is mine"
    — he is an ignorant man.
    And he who says, "What is yours is mine, and what is mine is mine"
    — he is a wicked man. "

    Notice what was compared to the Sodomites??

    "What's mine is mine and what's yours is yours."

    What was saintly (righteous)?

    The point of a national healthcare system is not for people to just capitalize upon. There are people out there who need help. My husband is a working man. He is a contracted employee and makes good money. But WE CANNOT AFFORD $300/month+ for healthcare for the entire family. We cannot afford the $5000 deductible (that they only mention just before you're about to go into surgery, lol).
    I pay for all of our doctor appts out of pocket. They are currently little things, but what if there's a big thing? In today's economy how can we really save? We are already living at or below our means. I don't deal with credit cards.
    The homeless old lady up the street, who I always give money to, SHE needs medical attention, it's obvious. How's she going to get it? She's mentally unstable, she's old and can't care of herself.

    One day I will go up to the corner store and she won't be there. She will most likely be dead somewhere. Perhaps she'd be better if there was some system to care for her...

    We are the ONLY country without such a system in place. Just because we are AMERICA, does not mean we've just got it right over here. This country is NOT a righteous country, this society is not a righteous society.

    The Bible does not stand behind people not helping one another... and if one believes otherwise one does not believe scripture is the infallible Word of Yah.

    Because someone in all of our families are in need of medical care and cannot afford the procedure they need... we could all benefit.

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  28. Dreamy Girl that is a good comment!

    The differnce between the Hebrews and now is the Hebrews left grain in the field because they saw it as the right thing to do. They did it on their own.
    I would be okay with a national health care program if being in it and paying for it was voluntary and not forced. The plan is to force everyone to pay for it and because you will have to pay for it anyway then people who are just able to pay for their own medical care will be forced to take national health care because they can't afford to pay for both.
    If national health care really is better than private health care then people will pay for it and join it on their own and no one will have to be forced into it.

    I would be okay with it if they did it this way and didn't force anyone to pay for it or join it who didn't want to. I hate to say but people should have a right to have NO health care if that is what they really want.

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  29. If it was voluntary and self-funded, how would it be any different to private health insurance? The old homeless lady still misses out.

    As I mentioned before, the Hebrews did have a taxation system of sorts (tithing) that provided for those in real need. Be definition, those in 'real need' can't afford to pay for their own necessities — they have to be paid for by someone else.

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  30. Megan, seriously.

    Do you honestly think there are people out there that do NOT want healthcare?

    Do you believe that children have to suffer because parents (who might be unfit) make that choice for them?

    People who send their children to private schools (or indeed, home school) still pay for state schools.
    People who don't even HAVE children and never want them pay for the children of others, because they realise it is for OUR benefit to have a fit, healthy and educated society.

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  31. Natja, there are people who seriously do not want government healthcare and there are some people like Christian Scientists who don't want healthcare at all. Those people should not be forced into something they don't want.

    Donald, if this national healthcare will be as good as they say it is then people will use it on their own. But if you start out saying that you will have to force people to pay for it and use it isn't that the same as admitting that it is not as good as private care?

    Steve has a artificial knee from being in the Marines and he pays extra to have it taken care of by Kaiser because the VA sucks. Why would national healthcare be any better than VA healthcare? It will be run by the same government and the same people will be refusing treatment for things and the same people will run dirty hospitals.

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  32. No, I don't think a public health system needs to be as good as private care — not at all. It just needs to provide the basic essential services to those who really need it. That way, those who can afford to pay for a higher level of service can still chose to do so.

    The real issue here is what happens to those who can't afford private cover if they find themselves in serious need of medical attention. It's a question of whether you see health services as essential as other publicly funded amenities such as public roads, schools, police, etc. Whether or not you actually have need to call the police, you still have to pay for them through your taxes. That ensures that even the poorest people have access to the same protection as the rich people (theoretically anyway!) Can you imagine if people had to choose whether to pay a set price for 'police cover'? The poorest people simply wouldn't be able to afford it. Whereas when it's funded through income tax, people pay an amount proportional to their income and everyone benefits when they need the service.

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  33. Again, Megan, no one is forcing others to TAKE medical care if they refuse it, but we ALL must contribute to the health and education of our country, after all a healthy and educated country is what we all want, is that not so?

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  34. All I need is a system that won't charge me $200+ for my family to have OK healthcare.

    All I need is to be able to see a doctor when I need to.

    I don't need bells and whistles.
    I'm not asking anyone to pay for a boob job or lap band (*I* don't need it but many Americans could use it!) or even my braces.
    I'll pay for all of that meself.

    I need to be able to get ALL my pharmeceuticals for less than $50/pop. My step father has emotional issues; he NEEDS his prozac or whatever it is he's on. They should not have to pay $200 for his Rx. He's a complete horror and a nutjob without it; PLEASE, if it only costs $2 usd to make the pills, why does he have to pay $200??

    They're charging teachers $600/mo for insurance. Teachers make around $35k/year. That's a little over $2900/mo. BEFORE taxes. With the price of living these days, that's simply too much.

    We DEFINITELY need healthcare reform. If I ever get cancer, I'm going to Cuba. I won't even try to fight this system, man. Cuba, a communist country that I was born and raised to believe was bad, will allow me to come and be taken care of in their hospital. America, my land of the free, home of the brave won't let me come in unless I "show them the money".
    That's bad.

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  35. Natja, I want a country where everyone has a nice home and decent clothes. Do we make people pay taxes so people who don't make enough money have free homes and clothes? If there is a right to health care then why not a right to clothes, houses, TVs, cars, vacations, and what ever? If you can make someone else pay for your health care then why not make them pay for all your other stuff too?

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  36. Food, clothing, shelter — yes. These are essentials, and we should do what we can to ensure that all citizens have access to them. TVs, cars, vacations, and 'whatever' — no. They are non-essentials, which the vast majority of the world's population do not enjoy.

    Let's talk about food… Let's say someone can't provide for this most basic of needs. Perhaps they are essentially unemployable for whatever reason — lack of skills, physical or mental disability, lack of available work, etc. I'm not talking about someone who refuses to work — I'm talking about someone who really can't or doesn't know how. Megan, would you not feed this person to prevent them from starving if you could afford to do so?

    Rather than argue in my own wisdom, let me just quote the man to whom I look for wisdom. These are the words of Jesus…

    "Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'

    "Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'

    "The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

    (Matthew 25:34-40)

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  37. There is a a lot of difference between what the Bible said and now because the Bible wants us to do things freely and not because we were taxed. We are supposed to take care of people on our own and we are not supposed to do it because someone makes us do it. No one is going to go to Heaven just because they paid their taxes! :-P
    God is not telling us to do things for other people just to make the other people happier God wants us to do things for other people because it makes US better people. He didn't say pay your taxes and you're all done! He said for YOU to go feed the poor and clothe them and your supposed to want to do it out of your heart.
    Making people pay taxes to do these things means no one has to do this themselves. Just let the goverment do it. That is why charities don't do good in other coutries like they do in America because everyone expects the goverment to do things in those countries so they don't think they have to do anything themselves.

    Matthew 6:2-4 says to do your giving in secret so how do you do that if you are not giving anything but paying only what you owe on your taxes like most people do in other countries and a lot of people do in America? A lot of people cheat their taxes too.

    If you raise the taxes to give people health care and food and homes then it becomes something you are giving to Ceasar and you STILL have to give on your own. Matthew 22:21.

    Raising taxes all you want does not excuse you from what God wants from your heart and paying taxes doesn't mean anything at all to God.

    The other thing is it is good for people in need to know that other people really care about them and their not just a job to some government worker. If someone feeds you it tastes better when you know they put love in it than if they did it just because they got paid to do it.

    I liked one of the men at church saying that the government has free health care and food and homes and clothes for the special people who live in prison. They get good health care and food and all but they don't get any love. The rest of us are supposed to want the same thing?

    I don't want the same rights as prisoners because that makes me about the same.

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  38. I think we might have to agree to disagree about health care…

    Having said that, I liked a lot of what you said here Megan! You make a very good point about giving willingly, from your heart, to help others, and I absolutely agree. I'm still for paying taxes too… The way I see it, taxes are a way of making all the rich selfish bastards out there contribute something too! :) But yes, as followers of Christ we should want to help other people out of love, not compulsion.

    'Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.' (2 Corinthians 9:7)

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