tableau tuesday

(so I'm a few hours late ...)

45% Of Doctors Would Consider Quitting ...

... if Congress passes health care overhaul.


According to Investor's Business Daily, two of every three practicing physicians oppose the medical overhaul plan under consideration in Washington, and hundreds of thousands would think about shutting down their practices or retiring early if it were adopted.



Those are some staggering numbers.

Changes need to be made for sure, primarily in the insurance industry. But this Shermanesque "total warfare" mentality the current administration has adopted needs to be re-evaluated, to say the least.

"Hell hath no fury like a taxpayer ignored...."

They came. They saw. They protested.

Tens of thousands of protesters marched to the U.S. Capitol in D.C. yesterday, expressing grievances against big government.

"Republicans, Democrats and independents are stepping up and demanding we put our fiscal house in order," said Rep. Mike Pence of Indiana.

"I think the overriding message after years of borrowing, spending and bailouts is enough is enough."

Well done, citizens. Well done.

the best three or so minutes I've spent in a while

Congressman Mike Rogers of Michigan.

I think I love him.

democracy in action

A hell of a lot of anger is permeating America right now. We're polarized between two separate and distinct ideologies like I've never seen before, with apparently very little common ground to be found.

During the past few weeks (Congressional summer recess), citizens' emotions have run especially high surrounding the issue of the government's proposed health care bill. Many are panicked by it, as the bill was released and circulated with little explanation of some clearly alarming new proposals. It's understandable that such a sweeping change would heighten concerns, as is the case with any landmark change.

One of the results has been town hall-formatted meetings popping up around the country. These gatherings have billed themselves as opportunities for individuals to ask questions, express concerns or appreciations, and to voice their thoughts and opinions. Somewhere along the line, although these gatherings have been non-violent yet admittedly heated, concerned citizens participating in these forums have been labeled as members of an "angry mob", and accused of being part of a vast, right-wing conspiracy.

What a bunch of double-talk hogwash.

When Hilary Clinton went off on a particularly angry tirade while campaigning last year, she stated that she was tired of being labeled unpatriotic for questioning the Bush administration. She then received a boisterous and positive response from the crowd.

Yesterday however, the House's top two Democrats, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer called opponents of the bill who are speaking out in protest "simply un-American." Are you kidding me?! Even the White House is distancing itself from these extreme comments made by Pelosi.

What is going on? Why the double-standard? Many of my democrat acquaintances have been telling me for years that protests and speaking one's mind is the most American of all actions. So why does that only apply to certain groups and certain causes?

We have to make some changes in our health care system -- its broken, and few people are arguing that point. But many citizens are FEARFUL and want answers to their questions ... and that's VERY American.

I just spent about an hour watching a live town hall meeting in Pennsylvania hosted by Senator Arlen Specter. He allowed 30 questions, and 29 of them were opposed to the current proposals. These people weren't angry mob members -- quite the contrary. They were average citizens who posed heart-felt questions and concerns, based on personal experiences.

Props to Senator Specter for staying and facing his constituency (many politicians are not), as well as for admitting that he has yet to read the bill (how the HELL that's even acceptable is another subject for another day). We need to see so much more of this.

And bravo, America. Don't give up on this country and what our founders created, according to the Constitution. Somewhere on some level, no matter how grand or small, I have to believe that our voices are being heard.

big brother is getting bigger

From an article earlier this week by Susan Davis in the Wall Street Journal .... be afraid. Be very afraid.

Texas Republican Sen. John Cornyn is taking issue with a Tuesday posting on the official White House blog in which the Obama administration asks supporters to report back when they receive “an email or see something on the web about health insurance reform that seems fishy” to an official e-mail address: flag@whitehouse.gov.

Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas. sent a letter to President Barack Obama on Wednesday questioning his administration’s request for supporters to report “fishy” behavior on health care to an official White House e-mail address.

“I am not aware of any precedent for a president asking American citizens to report their fellow citizens to the White House for pure political speech that is deemed ‘fishy’ or otherwise inimical to the White House’s political interests,” Cornyn writes today in a harshly worded letter to President Barack Obama in which he asks the president to immediately halt the effort.

It’s not the first time the Obama operation has asked supporters to report back on misinformation spread about the president on the Web—but those efforts were largely conducted through his campaign operation and more recently through the party’s political arm at the Democratic National Committee.

Cornyn, a former member of the Texas state Supreme Court, further suggests that the data that is collected by the White House could “raise the specter of a data collection program.”

“As Congress debates health care reform and other critical policy matters, citizen engagement must not be chilled by fear of government monitoring the exercise of free speech rights.”

If the effort continues, the Texas Republican is asking the administration to detail to Congress and the public the protocols employed by the White House on what they are doing with the data. He further inquires if the administration intends to notify the citizens reported for “fishy” speech.

“Do your own past statements qualify as ‘disinformation’?” Cornyn concludes, “For example, is it ‘disinformation’ to note that in 2003 you said: ‘I happen to be a proponent of a single-payer universal health care plan’?”

At least someone in government is still looking out for us. And it does my heart good to know that it's a senator from my beloved Lone Star State. Thank you, Senator Cornyn.