The SoapBoxers

Is Obamacare constitutional?

Barack Obama signing the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act at the White House.

The federal mandate to buy health insurance is the very heart of Obamacare.  This is interesting because people keep saying that health care is a right.  Maybe so, but this law doesn’t mandate health care, it mandates health insurance.  This is a big issue for me.  I don’t HAVE to buy auto insurance unless I want to license my vehicle.  That’s a far cry from saying I’m going to buy auto insurance or face a tax/penalty or whatever.

There is an argument that people abuse the Emergency Rooms and clinics and they don’t have healthcare coverage.  I agree; that is most certainly true.  Yes, we’re all paying for it and that isn’t fair…I agree with that too.  This however isn’t the answer; if we enact a government health care plan we’re all still paying for it!  How stupid is that?

I would propose a program for unpaid health care bills similar to the way unpaid child support is handled.  If someone isn’t paying their bills or they aren’t on a payment plan they get put on a list.  This list then causes any tax rebates/refunds to be held for payment.  This list should also keep someone from obtaining a driver’s license unless they are acting in good faith by establishing and staying current on a payment plan for their health care costs.  This (of course) would have to be driven by the states and not the Federal government or we’ll end up in the courts again.

If the courts decide that we can’t be forced to buy health care insurance, what will happen?  I’ve heard that the mandate is the only thing that made this work financially.  The law of large numbers is the key to making insurance work.  If Obamacare accepts everyone but only a small group of people apply for it (like the uninsurable) the cost of the care will not be affordable or it will be subsidized by the government making the entire purpose of the law moot.  How will the government cover those costs?  Raise taxes?  Cut or limit the coverage?  This is what traditional health insurers have had to do to cover costs and no one is happy with that.

Presidential Race

We’re into April, and still we don’t know for sure who the Republican nominee will be.  The rule changes made by the Republican National Committee to force all pre-April caucuses and primaries to use proportional delegate allocation (as opposed to winner take all) is playing a part in this.  With a winner take all contest, a relatively small win can shower a candidate with a large number of delegates.  When delegates are awarded on a proportional basis, a small win becomes just a small difference in the number of delegates awarded – making the race to 1144 delegates much longer.

SuperPACs are also playing a big role.  Romney definitely isn’t hurting for money, and Santorum and Gingrich each have had a billionaire in their pocket (Sheldon Adelson for Gingrich and Foster Friess for Santorum).  Under the new rules, these two heavyweights have been able to funnel millions in cash to their candidates through SuperPACS – and it’s 100% legal.  The SuperPACs have allowed candidates to remain active in the race even without broad-based support from the electorate.  If you can have a buddy write a $1 million check, that’s just as effective as getting twenty thousand people to contribute fifty bucks.

Romney or Santorum—we just need to choose. Seriously, how long can this indecision be stretched out?  Tell me this will be decided by convention time.  It’s time to rally behind one Republican candidate and focus on the true task at hand – ensuring that Barack Obama is a one term president.

Communism Talk

North Korea, Iran, Venezuela, and China – they’re all bad, they have terrible leaders and we shouldn’t be supporting them in any way.  We need to make sure that we’re revoking any funding and not lending any aid.  If they want it they need to play by the rules.  If they don’t play by the rules and agreements they get nothing.  What is North Korea doing testing ICBMs that could reach the US?  Now is the time to be tough.  Clearly Bill needs to screw around with Monica again, get Hillary really mad and then send her to Pyongyang to dismantle Kim Jong-un’s newly acquired government.  Can you imagine a more intense strike force?  I’m not sure that Seal Team 6 could survive a wife scorned twice by the Slick Willie.

Zimmerman vs. Martin

I have to make a follow up comment to my original piece on the George Zimmerman/Trayvon Martin situation.  NBC released an apology for editing the 911 call from Zimmerman that made him sound like a racist.  If you’re one of the people that have been calling for George Zimmerman’s head on a platter you need to read my original blog and this story in the Washington Post.

Again, it is not your duty to judge based on the limited and biased information you’ve been fed by the media.  Just wait until all the information comes out.  The Grand Jury hasn’t even convened on this so don’t rush to judgment.

The Pendulum Swings

Romney

Santorum

Romney

Santorum

Gingrich

Romney

Santorum

North Korea, Iran, Venezuela, Russia and China.

Obamacare is constitutional, Obamacare is unconstitutional, Obamacare is constitutional, Obamacare is unconstitutional….now we wait for the Supreme Court.

Why is there so much up and down lately?  Everything is back and forth, ebb and flow, left then right.  This is frustrating for me because I really try to make quick and informed decisions.  When I see this pendulum swinging each direction so frequently I don’t understand why.

Squeaky…
 

Tragic

That is the word I would use to describe the death of Trayvon Martin. It’s a loss for his family that I can’t even begin to understand. I think about losing one of my children to a death like this and it infuriates me. It makes me think how much I would want revenge. How much I would want to take George Zimmerman and clean the floor with him. Unfortunately, we’re seeing this reaction from people without any skin in the game and without any knowledge of what happened.

At this point in the investigation very little has been “officially” released to the media. We know that George Zimmerman, a 27 year old 5’9” 200 pound man, shot and killed a 17 year old man who was 6’3” and 150 pounds. We’ve heard some of the 911 call. Almost everything else has been rumor and innuendo. The only people that should be having a meltdown right now is the family of this young man. I can understand vigils, but marches and demonstrations are not what we need.

Now, the Black Panthers have gotten involved which is probably the least healthy aspect of this. They’ve offered a $10,000 bounty for George Zimmerman. They have alleged that Zimmerman (who is ½ white and ½ Hispanic) shot Martin because of racial tension – yet that has not been released by the police or prosecutor’s office. Meanwhile, I’ve seen two different news reports that indicate witnesses have reported seeing Zimmerman on the ground being beaten by Martin. Martin allegedly tried to get Zimmerman’s gun, a struggle ensued and that is when Martin was shot.

Someone from the police department leaked that Zimmerman had lost Martin while following him and had started to walk back to his vehicle. Martin allegedly then approached Zimmerman and either attacked him from behind or confronted him and began hitting him.

The police have “officially” reported that Zimmerman’s injuries and other physical evidence was consistent with what Zimmerman told police although they didn’t elaborate on what that version was. The police have turned over their evidence to the prosecutors. I’ve read that the FBI is also looking in to this situation for another independent review. The grand jury is ready to review the information on April 10th.

I have seen marches, demonstrations and candle light vigils for Trayvon Martin. All the usual celebrities have made their way into the spot light (Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, etc). I ask this though, “Who are we to judge either man with the little bit of information we have?” People have already condemned and crucified Zimmerman. This hasn’t gone to trial and we don’t even have all the information from that night or the autopsy.

While I’m on my soapbox, shame on the media. I’ve seen nothing but pictures of Trayvon that look like he’s 11 or 12 years old. He was 17. Are you telling me there are no pictures of him taken in the last 5 or 6 years? Obviously there are, but pictures of children killed by grown men stir up more emotions than pictures of men killing men. No one is talking about Trayvon’s current 10 day suspension for marijuana use. This may or may not be relevant. What if he was high when this happened? Don’t you think it could impact his judgment? Does it make you mad that I brought up his marijuana use? Think of how it must make others feel when people say that this was racially motivated? It’s likely a similar feeling.

The police had a hard job to do. The prosecutor’s office has an equally hard job to do and the Grand Jury is going to feel like they’re in hell. The last thing they need is the distractions of a bounty for Zimmerman and the Black Panthers saying an eye for an eye and a life for a life. (Watch this video because Zimmerman will never rest easy again)

I don’t know where this story will end, there is a lot of evidence they need to consider. The injuries to each person should be very telling. It’s possible that they will confirm no charges will be filed against Zimmerman. If that happens, what will the consequences be? From the current look of things, we will see riots, civil unrest and likely violence on a wide spread scale. The Black Panthers in the previous video have promised to hunt down Zimmerman and bring him to justice on their own. The demonstrations will without a doubt grow and become more unruly than we saw with the growing demonstrations from the Occupy movements.

I hope that whatever happens, the family of Trayvon Martin can eventually find peace. If it is decided that Zimmerman was acting in self-defense I hope he can find peace and safety as well. I pray that the different groups currently protesting will be satisfied with the outcome of the investigation either way. If Zimmerman is arrested, tried and found guilty…let the court determine his punishment. If Zimmerman is exonerated, I pray that they will accept his legal defense and move on from this.

Squeaky…