I've been thinking

A friend of mine on Vox recently posted regarding the whole health care debacle. Basically, the CEO of Whole Foods wrote an editorial opposing the current health care plan(s) being pushed by our nation's leaders, and offering other ideas. While this isn't the purpose of my post, I will say that I like what this man has to say. And, as such, I posted a link to his piece on my Facebook page. (And now I get to the point.) My sweet sister posted something to the effect of, "Let's ask the owner of Trader Joe's what he thinks, too." To that, I responded, "Spoken like a true liberal," or something like that.

Since that exchange, I've been thinking. And recently it occurred to me that she - and likely many others - are ignoring this man's suggestions simply because of who he is and what he does! People who consider themselves open-minded won't even give these ideas any consideration because of their source. SERIOUSLY? And you call yourself open-minded? If there's a really good idea (not necessarily this one, but in general), does its source really matter? Does the fact that a CEO of a successful company came up with the idea make it a bad idea? And, if the source does matter, then perhaps we should disregard anything (concerning health care) put together by members of Congress (and/or the President)! I mean, really - I would daresay that most (if not all) of these people aren't any more qualified in regards to the health care industry than the CEO of Whole Foods.

Perhaps we should be asking people who work in the health care industry. See what the top dogs in that industry say would help lower costs and make health care something to which everyone has access. And, really, I think even people in the health insurance part of this industry should be included. After all, they're often blamed for the high costs of health care in this country. Perhaps they can also provide some valuable insight to how the system currently works. I highly doubt anyone in Congress knows how things work in this regard. Perhaps we should tap into the knowledge of those who are in the trenches. After all, no one understands the way things work as well as someone who's right there in the center of it all!

Politics in The Lion King

I have to take Grant and Natalie with me to pick Abby up at school every afternoon. On cold and/or wet days, we wait in the car for her to come to us. (On warmer/dry days, we meet her at the door.) Regardless of which we have, it is imperative that we arrive at the school as early as possible so that we can park nearby - and in a legal parking spot. I have gotten there as much as 25-ish minutes prior to school's release, and there are ALWAYS at least 4 cars there - with people inside! I don't get it - do these people have nothing better to do than sit by the school waiting for class to get out? Anyway, the waiting can be difficult with two little ones in the back seat. They get bored - and who can blame them? It took me more than half of the school year to figure a good way to handle that. (Why it took me so long, I'm not quite sure. I have a couple of theories, but I'll spare you. Suffice it to say, I wish I'd figured this out at the beginning of winter, rather than the end of winter.) We have a factory-installed DVD player in the van, so now I play a movie while we wait. It keeps Natalie and Grant occupied, and my sanity in check! Added benefit: I can read while we wait for Abby. The current movie is - you guessed it - Disney's The Lion King. And, finally, I get to the point of this post! LOL

Today's "segment" (we generally get through about 30-45 minutes most days) started just after Mufasa rescues the lion cubs from the elephant graveyard. I don't know when it ended, but the beginning was shortly before Scar sings "Be Prepared." DH and I have always noted the dripping references to the USSR (man, haven't seen those letters together in who knows how long) and even Nazi Germany in this part of the movie. But, well, today, it hit closer to home for me.

It's no surprise to anyone who knows me that I'm a strong Republican. While I generally avoid too much talk of politics - simply because I'm not a fan of the conflict - the current state of our country worries me, to say the least. The USA is a republic - not a democracy, not a socialist nation. At least not at its birth. I hate seeing where we're headed. I hate seeing the big government we have headed our way. I hate seeing the class warfare that is being brought into our country. I hate that there's so much negative press about the corrupt, GREEDY people who make loads of cash. For every one of those, there are several hard-working Americans who also make loads of cash, but no one hears their stories. We'd rather hear about the CEOs who abuse their position for personal gain. I think it's criminal that those who make more pay a majority of the income tax in this country. Income tax should be flat and fair. Why should people be punished for making more than some "magic" amount of money? Just not right. Talk about killing productivity and discouraging those who would otherwise be driven. But, alas, I'm on a tangent. Sorry.

That said, there's a part of the aforementioned song, "Be Prepared," in which Scar and the hyenas are speaking between verses. And it goes like this:

Scar: Be prepared!

Hyena: Yeah! Be prepared. We'll be prepared! For what?

Scar: For the death of the king

Hyena: Is he sick?

Scar: No, fool! We're going to kill him. And Simba, too

Hyenas: Great idea! Who needs a king? No king, no king! La la la la la!

Scar: Idiots! There will be a king!

Hyena: But you said...

Scar: I will be king! Stick with me and you'll never go hungry again!

That last line is what struck me as so ... America right now! Sorry, but I hate Obama. I know I shouldn't, but I do. For many, many reasons. But, that's not my purpose in writing right now. It just sounds to me like what he's saying between the lines of his speeches: "I'm king of America. Stick with me - back me up - and you'll never go hungry again. We'll take what we want from the Haves and give it to the Have-nots ..." Yes, this is me simplifying my thoughts on this - and what I think Obama is doing. (It's getting late; I'm exhausted; and we have an early morning tomorrow.) People totally miss the point. The Declaration of Independence says everyone has the right to the pursuit of happiness. To me, that means we have the right to do what we can to make the most of our lives - but that does (or at least so far as I'm concerned, SHOULD) NOT include taking what belongs to someone else, even if that someone else has plenty to spare.

"But, you're a Christian. Doesn't God say to give, give, give. Not to hold onto your money and things?" Well, yes. But, God gives us free will. He tells us what we should do, but we can choose our own actions. If we choose to do as He says, He will reward us. If not, well, we're on our own. But, they key here is free will, something that doesn't apply to taxes and other ways of taking what belongs to the Haves. Christian or not, these people aren't given a choice - their hard-earned (in most cases) cash is taken out from under them, without their consent. Like it or not, you have to pay taxes based on your income. As a Christian, I'm happy to give - so long as I'm able to choose if, when, how, and to whom I give.

OK, wow, this is one long rant about something I'm not very qualified to argue. Sorry. These are my thoughts and feelings on this subject. No, I don't have all of the facts. But, know this: I am not in the class of the Haves, so I am not arguing this as one who wants to keep what is hers. I'm arguing this as one who sees big-time unfairness. Yes, people argue about it being unfair that these people have what they have when there are others starving to death or barely able to make ends meet. But, if these people are honestly working hard for what they have, how is it unfair for them to have it? You're not entitled to it simply for being American - and even in some cases merely for being in America, whether legally or not. (And that is a whole other ball of wax I'm just going to avoid, as I have even stronger feelings about that.) Let's not forget that these Haves are also the people with the money to employ others. When we tax the hell out of these people, there's less for them to share with others - whether it's by gifting, hiring, or something else! I'm sorry, but Reagan was right. Trickle-down economics does work. It did work. It would work again, if we went back to it. Alas, Obama is going the opposite way. Except, it's not going to work.

Finally, has anyone else thought how ridiculous these stimulus plans are? Wanna get the country back on its feet? Spend, spend, spend! You don't have the money? Borrow, then spend. Nevermind that's what's got us into this mess in the first place: spending money we DON'T have! And printing more money. REALLY? Do you really think that'll help? I did HORRIBLY in my economics class in college, but even I know that'll just cause recession. That means higher prices for everything. More money floating around means it is worth less than it was before the newly printed money was released. That means it'll take more money to buy EVERYTHING! How do people not see this? *sigh*

This totally ended up being something I never intended it to be. But, since this is my place to share my mind, here you go.

Oh, come on!

Oh for fuck's sake! Also from the Chicago Tribune:

Hillary Clinton's campaign is denying a report that the senator from New York is ready to concede the presidential nomination to Barack Obama tonight.

Clinton will concede that Obama, the junior senator from Illinois, has the delegates needed to secure the Democratic Party's 2008 presidential nomination, two campaign officials are telling the Associated Press anonymously.

The Clinton campaign, publicly, is denying the report.

"The former first lady will stop short of formally suspending or ending her race in her speech in New York City'' tonight, the AP's Beth Fouhy reports. "She will pledge to continue to speak out on issues like health care. But for all intents and purposes, two senior officials said, the campaign is over.''

Most campaign staff will be let go and will be paid through June 15, according to the officials who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.

The Clinton campaign is disputing the report about her intentions.

Terry McAuliffe, the Clinton campaign chairman, interviewed on CNN today, called the report "100 percent incorrect.''

But he did say publicly on NBC's Today show this morning that once Obama has the number of delegates needed for the nomination Clinton will indeed congratulate him and "call him the nominee.''

So perhaps the operative term here is tonight -- or manana?

Seriously? GIVE IT UP, GIRL! This is ridiculous. As much as I fear what Obama winning could mean for Illinois, I would rather have that happen then see Billary back in the White House! I mean, talk about a dynasty! Here people (mostly Dems) have bitched and moaned about the Bush Dynasty - at least GW was never in the White House before being elected! How exactly would it work to have a FORMER PRESIDENT as the first man? (Can't call Bill a gentleman, can I?) As if he could be there and not have any sway on his wife's decision. I'm not an idiot - hopefully most Americans aren't, either!

It's about damn time!

From the Chicago Tribune:

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York will concede tonight that Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois has the delegates needed to secure the Democratic Party's 2008 presidential nomination, campaign officials are telling the Associated Press.

"The former first lady will stop short of formally suspending or ending her race in her speech in New York City'' tonight, the AP's Beth Fouhy reports. "She will pledge to continue to speak out on issues like health care. But for all intents and purposes, two senior officials said, the campaign is over.''

Most campaign staff will be let go and will be paid through June 15, according to the officials who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.

Terry McAuliffe, the campaign chairman, interviewed on CNN today, called the report "100 percent incorrect.'' But he did say publicly on NBC's Today show this morning that once Obama has the number of delegates needed for the nomination Clinton will indeed congratulate him and "call him the nominee.''

And people made fun of Huckabee! LMAO

As much as I hate Hillary, this is a scary, scary thing for Illinois. If Obama wins, we will need to replace a Senator. And, according to the state's constitution, there is no election. Our governor gets to pick - and there's no stipulations (from what I've read) about WHO he can choose. Rod Blagojevich is a complete ass and should so NOT be in office. It scares me to think who he might appoint.