Can the Republicans Offer Solutions for Healthcare ?

     Recently in the Orlando Sentinel there was an article on how Senator Marco Rubio has warned that our quality of health care is in serious danger if the “Affordable Health Care Act” moves forward.  I think he has a good point in that there are few federally controlled agencies that we can look at with admiration for their success.   I wonder though, what ideas might he and the Republicans have?   All I hear on so many major issues is what the Republicans don't want. But, what is it they DO want?   What ideas do they have to make health care affordable ?  Surely there are intelligent options that could come from the right other than what they don’t want.      

     On a monthly basis the average premiums for a family of four are approximately $1000 per month.   If you’re fortunate, you work for a company that pays for half of that. In comparison, when I first graduated from college in 1987 I paid around $30 per month to cover the full premium for myself.  Consider that this money put back in people’s pockets could go towards improvements to homes, vacations, entertainment and education.  Positive economic catalysts.   The high cost of health insurance as a percentage of income has become a drain on the economy.  It needs to be fixed.  

     Our leaders don’t understand our struggles.  I’ve always liked the idea of having our Senators and congressman pay the same health care premiums most Americans pay so they can relate to what we’re going through.  I wonder what Senator Rubio pays?  I'm very sure it's not 10% of his net income as it is for most middle class Americans.  

     The pharmaceutical and medical professions have spent over three billion dollars on lobbying in Washington DC since 1990.  That's a lot of convincing.   What exactly did they convince our government to do for all these years ?   Could it be this lobbying has created a warped medical economy where normal laws of supply and demand no longer apply?  Can that be fixed?   Also, could there be limits on litigation so that the mistakes of Doctors don’t automatically make someone and their lawyer a millionaire while simultaneously causing everyone's premiums to surge as a consequence ? 

     As a voice from the middle, I would like to hear some good ideas from the right that could improve our health care system as it stands today.  The Republicans are against Obamacare. That is obvious,  But if their mindset is that the status quo is fine,  then they have already failed the American people.  

In My Humble Opinion. 

The Media Defines Justice for Us

     I hesitated to write about the Trayvon Martin tragedy.  I really avoid "popular" events and media-hyped "non" stories.  I avoid them because they're not political, they're just news stories that the media stirs up because they need something to draw eyeballs.   This story though has turned political thanks to the media and our existing leadership in the executive branch of the federal government.  I also felt compelled to write a criticism of the left as I've been laying into the Republicans for several blogs now.

     Since the President mentioned that Trayvon "could have been his son" he was signalling for something to happen.  The street protests and the outrage of the left and most Democrats turned a tragic death into a "left vs right"., "white vs black" thing.  The media knew if they kept stirring the pot that the profits would come oozing out of their cauldron of maleficence.  And they were right.  Now, out of the many thousands of youth murdered every year, this particular tragedy is the defining moment of modern judicial process.  The outrage over the actions of a very stupid "white Hispanic" have turned our nation against itself.  This time I really blame the left wing for fueling the fire with mostly "fake" outrage to satisfy their black constituents.  The final bit of blithering nonsense.? The Attorney General of the United States has ordered an investigation to see if Zimmerman violated Trayvon's civil rights.  Huh?  That was already tried by the feds when the entire investigation started.  Why is this suddenly going to work?  So the director of law enforcement for our entire country of 300 million people is demanding action because he and his liberal cronies don't like the verdict they heard.  What a ridiculous waste of time, money and effort to placate a bunch of malcontents that don't understand the law.  Surely the left can come up with many, many more appropriate situations to be "outraged" over that do fall under violations of civil rights.  This was a tragic run-in with a hyperactive Barney Fife and a street smart kid.  Both misjudged the situation very badly.  There are many, many much more outrageous things going on in our country that merit all this attention from the media.  

     I  understand the anger that is out there regarding the verdict.  I felt the same way about  Casey Anthony and even wrote a blog about it.   I understand the outrage.  My opinion of the verdict?  You guessed it.  Somewhere in the middle.   They charged him with second degree murder, but all the physical evidence suggested he was defending himself.  It's common sense that if someone has their nose broken and their head is being bashed into the ground that the person is going to defend themselves.  Who among us would not?   Since the evidence was that he was defending himself the logical plea should have been manslaughter.  That's the only way they could have convicted him and they had a very good case.  George Zimmerman was told NOT to pursue the youth he was following around his neighborhood.  He was also negligent in getting out of his car.  He used bad judgment in challenging a strange youth who did not know him  and who could have sincerely felt his life was in danger.  He was reckless to carry a gun on his body in this situation with no official uniform or badge indicating he was trying to enforce the law.  Manslaughter would have brought a conviction.  Manslaughter was not pleaded against Zimmerman because the protesters in the street would have howled their disapproval, and after all,  "he could have been the President's son".  What a sad waste of time and attention, except of course, for the media.  They've made a fortune on the whole thing.

In My Humble Opinion.....