A friend sent me a list of questions that was originally posted on GlennBeck.com. The list was well done, well thought out, and quite thought provoking…
    But I absolutely hated the way it was organized! It was written ALL IN CAPS, was filled with typos, and some of the questions were a little confusing in their structure.

    So I decided to play editor and this is what I came up with! For the most part the credit totally belongs to Mr. Beck. I have added a few things, because as I was reading, it got me thinking. And I think I’ve come up with a great idea to counter the OWS’ idea of our own American Spring.
    So read on! Or if you’ve already read the list of questions, please click here to check out my concluding thoughts about my own take on the American Spring, and the word that should come next.
    Let’s get to it!

Questions for Occupy Wall Street

Occupy Wall Street
   - Who is the Father of OWS?
   - How did this movement start?
   - Who planned this event?
   - Who is paying for the Madison Avenue marketing firm? The color-printed newspapers (e.g. The Occupy Wall Street Journal)? The flyers?
   - What role did SEIU & The Working Families Party play in the planning of this event?
   - Who is Stephen Lerner?
   - Who is Van Jones?
   - What is the Center for American Progress?
   - Who is George Soros?
   - What is his relationship to the Center for American Progress? To OWS?
   - Is he a crony capitalist?
   - Does Soros pay his “fair share”?
   - Is Soros getting rich off of the corrupt system of Wall Street speculation?
   - How does Soros make his money?
   - What do George Soros and the economies of the United Kingdom & Thailand have in common?
   - Soros made $7 billion dollars last year personally through his hedge fund and various investments – is that okay? If yes, why? If no, why?

Our Government
   - What system of government do we currently have?
   - In what ways does our current system of government differ from when it was originally founded?
   - What system of government would you prefer?
   - Can you name other nations throughout history which have used your preferred system of government?
   - What happened to those countries?
   - What can we learn from the experiences of those nations?

The Economy
   Name the specific time in history in which the global economy collapsed (as it seems to be shaping up to do now.)
   - If you cannot, please explain why not?
   - If you were to plan a global economic collapse, how long would it take for this system to be dismantled and the new, “fairer” system to be created?
   - Would there be unintended consequences? Can you detail any potential unintended consequences that could occur?
   - Could people die?
   - If not, why?
   - If yes, estimate how many. How do you justify those deaths?
   - By collapsing the system (Wall Street), and causing economic chaos, how does that make you any different than one of the corporations you are protesting? Wouldn’t destroying the system outright – as opposed to thoughtfully reforming it – cause just as much human pain and suffering?

Fair Share & Corporations
It’s a pretty universally agreed point: people should pay their fair share in taxes. That said, please answer the following:
   - What is that specific number? Please quantify what, exactly, is “fair”. Not just for the wealthy, but for everyone.
   - If it’s not zero, please explain GE – another major corporation – evading so many of their taxes, getting excessive tax breaks, etc.
   - Why wasn’t GE’s CEO, Jeffrey Immelt, on the protest tour of wealthy billionaires’ homes? Are you planning any protests at his home in the future?
   - Do you even know who he is?
   - What about George Soros?
   - Russel Simmons? Who happens, by the way, to be the owner of a debit card company, in addition to other various Wall Street-related enterprises.
   - Kanye West?
   - Are they Wall Street criminals? Are they not involved in evil corporations which are in bed with the government?
   - Can there be good people in an evil corporation? If so, how do you judge good from bad?
   - GE – led by Jeffrey Immelt – pays no income tax. Immelt, their CEO, is on President Obama’s Economic Council. Why not protest GE?
   - Do you object to the ways in which this President has intertwined himself with so many leaders of large business, like GE?
   - Explain any potential conflicts of interest between President Obama, Jeffrey Immelt, and NBC’s ‘Green Week’ initiatives.
   - If there are conflicts in any way, why? And do you object?
   - If President Obama is in bed with, and/or excuses the bad behavior of, large multinational corporations within the system that you believe should be collapsed, shouldn’t President Obama be deemed guilty as well?
   - If no, explain why.
   - If yes, explain why.
   - If yes, compare GE Green Week answer above.

“Capitalism is Destroying America”
Rockefeller, Astor Mellon, and Carnegie are known as “Robber Barons” and would probably be targets of the Occupy Wall Street movement. Given that, answer the following.
   - Who built the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts?
   - Who built MoMA?
   - The New York Public Library?
   - Carnegie Hall?
   - Carnegie Mellon University?
   - The National Gallery of Art?
   - Who began the Smithsonian? Who funds the vast majority of its exhibits?
   - What is the relationship between Rockefeller Center and Columbia University?
   - Does this mean Capitalism helped Columbia University?
   - How did Capitalism help Columbia?
   - Does Capitalism help or hurt Columbia today?
   - If not, how does it continue to operate? How does it even exist at all?
   - If yes, doesn’t that make the majority of their political teachings a teensy bit hypocritical?

The Obama Administration
   - Does your University support this administration and its policies?
   - Did you or those you are with vote or campaign for this President in the past?
   - Are you campaigning for him now?
   - If so, are you betraying your ideals by helping someone who has compromised on important anti-corruption principles and policies?
   - If he has not done all that he promised to do, and in fact betrayed the “hope” and “change” he promised, what stood in his way? Especially during the first two years of his presidency.
   - Could you name specific examples? Specific legislative attempts that were in some way blocked? Again, especially during the first two years, when he had the most power and the most political clout.
   - If Obama truly believed the same things you did, that a collapse was imminent and there were villains on Wall Street about to do those in this country grave harm, why wasn’t Wall Street reform the very first thing on his agenda?
   - Who has received more donations than any other politician in history from large banks & Wall Street firms?
   - Obama claims that he is not in bed with bankers and big corporations. Is he lying?
   - Is Obama justified in not telling the truth if it furthers his or your agenda?
   - What are the conditions under which a leader can lie to you and it be justified or morally acceptable?

Investigations, Justice & Protests
   - Why has the Obama administration not initiated or conducted investigations into the banks, major corporations, Wall Street firms, or individual bankers?
   - Why hasn’t this administration initiated an investigation into the actions of the Federal Reserve?
   - Why hasn’t this administration initiated investigations into Freddie, Fannie, or Sally Mac?
   - Why has no one except Bernie Madoff gone to prison under this or the last administration?
   - Wasn’t the Hope we were looking for – and promised – supposed to come from a President that was different? That was beyond politics? Beyond race, creed, color, or class?
   - Wasn’t the Change that America was looking for an end to Crony Capitalism? An end to the marriage of Big Business and Big Government?
   - Were you wrong about this President during the last election?
   - How are you sure this time?
   - If yes, and if none of the GOP candidates are for whatever reason acceptable to you, wouldn’t it be important for the future of this nation to push for a primary challenger against Obama?
   - Did America learn from its mistake of not demanding a clear declaration of what Hope & Change really meant?
   - Should there have been a clear plan to ensure that this new President remained on course to deliver the “Change” he promised? Should more details have been demanded regarding how he would fulfill your “Hope” for an end of corruption and cronyism?
   - If you do not primary Obama, why not demand such detailed plans now before you agree to give him your vote? Before your campaign for him, if you’re currently doing so?
   - What is Solyndra? What is Light Squared?
   - Do you think those who have designed this event (collapse Wall Street) should have a clear plan to ensure that after the collapse, they will deliver the change you hope for, of an end to corruption and cronyism? Shouldn’t we expect more details before we initiate such a potentially dangerous and catastrophic collapse?
   - Did it discredit the Tea Party movement that it was said to be funded, organized and/or co-opted by those who had direct ties and interests in the Republican Party?
   - Would it taint or hurt Occupy Wall Street if that were the case here, but with those involved in the Democrat Party?
   - If not, why not? What’s the difference?

Social Justice vs. Equal Justice
   - Can Social Justice co-exist with Equal Justice?
   - Is everyone on Wall Street guilty?
   - If not, should everyone on Wall Street be punished for the crimes of the guilty?
   - If not, are your actions to collapse Wall Street punishing those who are innocent?
   - If yes, is that Equal Justice, considering you would be punishing the innocent for the sake of Social Justice?
   - Do you believe in fair trials? A jury of your peers? A chance to face your accusers? Innocent until proven guilty?
   - Should Wall Street bankers:
      - A) Lose their jobs?
      - B) Have all of their wealth taken?
      - C) Go to jail? If yes, how long? If you wish for a judge and jury to decide, why? (If yes, see your previous answer regarding Social Justice vs. Equal Justice.)

Lynch Mobs, Then & Now
   - Do you believe the lynch mobs of the civil rights era were wrong? If yes, why?
   - What is the difference between a lynch mob and what you are being encouraged to do now? (e.g. Congressman Lewis, going to the homes of the wealthy even if children are inside, going against the principle of innocent until proven guilty, using tactics of intimidation, shouting down those with whom you disagree, etc.)

The Police & Criminal Justice
   - Are cops good or bad?
   - Are there good cops and bad cops?
   - If there are both good and bad cops, how do you tell the difference?
   - If you were a good, honest cop, what would you do while performing your duties right now in this situation on Wall Street?
   - If you walked away, as a cop, and allowed the crowd absolute freed to do as it wished no matter what, would you be a hero or a coward?
   - Would damage to private and public property be done if the police should choose to leave? Does that matter?
   - Could innocent people be hurt? Does that matter?
   - If you or anyone in your group answered there are no innocent here, does that matter?
   - If no on above, please check answer for consistency on lynch mobs and jury trials.
   - Define ‘Mob Rule’. Is this good or bad?
   - There are many prisoners that have been wrongfully accused and convicted. It happens the world over, but according to OWS, especially it seems in America. The recent execution in Georgia is merely one example cited by many involved in OWS. In light of this and knowing what we know, what should be done with those who are currently incarcerated?
   - How would you determine who is innocent and who is guilty?
   - Would it matter if a truly guilty prisoner were released?
   - If the criminal justice system is corrupt, how will you assess and fix it?
   - Is it fair to leave the possibly innocent behind bars while that process is going on? (Again, consider your previous answer regarding the truly guilty being released.)

Higher Education
Many of the signs at Occupy Wall Street complain about student loans. Many Americans outside OWS agree that:
    A) Many have stolen from us.
    B) No one should pay such astronomically high costs for a higher education.
Given that, answer the following.
   - Who is responsible for setting the tuition rates for a college education?
   - Who is responsible for the price of that college education rising 8% just last year?
   - How much money is in your University’s endowment fund?
   - Does your University have private savings and/or investments?
   - What are those savings and/or investments used for?
   - Is there nothing that your University can do to lower tuition costs?

Mom & Dad
   - Are you sincerely worried about your parents and what they face as well as what the future holds for you?
   - Have your parents worked hard for their home and what little money they have saved during their lifetime?
   - If you succeed in collapsing Wall Street, who is hurt? Who would be hurt the most?
   - Would your parents be hurt? Your friends’ parents?
   - Union pensions are invested in Wall Street. As is your University endowment. The average American’s retirement is invested in Wall Street (e.g. 401k.) What would happen to those in the event of a collapse of Wall Street?
   - What happens to the lifetime of work by your parents if your actions cause a collapse of the system?
   - Is an absolute collapse worth that much human suffering?
   - Is there perhaps another way that would be less costly and harmful?

Foreign Governments & Outside Influence
   - Do you believe that any government abroad would take advantage of an economic collapse of the United States/?
   - Could such actions by foreign governments have a negative impact on your freedoms?
   - What about your plans to build a new system in its place? Could any actions by foreign governments impact such plans?
   - Do you believe that US troops should be called home?
   - Do you believe our troops are baby killers? Or people like you who were either misguided or used?
   - What happens to those troops overseas if there were an economic collapse?
   - If you don’t pull the troops out before a collapse, would there be a greater or lesser chance of more killing?
   - Do you believe that forces on either side could or would use an economic collapse as an excuse for more killing?
   - Would you have played any role in that possible killing based on your actions here to collapse Wall Street? Would you bear any responsibility?
   - If no, do the ends justify the means?
   - If yes, if the ends justify the means, does that include the death of innocents?
   - If not, why?
   - If yes, explain what makes you different than George W. Bush, who also thought he was right.

Egypt & The Arab Spring
   - How did the Egyptian Revolution turn out?
   - Is it better than what they had?
   - Free, fair and democratic elections were promised to be held by August of this year. What date were they actually held?
   - Who is currently in charge of Egypt?
   - Do you believe in Military Rule?
   - Would you want to live under it here?
   - What would be the difference between the military rule here and in Egypt?
   - The media claims you are the same and are striving for the same ideals as the youth that overturned their oppressive and corrupt system in Egypt. Is that true?
   - If yes, if you wouldn’t want to live under military rule, what responsibility do you have to correct the injustice of their system?
   - If you answer that you do have a responsibility, please explain why.
   - Wasn’t American insertion into global politics what caused the hatred for the West?
   - How do you know that you are fighting on the side of right and not helping those who will develop a repressive regime after the chaos of a collapse?
   - Is Iran a repressive regime?
   - If you answered no to the previous question, please describe what happens to homosexuals in Iran.
   - How are homosexuals & women treated in other Arab nations? Specifically, how does Hamas & the PLO perceive homosexuality & what would they do if they had absolute power?

After the Revolution
   - If those who take power, after the successful Occupy Wall Street collapse, betrayed the revolution and the people by not following the plan (that has not yet been developed), what should the people do?
   - Could they do anything?
   - Would those new leaders step down or would an event like this need to be staged again to force them out?
   - If they didn’t voluntarily step down would you seek to have them arrested?
   - Is violence an option to achieve the goals of revolution?
   - Can you solve violence with violence?
   - Should the people be allowed to have a gun in case those in charge did betray the revolution?
   - If yes, why.
If no, who authorizes the use of force and what force is allowed?
   - Who protects the idea or yet to be formed ideas of the new revolutionary democracy?
   - Who would arrest those who betrayed the revolution if the system has collapsed and the cops were all either fired or jailed?
   - Are jails needed?
   - If yes, who runs the new democratic jails formally known as the prison industrial complex?
   - Assuming there was an immediate citizens police force enacted to replace the corrupt system that we currently have, what system of trial would you engage?
   - Che said, “We don’t need a trial to convict the guilty.” Do you agree?
   - If no, would there be a jury?
   - Who would be the judge?
   - What rules of evidence would there be?
   - Will the people have rights?
   - What are they?
   - Have they been written down anywhere?
   - If no, because you were planning on doing that after the collapse, if the above scenario played out and either your leader betrayed the revolution or an outside force took advantage of the chaos, would you regret that decision?
   - If yes, what are the rights based on?
   - Where do man’s rights come from?
   - If they come from a committee or a specific leader, what’s to stop those leaders from changing your rights and declaring you a traitor to the revolution?
   - Has this ever happened in history?
   - If yes, where?
   - What were the conditions?
   - Were there warning signs?
   - Do any of those signs exist now?

Energy in the New Order
   - Now that the economy has collapsed in America, but has not somehow affected the rest of the world, how can we afford oil? Gasoline? Plastic products?

If you say we cannot afford gasoline and that’s a good thing for the environment, let’s for the sake of argument, agree on that point. Now answer the following.
   - How do we fuel tractors for farming on the scale needed to feed the citizens of the new revolutionary United States and elsewhere?
   - How is said food trucked to stores here in New York if truckers can’t afford fuel?
   - How do your parents get food from the store to their home?
   - Now that the police force has been replaced with a citizen patrol, are your parents safe walking the streets with food in an area after the currency has just collapsed?
   - If one of them were hurt or killed due to a scenario like this, would you be in any way responsible?
   - If they were hurt and couldn’t receive medical treatment in time because the EMS couldn’t afford gas for the ambulance, would you be in any way responsible?
   - How would the hospitals pay doctors and EMS without a currency?
   - Why would doctors and nurses come to work?
   - To ensure they did go to work, who would protect and feed their families while they were at work?
   - How do the doctors afford gas to go to work?
   - What system of electricity is running the hospitals?
   - If oil is no longer affordable, how do we manufacture the plastics products that make modern medicine possible and keep infection rates so low?

Leadership
If you are not planning on your group holding on to power, please answer the following:
   - Who will be in charge? Will it be you? Or the leaders you have not yet chosen?
   - How will you ensure that those who do take power are not currently part of the problem?
   - Who will fund the Universities, health care, K-12 education, the homeless & poor, while a new system is designed to stabilize the population, replace the corrupt system of corporatism, big medicine, big oil, and big farms?
   - Who is in charge of the military and the military industrial complex during this time?

Crony Capitalism
   - Please define crony capitalism.
   - When the government took over General Motors, gave all the banks TARP money, and allowed companies like GE to pay no taxes while making billions & shipping jobs overseas, is that Crony Socialism, Crony Capitalism, or Crony Statism?
   - Is there a difference?
- In all three aforementioned scenarios or titles, what is the problem: the system or the cronyism?
   - What is the best way to end cronyism?
   - Has your approach of collapse and revolution been tried before?
   - If yes, list all examples of attempts, both failed and successful. Or at least list as many as you can.
   - Why did they fail?
   - How did those that failed begin?
   - Who led the way on those failed attempts?
   - How did those who began the revolution fair in the new systems?
   - Who is Thomas Paine?
   - What was his role in the French Revolution?
   - What happened to him?
   - What did he learn about revolutions?
   - How did the French Revolution end?
   - Once the New Order was established, who took power in France?
   - Was that good or bad for the people of France?
   - What does this tell us about the current situation we find ourselves in, here in America?
   - What were the main differences between the French & American revolutions?
   - Why do you think the two turned out so differently?
   - Do you have hostile feelings about these questions? Why?

If you are reading in a group of like-minded, open-minded and educated people – take note – have they provoked any serious discussion? If not, why?
   - If so, did you do everything in your power to get those in Washington to investigate and arrest those who will not “change” and begin to do business in a legal and non-corrupt way?
   - Why didn’t that work?

The Importance of Answers
Please consider all of your answers carefully. After all, if OWS is successful, these questions won’t just be an interesting, thought-provoking thought experiment.
It will be real life, with real consequences, and real lives on the line.
Are you really willing to risk everything in this world without having all the answers yet?

My Concluding Thoughts & Where To Go From Here

    Thank you for reading all of that. After investing all that time & hard work, you’ve earned yourself a reward…

    A delicious cookie!

    Now head out to your nearest privately-owned business, where you will willingly part with currency – a symbol of your time and productivity – in exchange for something you would much rather have. Like a sweet, delicious chocolate chip cookie, created by someone else’s hard work and time so you didn’t have to! You will participate in a willing transaction between yourself and the nice cookie vendor, who happens to be quite skilled at baking cookies and does so in exchange for your currency.

    The nice cookie vendor man provides you a service you willingly pay him for. Something that makes your life easier and your taste buds happy. No one is forced to buy cookies, no one is forced to make them. And if the nice cookie vendor man sucks at making cookies, you’ll eventually willingly decide to go to the other nicer cookie vendor down the street. Time, talent, and materials are allocated to where they’ll be most productive, most valuable, and most desired.
    Thus the world goes round and round according to the decisions of millions upon millions of free individuals, choosing with their own hearts and minds to spend their money – their symbols of time, effort & productivity – as they see fit.
    To buy yummy, yummy cookies.

    That is the beauty of capitalism.

    That is, when it’s not infested with a bunch of nepotism and cronyism.

    So rather than scrapping the whole system with our own version of the Arab Spring, why don’t we focus on a different spring tradition?

We can call it American Spring… Cleaning!

    Let’s call our friendly pest control expert to smoke out the infestation of nepotism and cronyism! Let’s put on our gloves & pull out that feather duster to clean out all the cobwebs of our convoluted tax system! Grab your vacuum to suck up all the decades of old, conflicting, confusing regulations that are hindering our economic growth!
    Pull out that dust mop so we can clean up all the dust bunnies that are hiding under our nation’s proverbial couch (otherwise known as the House & the Senate!) Maybe we could even set up regular cleaning schedules – just for funsies, let’s call ‘em “term limits” – to make sure that no dust bunny stays down there so long that it starts to develop its own ecosystem of corruption and special deals.
You bring the cleaning supplies, I’ll wear the maid costume! Let’s get down and dirty scrubbing out every nook and cranny of our Constitutional Republic!

    Spring Cleaning isn’t about just throwing out the old and bringing in the new, no matter what “new” might be. It’s about cleaning, making fresh what we already have. With all this cleaning, there’s no need to chuck the good out with the bad! Let’s keep the original foundation – our family homestead – intact in its original condition.
    You know, it’s like that whole renew, reuse, recycle thing? New isn’t always better, especially when you don’t even know for sure what “new” is.

    So let’s not be wasteful! There’s no need to throw away the system that made us the Land of Opportunity in the first place.
    Instead, let’s get to work and say hello to our American Spring Cleaning!

I saw this on the news last night and just about popped a cork:

Disgusting isn’t it?

As a point of comparison, consider this: the folks over at TheConservatives.com have put together a brilliant post illustrating the many varied differences between the Bush & Obama administrations’ reactions to dissent. Naturally, I’m no fan of President Bush, but the differences in approach are quite illuminating, if a bit disgusting. Click here to check it out.

I have to say, I’m absolutely disgusted with the way the White House, certain members of Congress, and the DNC have been handling the rather raucous reactions certain lawmakers have been getting at town hall meetings back in their districts, especially with regard to health care reform. Rather than react like adults and acknowledge the rights of free speech that make this country great – even if those who are exercising those rights disagree with you – they’re behaving more like spoiled children. Anyone who disagrees with them is met with dirty looks, accusations, and a fair bit of pouting. Obama certainly did bring change to the White House. Unfortunately it’s change in the wrong direction, toward an absolute contempt for dissent. I dare say, I doubt that’s the sort of change most voters were expecting.

But really, shouldn’t most people have known better? After all, Obama was the one who gave this edict to his supporters regarding how they should react should they ever meet someone who dares oppose the Dear Leader: “I want you to talk to ‘em whether they’re independent or they are Republican. I want you to argue with them and get in their face!”
Yeah, that’s how an adult calmly carries out a “thoughtful discussion”, the like Robert Gibbs said the orchestrated astroturf protesters were disrupting. But then again, I guess it takes one to know one when it comes to astroturfing. I suppose if you’re a Community Organizer who’s surrounded by fake, generated populist hysteria, you just don’t know how to react when someone’s actually genuine with their concerns about government overstepping its bounds. When everything you do is carefully orchestrated, when every person who asks questions at campaign stops is carefully pre-screened, perhaps you think everyone engages in the same sort of manipulation.

Surprise, surprise. Some of us out here in America actually do care enough about our country to stand up for our beliefs, even if someone isn’t paying us to do so. Myself included. I’m not getting paid a single cent to operate this blog. I don’t even accept ad revenue. And yet here I am, continuing to dedicate my time to voicing my opinions, and spending my own money to do so. And rest assured, if my health would permit me to attend a town hall or two, I’d be there giving a polite earful to my representatives as well.

In short, Mr. Obama, I’m an actual American who doesn’t need a Community Organizer to tell me what to do, what to say, and how to say it. Disagree with me all you like, but don’t you dare dismiss me, insult me, or devalue my right to voice my own opinions.

To the rest of you who are able to attend town halls with your representatives, please remember to be cordial, respectful, and polite, while of course being forceful, sincere, and honest. I realize these issues are important to us, I realize things are getting heated, but we don’t need to shout, we don’t need to scream, and we don’t need to behave like an angry mob. Leave those tactics to Acorn, because quite frankly, such tactics are beneath us. Let’s act like the adults that we are, not like the sniveling spoiled children in Washington.

From Tom Gross’ media blog over at National Review:

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s home district includes San Francisco.

Star-Kist Tuna’s headquarters are in San Francisco, Pelosi’s home district.

Star-Kist is owned by Del Monte Foods and is a major contributor to Pelosi.

Star-Kist is the major employer in American Samoa employing 75 percent of the Samoan workforce.

Paul Pelosi, Nancy’s husband, owns $17 million dollars of Star-Kist stock.

In January, 2007 when the minimum wage was increased from $5.15 to $7.25, Pelosi had American Samoa exempted from the increase so Del Monte would not have to pay the higher wage. This would make Del Monte products less expensive than their competition’s.

Last week when the huge bailout bill was passed, Pelosi added an earmark to the final bill adding $33 million dollars for an “economic development credit in American Samoa.”

Pelosi has called the Bush administration “corrupt.”

She should know.

(Hat tip: David Steinmann)

I lost pretty much any shred of respect I had left for Nancy Pelosi after her “waaaa, we didn’t do it, it’s all their fault!” speech on the floor of the Senate about the housing crisis. That’s the spirit of “bipartisanship” I’m expecting from the White House over the next four years. Why? Because that’s all the bipartisanship I’ve seen them these clowns.
I swear, the Democratic Party would be so much better off if they could just boot Howard Dean, Nancy Pelosi, and Harry Reid right out the door. With Howard Dean in particular, I’ve despised that man ever since I went to a rally of his while he was still running for the presidency in 2004. My liberal brother made me go, in an attempt to “open my mind to other possibilities”. The only possibility I discovered there was that, wow, there really are people in this country who love socialism, yet have never seen the effects of socialism first-hand. I hate to say it so bluntly, but seriously, that rally was scary as hell. I had to sit there in silence while Howard Dean literally railed against this country. One day I’ll write a post explaining everything that happened that day, cause seriously, most people would love to know what the chairman of the DNC had to say when speaking to a crowd of the fully converted, plus one little outsider: me.

One topic that is absolutely essential to my daily life, as I’m sure it is for so many Americans, is health-care. Unfortunately, however, I’m always completely disgusted by the way politicians handle this problem. But for the most part, the majority of my disgust is reserved for Democrats. Why? Because despite the luxury we have of being able to learn from the mistakes of others, we’re completely disregarding the plethora of evidence at our disposal and still pushing for socialized/universal health-care. This completely irritates me beyond belief, which is why it’s taken me so long to write a post about it. I’ve tried several times and just couldn’t get through it.

Before I explain why my life depends on our nation refusing the temptation of socialized medicine, let’s get down to some facts. The reason the Democrats are calling for universal health-care is because of the supposed crisis of the uninsured. They claim that there are so many millions of people in this country who are uninsured that we absolutely must drastically change our entire health-care system. What do they use as evidence to back up this claim? Their oft-repeated statement that 47 million Americans are uninsured.
That number sure sounds big, but there’s an even bigger problem with it: it’s just not true.

They’re pulling this number from the US Census Bureau, specifically their 2005 report on “Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States”. Yes, in the report it does have close to that number as being “uninsured”, but the problem is, it’s just not that simple. The Democrats are completely ignoring the very important statistical breakdown of those 47 million people and what categories they fit into. This creates a very, very, very misleading picture of the current state of our country’s health-care system. So let’s break it down, shall we?

First off, the actual number of uninsured people living in this country is 46.577 million. That list happens to include 9.487 million people who aren’t even American citizens. Even Michael Moore, in his movie ‘Sicko’, agrees that being “an American” matters when it comes to getting health insurance. As he says, “That’s the only preexisting condition that should exist. I’m an American. That’s it.” Therefore, even according to one of the most liberal guys out there, the 47 million number is already debunked in one regard.

So now our total is down to roughly 37 million. Still astronomical, but not as bad as 47 million. Another big claim of people pushing for socialized medicine is that people simply cannot “afford” insurance. As Michael Moore said on CNN’s ‘Larry King Live’ on July 10, 2008, “And when you’ve got 47 million people in this country with no health insurance, they don’t go to the doctor because they can’t afford it.”
Surprise, surprise, the Census Bureau study looked at that issue too.
Of the remaining 37 million people who are uninsured, 8.3 million of those make between $50,000 and $75,999 a year. On top of that, 8.74 million make more than $75,000! That’s roughly 17 million people who ought to be able to “afford” health insurance, because they make substantially more than the median household income of $46,326. According to every study out there that compares income, cost of living, and health insurance costs, those 17 million people can afford health insurance! The thing is, they flat out choose not to.

So when we subtract non-citizens and those who can afford their own insurance yet choose not to purchase it, we’re left with about 20 million. That’s less than 7% of the population. Yet even that number is still inaccurate.
Why? Because the overall total of 47 million people also includes those who are temporarily between work. These are people who are going to have insurance within the next four months. A whopping 45% of those 47 million people will have insurance within the next four months. That’s huge. According to my calculator, that’s 21,150,000. That’s more than we’re left with! Of course, that has to be figured in with those who are not citizens and those who make more than the median income. But still, that begs the question, how many of the remaining 20 million were simply between jobs at the time this census was taken?

In addition to those who are simply temporarily between jobs, the fact still remains that the majority of those who are uninsured already qualify for existing government programs. But just like those who can afford it and choose not to buy it, so many people simply choose not to participate in those government programs. Why?! Who knows! But does their inaction warrant the rest of us sacrificing the quality of care we are already blessed with in this country for the woes that exist under socialized medicine? NO!
We already know that the elderly are covered via Medicaid. Every child is automatically covered as well. There are even programs for the disabled as well! I have a friend whose stepdaughter is profoundly disabled. Even though both of her parents and her stepmother could easily – easily – afford to pay for her medical bills, the entirety of her medical bills are covered by government programs. While yes, I’m all for providing care for the disabled, in my opinion, that’s ridiculous. And what’s more, my friend agrees with me! If you can afford health-care for you and your children, there is no reason that burden should be shifted to the American taxpayer. It’s ludicrous and it shows us just how far down that slippery slope we are toward socialized medicine.

That 47 million statistic is so inflated and I’ve already shown just how inflated it is. But of course, with the Census Bureau’s study, we can’t continue to subtract so easily, since we can’t easily break down how many in each category are temporarily without insurance. So we’re at roughly 20 million, along with the overall 45% who are between jobs.
But that doesn’t mean we’re done. Thankfully, The Kaiser Family Foundation, a liberal non-profit frequently quoted by the media, has done a similar study. They have a figure for the number of uninsured American citizens who do not qualify for current government programs and make less than $50,000 a year. That number is between 13.9 million and 8.2 million. That is one giant leap from at best 13.9 million to 47 million. And that’s a liberal organization.

There you have it, that’s the truth behind the myth of the health-care crisis in this country. Yes, I think it’s so sad that there are people out there who are uninsured. But the government cannot make up for our own choices in life. The government cannot sacrifice the quality of our medical care to make up for the so very few who are without insurance. Especially when there are so many other options already out there to take care of these people! There are many, many answers in the private sector to address this problem.

The bottom line is, inflating the truth will not do us any good. I hate that on such an important issue, both sides have now succumbed to the lie propagated by the liberal left. When John McCain mentioned this save 47 million figure during the debates, I cringed. If we can’t hold on to reason, if we can’t cling to the truth, we are truly lost. This issue is too important for us to lose sight of the truth.

Now that we have the facts out of the way, if you’d like to read about my own personal experience trying to receive treatment in a country with socialized medicine, click “more” to read on. Also, as an extra special treat, I’ve also included a cute – albeit anecdotal – look at the supposed crisis of the uninsured. So go on, click “more”, you know you want to!