Tort reform as Health Care reform?

Posted by The Big Kahuna in It's Just Life...Sorta, Our Country, Political Insanity on March 3, 2010

My brother-in-law had to have a double heart catheterization yesterday.  He has to have at least one a year since his heart transplant.  Besides spending more than 15 hours there,  he was allowed to leave the hospital only after:

- I signed a discharge form, since he had been mildly sedated during the procedure.
- The nurse read an extremely long list of “do’s” and “don’ts” to him.
- He and I acknowledged the list.

…which took some 15 minutes or so.  My brother-in-law and I then headed down the elevator and then toward the garage.  The same nurse came running up, breathless, to recite a forgotten part of her script before we got out of the building.  We left the 5th floor, crossed a large lobby and walked down a long hallway before she caught up to us.

Why?  Because hospitals and doctors, nurses, aids, janitors, etc. are sued every day for every form of supposed infraction.  Who pays for these lawsuits?  Of course in the end, we all do.  However, those “greedy” insurance companies are first in line to pay,  not that I’m a big fan of insurance companies.  There are certainly many things that need fixed in that industry, but it’s hard to lay the blame for this insane desire of our elected officials to control your health care completely at their feet.

I won’t go into the rigamarole he had to go through **while he was in the O.R.** the last time he had one of these, all in the name of helping prevent lawsuits… (think recorded disclaimers, ad-infinitum)

Wanna help control health care costs?  Spend some effort focusing on the insane number of lawsuits that are filed each second of every day.  Will that “fix” health care in America all by itself?  No.  But imagine what a difference it could make.

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Let’s talk Political agendas…

Posted by The Big Kahuna in Our Country, Political Insanity, Politics on January 18, 2010

The President, while attempting to help save the Mass. Senate seat from a loss to (gasp!) the Republican candidate, yesterday said of Scott Brown that “It’s hard to suggest he’s going to be significantly independent from the Republican agenda,”

He was kidding right?

Of course it’s obvious that he and his Congressional cronies have absolutely no agenda, right? Sorry contestant, that would be incorrect!

Isn’t this the President who while campaigning for office, promised at least 8 separate times that the entire so-called “Health Care” debate would be made completely transparent, available to the public by outlets such as C-Span, CNN, etc.?  How’s that been working out?  Does this complete veiling of that process suggest an agenda-free Congress and Administration?  Not even close.  I won’t even get started on the stunts that have been made so public, where the Democratically-controlled House and Senate have pulled dirty trick after dirty trick to exclude any real Republican input into the process.

The hypocrisy of our Socialist POTUS and Congress is un-paralleled and this desperation move simply continues to cement that as fact.  I believe the public has begun to see these hypocrites for what they are and I’m truly hoping that they demonstrate it on Tuesday.

If anyone has an agenda, it’s without a doubt the President and his buddies over in the Capitol.  Focusing attention on someone else to distract from your own crimes doesn’t change that fact that you committed ‘em.

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Merry Christmas!

Posted by The Big Kahuna in Uncategorized on December 24, 2009

Amidst my grousing about our political situation, there’s still much to be thankful and happy for.

So…

Have a Merry and Blessed Christmas and remember the reason for the season.  It isn’t about gifts, or Santa, or the need for a holiday to boost the economy.  It’s about celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ and the eternal gift He brought to the world for all generations.

Merry Christmas!!!!!

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Raise your hand…

Posted by The Big Kahuna in Political Insanity, Politics on December 24, 2009

if you think that Congress even remotely represents the people who put them there?  I just pray that the American public remembers the complete lack of interest these bozos have in our interests, and VOTES THEM OUT as soon as humanly possible.

Honestly, have you ever seen such a total disregard for the will of the people?  (Rhetorical question follows) What happened to “BY the people, FOR the people…” ?  Clearly these jokers don’t give a crap about what you and I want.

As far as the political timelines go, November 2010 can’t come soon enough…followed by the 2012 voting season…

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Continuing Congressional skullduggery…

Posted by The Big Kahuna in Our Country, Political Insanity, Politics, You gotta be kidding! on December 22, 2009

Emphasizing a point or two from my previous post, a friend provided some very informative links:

In a nutshell, these criminals are so acutely aware that what they’re doing is illegal and unwanted, they inserted language into the Obamacare bill that ensures their handiwork won’t be changed in the future.  I shouldn’t be surprised, but somehow it still takes my breath away…

Arent’cha glad to have this gang of thieves looking out for your best interests?

Thanks to Sean for the links!

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Congratulations, Congress…

Posted by The Big Kahuna in Our Country, Political Insanity, Politics on December 21, 2009

You’ve just successfully:

  • Ignored the *vast* (did I mention *vast*?) majority of tax-paying American citizens.
  • Passed a bill that was largely unknown in detail (to both sides of the aisle) until released late Saturday night.
  • Forced passage of a bill *neither* side likes. Reasons differ, but the fact remains…
  • Passed a bill with myriad un-Constitutional provisions.
  • Passed a bill whose financial scope is unprecedented, while claiming that it will eliminate the already-enormous deficit.
  • Passed a bill that even the Congressional Budget Office claims is outrageously overpriced and over-hyped.
  • Squelched *every* Conservative attempt at amendment.
  • Voted to create the single largest Socialist construct in American history.
  • Lied about and obscured what you were doing to the American public every step of the way.
  • Voted to leave a legacy of deficit spending and unprecedented government control to our children and their children…
  • Forced me to help pay for abortions, which I vehemently oppose.

Great job, Congress.  ’Don’t know what we’d do without ye… Oh wait, I do know what we’d do without you. We’d live free of the kind of intrusive, controlling, deceiving crap you daily force on the American public, who foolishly put you into power.

Great job, Congress.  May God continue to bless a nation so intent on ignoring Him.

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Hard to say it any better than this…

Posted by The Big Kahuna in Our Country, Political Insanity, Politics on December 16, 2009

The following is an excellent assessment of America’s situation in Afghanistan. Agree or no, it at least provides a concise collation of outrageous events there and elsewhere in the world.

…

It’s Time to Surrender in Afghanistan

By Michael Filozof

It’s time to surrender in Afghanistan. Yep, that’s right. Surrender.
Let’s sign a document of surrender, apologize for our “aggression,” withdraw the troops, and let Osama and the Taliban have a ticker-tape parade in the streets of Kabul before they force women back into their burkas, outlaw education for girls, and start executing homosexuals and Christians again.
It might sound a bit odd for me to make such an outrageous proposal. After all, I’m a hawkish, pro-military conservative, and I’ve been a lifelong adherent of the “nuke ‘em ’til they glow” school of foreign policy. But I say we should surrender because the facts are plain: we have already surrendered in deed, if not in name.
On December 7, 1941, we were attacked by a fanatical, suicidal, non-democratic, non-Western enemy who had a disciplined, motivated, state-of-the art military. The attack killed some 2,000 uniformed military personnel on what was then a territorial outpost.
Our response was to conscript 12 million people into our armed forces, detain all members of the enemy’s race for the duration of the war, defeat the enemy in less than four years by using nuclear weapons against his cities, and maintain a military presence in the enemy’s nation for the next 65 years after his defeat.
On September 11, 2001, we were again attacked by a fanatical, suicidal, non-democratic, non-Western enemy. The enemy had no disciplined military. He employed only improvised and primitive methods of war. The Islamist militants killed 3,000 people, mostly civilians, in New York and Washington, the economic and political capitals of our nation. We identified stone-age Afghanistan as the origin of the attacks.
Our response was to send a few thousand volunteers to Afghanistan. Eight years later, we have failed to defeat Afghan militants that are largely illiterate and have no uniforms, no tanks, no ships, no aircraft, no satellites, and no armored vehicles. They are equipped only with Communist-designed rifles, rocket-propelled grenades, and improvised explosives.
Our problem is not tactical inferiority, but a lack of political will and a surfeit of political correctness. Following the 9/11 attack, President Bush declared that “Islam is a religion of peace.” Try to imagine for a moment that FDR held a press conference on Dec. 8, 1941, to declare that “Japan is a nation of peace.” You can’t.
At this point it’s not even true that Afghanistan is the still the primary locus of Islamic terrorism. Iran has been pursuing nuclear weapons for years. Pakistan — already armed with nuclear weapons, and probably harboring Osama bin Laden — could become unglued at any moment.
Yet our political pusillanimity has only gotten worse in the eight years since 9/11. Hardly a day goes by that we don’t outdo ourselves in craven groveling and self-debasement before the enemy.
One of President Obama’s first acts in office was to ban the phrase “war on terror” in favor of “overseas contingency operations” in government usage. He then traveled to Cairo, declared that he had “known Islam on three continents,” and falsely claimed that Muslims had “enriched the United States” since its founding and that Islam has a “proud tradition of tolerance.” (Perhaps he might ask the folks at Cantor Fitzgerald and United Airlines about Islamic “enrichment” and “tolerance.”) He then apologized for American involvement in a coup against Iranian socialist Mohammed Mossadegh in 1953 (a brilliant masterstroke of American foreign policy that kept both the Soviets and the Islamists out of Iran for 26 years), yet stood idly by while the Iranian theocrats rigged their own election this summer. It’s now evident that Obama will not prevent the Islamic Revolutionary State from getting nuclear weapons. There will be no military action — and no sanctions, either. Iran will get the bomb.
In October, only a week after Islamist militants stormed the headquarters of the Pakistani military, Secretary of State Clinton traveled to Pakistan. The radical Yale-educated feminist donned a headscarf in submission — and the Islamist fanatics responded to her visit by killing hundreds in suicide attacks.
We have reached a point in Afghanistan that the Soviet Union reached in the 1980s: we no longer believe our own propaganda. The Soviets claimed that they lived in a workers’ paradise and they were merely bringing the great benefits of communism to Afghanistan. But they knew it was a lie.
Similarly, we say that we’re going to bring freedom and democracy to Afghanistan. Maybe we could, of course — if we wanted to. But we don’t. That would require remaking Afghan society the way we remade Japanese society. And President Obama campaigned on the promise of remaking America — not Afghanistan.
This summer, the president stated that he’s “not comfortable” using the term “victory” in Afghanistan. How can he possibly ask troops to risk life and limb in that country after saying that? His subsequent three-month indecision with regard to the Army’s request for 40,000 more troops further betrays the fact that we’re simply not committed to victory. One can scarcely comprehend FDR openly debating, in full view of Hitler and the world, a request for reinforcements during the Battle of the Bulge.
The assassination of thirteen American troops at Ft. Hood by a Muslim officer in the U.S. Army is the last straw. Despite the overwhelming evidence, our political and military leaders refuse to acknowledge that Maj. Hasan was motivated by militant Islamist ideology. President Obama believes that Hasan just “snapped” from the stress of military life. Homeland Security Secretary Napolitano told an Arab audience that she hopes the assassinations at Ft. Hood don’t lead to reprisals against Muslims in the U.S.
And Gen. George Casey — unbelievably — actually said that if “diversity” in the military were to suffer, it would be an even greater tragedy than the Ft. Hood murders.
If political correctness makes us unwilling or unable to defeat militant Islam from within the officer corps of the U.S. Army at Ft. Hood, Texas, then it’s perfectly evident that we’re not going to defeat militant Islam in Afghanistan after eight years of trying.
The enemy has not defeated us in battle. They can’t. But the Ft. Hood assassinations show that we’ve already surrendered. There’s no sense putting our troops in harm’s way in the field if we won’t protect them in Texas.


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Wanna know what I think? Just check my bumper…

Posted by The Big Kahuna in It's Just Life, Our Country, Politics on October 13, 2009

I have a fairly long commute, which gives me time to look at how people present themselves via their cars.  While I won’t pretend my observations are remotely scientific, one thing definitely stands out:  Liberals tend to be much more “vocal” by way of automobile adornments than (apparently) Conservatives.

Now, it’s clear that the lack of observable vehicular text doesn’t automatically suggest that those folks are of the Conservative, Communist, Socialist or any other persuasion.  Still, the prevalence of Liberal-minded bumper stickers does suggest that people of that mind tend to be more likely to post their beliefs on their commuter-carriages.

My wife and I were driving  home last weekend when we stopped behind a vehicle that was totally littered with Liberal stickers, trashing virtually anything that could be considered “traditional”, including religion, conservatism, etc.  What really caught my attention were two in particular.

The first said “I think, therefore I’m Liberal“.  The second one read “If you can’t trust a woman with a choice, how can you trust them with a baby?“.

I’m still trying to find the logic in the second one.  It doesn’t make any sense, particularly in context of the point they were supposedly making.  What made this more amusing to me was the first in conjunction with the second.  This individual was making the case that they’re intelligent, simply because they’re Liberal yet the following bumper sticker made no real sense at all.

All those other stickers just enhanced my impression that this person was in fact, not remotely intelligent.  I often find that those who make the loudest noise about something are the ones least to be trusted about that subject.  Loudly proclaiming their intelligence just served to call it into question.

What a great impression that one made.  If I were a “thinking” liberal, that’s not the kind of advertisement I’d want.

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I think that I could of sworn, none of these suggestions are effecting my, writing…

Posted by The Big Kahuna in Blogging, It's Just Life on October 8, 2009

Clearly I’m not  professional writer.  These tips are things I plan to put to good use.

If only I could find that stupid Thesaurus…

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The price of customer service.

Posted by The Big Kahuna in It's Just Life, Uncategorized on October 5, 2009

I was a paper boy from the time I was 11 until the ripe old age of 15.  My route started about a mile from where we lived and given my age, I had to pedal it on my trusty Gitane 10-speed.  In the older section of my home town where all my customers lived, virtually every house had a front porch so passing papers consisted of zig-zagging across the streets tossing the paper just so.  It was a goal of mine to land each and every paper directly in front of the door, making it easy to retrieve.  I got really good at placing my shots right where I wanted…most of the time.

One evening I had finished my route after dark and had just arrived home, when my Dad delivered a bit of news.  It seems one of my customers had called and described how he was more than a little impressed with my passion for service, prompt delivery, friendly demeanor, etc.  Somewhere in there he also mentioned being a bit distressed by it too.  As he described the scene to my Dad, the poor fellow was sitting in his living room with the front door open, watching the evening news when his paper arrived…directly at his feet.

You see, I occasionally got in a bit of a hurry to finish my route.  Hard to imagine a youth of my age and maturity being in a rush, eh?  Still, there it was:  In my haste, I had whipped the paper with great precision…right through this poor fella’s screen door where there was glass in the bottom pane and a screen in the upper one.  Of course I didn’t hit the screened part.  That would have been way off the mark (remember my pride at my targeting ability?).  No, no.  Instead, I hit the lower section at an angle just right for personal delivery.  I swear that I had no idea what had happened.  Anyhow my customer, while appreciating the personal service, was a little put off by my methods. He was good-natured about it all, but nevertheless insisted I pay for the broken pane.  I suppose it was a reasonable demand, given the glass all over his living room…

There were certainly other events in my paper-boy career that counted as being related to my sometimes less-than-accurate delivery, but none quite as amusing.  I had a lot of fun times doing that route.  Sometimes I hated it too.  In the end, I managed to learn a bit about responsibility, hard work, customer relations, money management, not freezing to death, etc.  As a kid, I know that I failed in many respects doing that job, but one thing I did learn well: How to laugh at myself.

Next time I’m tempted to take myself too seriously, I need to remember that little delivery incident.

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