Barry Goldwater a true Conservative, these new guys (not so much)
Somewhere along the line, the “conservative” movement lost its way, as an Arizonan I was raised to be self-reliant, independent, and patriotic. As a youngster I had the opportunity to meet Barry Goldwater on several occasions as he lived only a mile or two away from my parents. He was Arizona to the core, a cowboy-poet, a thinker and most of all a man of action, he is known best to most for his Conservative Values “before that meant forcing your religion on other people”, to me his photographs of Arizona are as lasting a legacy as his legislative accomplishments. A complex man and true American Icon, how can the man who stated “I see no problem with gays in the military”, also be the father on Modern Conservatism? Simply put, Senator Barry Goldwater was a man of no contradictions, that’s how, he believed in freedom from government not freedom through government like so many of today’s “conservatives”. After 37 years in the military he would know best if gays in the military were an issue don’t you think. “The big thing is to make this country, along with every other country in the world with a few exceptions, quit discriminating against people just because they’re gay,”. “You don’t have to agree with it, but they have a constitutional right to be gay. And that’s what brings me into it.”-Barry M. Goldwater, Senator, Hero, Patriot. Can you imagine any of today’s politicians who are not gay making this statement? What does this have to do with conservative values, its simple, being conservative means, don’t tell me what I can and can’t do, and I won’t tell you what you can and can’t do, if its not addressed in the Constitution its not addressed.
The fact is we have lost our way and if we don’t find it soon we as a nation are done. I don’t mean vote for Republicans, or vote for this guy because he says he is a conservative, I mean we have to address the issues we are facing. In 2021, we will pay off the first gulf war, and some time after that say 20 years we will have paid off this current conflict. We will be buried in debt from the “great society” programs for all time, and I include George W. Bush’s prescription drug benefit in that list of unconstitutional socialist “great society” programs. He was by no means conservative, he was and remains an idiot! What would Goldwater have done in the last 8 years had he been President from 2001-2009? We can be sure that Iraq would not have happened and that the trillion dollar drug bill for seniors would not have passed, also I am confident that Katrina would have been handled in a more professional manner not by some guy who had only run horse shows before taking the job. Had, 9/11 happened on Barry’s watch Osama Bin Laden would be dead, or worse for his cause, locked up in a jail like a common criminal where he belongs.
‘An American Original’
“A stickler for the Constitution, Mr. Goldwater refused to join the Republicans of the New Right during the 1980s when they began to press for legislation that would limit the authority of the federal courts to curb organized prayer in public schools or to order busing for school integration. ” -Bart Barnes, Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, May 30, 1998; Page A01
Barry Goldwater in his own words,
From his prophetic 1964 speech,(Link above) in which he told the leaders of the Soviet Union that his children would never live under communism, and that their children would live under freedom, to his ground breaking and lasting Goldwater-Nichols Defense Reorganization Act, Barry Goldwater was a man of vision and a patriot.
Now, as a father of three boys all under 18 years of age, I worry about the future of this country, we the people, have entrusted our nation to the hands of idiots and corporate lawyers turned congressmen and Senators. We are swayed by fancy talk and bogus promises into voting for men and women who have a constituency not of “we the people” but of corporate interests. Cash is not free speech, corporate cash is surely not free speech. If a congressman or Senator takes more then $10 dollars from any one person or group he should be prosecuted for corruptionperiod. Return American to the American people, remember for every new law passed their are winners, those who wrote it and paid to have it sponsored, and losers, the rest of us who pay for it and get nothing in return, not even representation. What if Idiots didn’t run the world?
In the age of instant news, what is news and who decides?
As large multinational corporations dominate the television news business, who decides what is news and why? Is this corporate ownership of the messages the news relays to us or creates for us a new phenomenon?
The simple answer is……… Hell, if you want the simple answer turn on CNN Headline News ( A time Warner Production),and if you want the right wing answer turn on FOX News (A News Corp Production). If on the other hand, you want the left wing answer turn on MSNBC (A General Electric PRODUCTION). But where is the truth, try the Daily Show a Comedy Central Production, ok its really a VIACOM Production.
So who decides what is news and what is not?
The answer is buried somewhere in between the multitude of Rihanna and Chris Brown stories and the live high speed chase from Los Angeles.(hint, its not the news broadcast its the commercials) So, if after watching thirty minutes of cable news you become depressed because it appears that the world is falling apart, relax its not. (Somehow, the car commercial follows the high-speed chase story, and the bad news on the housing market is followed by the latest anti depressant commercial). If it appears as if the television is talking to you, it may be if you are unstable, but for most of us its not. It’s not the TV thats talking to us its the advertising on the TV. I find it strange that the latest crime statistics are followed as if on queue by a home security system commercial, its because it is on queue. The reality of the news business is that it is a business, and in the struggle between news and business, well we know who is going to win out. So remember, the cable news networks are in business to sell advertising. So while you may love the opinion from your favorite MSNBC or Fox News anchor, remember it’s not his opinion it’s the networks. Your guy or gal is just reading a teleprompter, for the most part and the messagebeing read is carefully orchestrated to avoid alienating the almighty sponsors, while keeping hold of that target demographic to deliver the best numbers, for the advertisers.
This is true except for Glen Beck, he is an idiot for calling a half white and half black President, who supports imigration reform, a racist and now twenty advertisers and counting have pulled their sponsorship of his “news” program, if he keeps his job, that my friends will be the news.
So what’s the news, the news is while you were distracted by a football game or some bogus rant on television about gay marriage, the congress passed The Patriot Act, which is so unconstitutional its hilarious, we went to War in Iraq because of Weapons of Mass distraction, and some CEO’s granted themselves another two-hundred billion dollars in cash and stock options for fleecing millions of Americans out of their jobs, health insurance and homes. The real breaking news, is we as a nation are so dysfunctional and undeserving of the liberties our founding fathers risked live and limb for it’s sickening. We the people have given to these corporations and the frontmen that represent them in congress, all of our individual rights and freedoms and for what?
“Wait the news is on, I have to go.”
Want free health care? 7 tricks to free health care
Getting free health care as an American is simple here are seven ways.
- Go to war as a US Army soldier, regular Army only no called up reservists need apply, and nearly die in combat
- Got to war with the US and loose quickly, pentagon will be glad to win the hearts and minds with free health care for all.
- Get sent to prison
- Become so poor that you qualify for Medicaid
- Become so old that you qualify for Medicare
- Start an insurgency in say Venezuela or Columbia, but not Ohio and the Special Force will provide Medics for your cause
- Call your congressman and tell him that he needs to support a public option for Health Care
Of course in reality none of these options are free, but in retrospect option seven seems far simpler then any of the others. Would it be free, no not for all it would have a means test. (like social security should) What does a public option mean to the average joe, joe sixpack, joe wallstreet, joe mama, or homeless joe, its means the same thing in reality however the perceptions of what it means are divergent for example.
Reality for Average Joe, he would have no worries about pre-existing conditions, and his coverage would be the same as he has now. Same doctors, same costs no difference.
Perception for Average Joe, some communist would tell him that he can’t do this or that and make him donate his kids for medical reasearch.
Reality for Joe Sixpack, he would never get another collection notice because his health insurance from work didn’t pay the doctor or lab for the pre-approved physical he had for his CDL.
Perception for Joe Sixpack, as a registered republican his dna would be held in a data collection bank, and he would be forced to donate orgins to democrats whenever they call.
Reality for Joe Wallstreet, his $1500 per day supplemental plan (pays cash to JW if he misses work) would be taxable. He may loose some M&A business due to the falling profits of his Health Insurance Company Clients. (or perhaps make more)????
Perception for Joe Wallstreet, matches the reality that’s why he’s donating to every single anti-public option group that he can find. After all its his money why should some doctor or hospital get it for delivering quality health care?
Reality for Joe Mama, Mama has Medicare already and believe it or not its a public run health-care system with private company names the plans are all regulated down to the last benefit. All the insurance companies do is skim a little off the top and forward the bills if they remember , to Medicare for Reimbursement from Uncle Sam. Kind of like Don Corleone in the Godfather, and I am paraphrasing this, ” I just want to get my beak wet” or was that Tony Soprano?
Perception for Joe Mama, A man from the government is going to tell her how to die, when to die and oh by the way he is at the door now!
Reality for Homeless Joe, he doesn’t have an address, can’t vote and is sick. He went to a hospital and they called the police on him for tresspassing, so now he has health care because he exercised option 3.
Perception for Homeless Joe, getting arrested is his best chance to survive the TB he contracted as a homeless man after the dot com he founded collapsed in 1999.
Want free Health care? I don’t I am willing to pay for a system that is fair and equitable, a system like the one we all pay for, you know the one the pentagon runs in the dozen or so countries that we have invaded in the past 10 years, but without the car bombs please.
Bill Gardner (reformed enforcer for the Insurance Dons)
What you can do with $102,000 per hour
Did you know that the United Health Care CEO is making $102,000 per hour this year not per week, or per month per hour! Now, if I were him I would be anti-health care reform to. Heck I would even lobby congress to prevent any changes, I might even fund commercials to “expose” the public option as a SOCIALIST CONSPIRACY FOR GLOBAL DOMINATION. The fact of the matter is that we are having the wool pulled over our eyes here in the US by dudes, yes, I said dudes.- The origin of the word is American in the 1880′s and was applied to a class of men all of whom were city slickers and came west to take advantage of the ignorant cowboys. Hence the term dude ranch. Now we have a new class of dudes who are really no different then the dudes of the old west. These modern day snake-oil salesmen are taking advantage of the ignorance of the population for their personal business gains.
As the only Modern Western Country without a national health-care plan for its citizens, the USA is the last bastion of the Health-care dudes. These dudes are well funded, and have multiple, so called think tanks spouting the benefits of the current system and the evils of not-for profit health-care like the snake oil salesman of the old west. These snake-oil salesmen have the cure for all your ills, and if you’re gullible enough to believe them you deserve what you get, nothing, nothing but denied claims and hassles every time you try to use the health insurance policy you pay for on every paycheck.
If on the other hand you don’t make $102,000 an hour for denying valid claims or sell snake-oil to the masses take the time to think about it. Who benefits from the status-quo by eliminating a public option ? To start with, its those dudes making a $100,000 an hour! Once you get a grip on reality and understand that you and every other hard working citizen of the worlds richest nation is already paying for national health-care (see your medicare taxes on your next paycheck) you just can’t use it until your 65, it’s called medicare. As an American you should be entitled to a decent standard of health-care, not the 37th best in the world. If you think (government run health care or-Medicare) sucks try and take it away from the seniors and see what happens. Ask your republican representative to sponsor a bill eliminating Medicare and see what he or she says. The fact is, that if you’re 65 or a veteran you already have a national health-care system and no one will sponsor a bill to eliminate VA or medicare spending why is that? Because old people and veterans vote, the poor and uninsured do not. The seniors have the AARP lobbying for them and its political suicide to attempt to cut veterans spending. So what is the point of this rant… You are, you’re the point at least the deductions from you’re paycheck anyway. If you are reading this you are not the poor or the uninsured you are like me, an average American you are one of the 125 million Americans that all that all the hype is about. You see it’s about your money because it’s your money that pays the CEO of United Health Care $102,000 an hour. So he and his army of high priced dudes are telling you in as many words to trust them, because the snake-oil they are selling is the best snake-oil ever…. The thing is it’s still just snake-oil..
Bill Gardner, reformed snake-oil salesman (former insurance executive)
If your still reading try this on for size.
Brian Beutler of TPM has posted a pair of tweets from some idiot named Scott Oskay of New Mexico who is encouraging anti-health care reformers to attend Town Hall Meetings armed and to hurt people from the pro health-care reformers.
Are you anti government health-care? Read this clickhere.
Do you agree with this point of view? Did you know that the Veterans Adminstration is th top rated healthcare plan in the US and it is governmet run and-profit?
What’s wrong with this picture?
I served in the US Army as an Airborne Ranger from 1985-1988 on active duty and until 1995 in the Reserve. Being a Ranger is something that I am proud of and it was a goal that seemed logical after a youth filled with perhaps too many John Wayne movies. I joined to rid the world of the Soviet Menace and we did. Now lets fast forward to today, in Iraq “Blackwater” the defense contractor specifically recruited mercenaries from the former Yugoslavia to bring sex for hire girls to Iraq to “service” its contractors. Now, lets be clear this has been done since the days of the Roman Legions. Napoleon and others have done this throughout military history but not us.
We here in the good ole US of A, don’t act as pimps for our soldiers it just not American. Did I mention that this was done with your tax dollars and that the girls were as young as 13 and 14 years old, oh I may have forgotten that they were forced to perform these services for One dollar per ($1). So lets be clear, no US Active Duty personnel are involved in this. But your tax dollars have been, you have subsidized Foreign mercenaries hired to protect the Green Zone, State Department Assets and convoys in Iraq. Your tax dollars have been used to pay guys who rape little girls. Did I mention that these Mercenaries were paid 8 to 10 times as much a month as an Army Ranger in the same area of operations.
For more interesting information on this Private War company you have been paying for follow this link. http://aconstantineblacklist.blogspot.com/2009/08/blackwater-chief-accused-of-murder-gun.html
Would this happen if idiots didn’t run the world?
Health Care in America
Its 2009, 1,140,000 will declare bankruptcy due to overwhelming medical bills, the United States of America ranks 37th in the world in population health. 37th that’s awesome, we’re number 37 we’re number 37!! It has a ring to it. In the last three months US insurance companies have spent $130,000,000 to lobby against health-care reform, I didn’t get a dime of that by the way.
Here is my story on health insurance from 1994-2007 I had an insurance license and actually sold health insurance and actually helped design health insurance policies for two major insurance companies, additionally I sold Medical Malpractice insurance to doctors. What did I learn during this decade and a half, I hate the system, it is basically a walking talking conflict of interest. Let me give you an example, in 1994 I sold my first group health policy to a business in Arizona it was a nice sale and paid me $2900 a month for more then two years. during that two year period my clients employees became increasing discontent with the insurance company I had entrusted their lives with and with good reason. The group was an insurance company’s dream a chain of healthclubs with only 1 employee out of 273 over the age of 40, all were in great shape and very few ever had any type of claim, in fact in the two years that the company carried the policy at a cost of over $45,000 a month no major claims were ever paid, not one, in fact getting them to pay the co-payments on prescriptions was like pulling teeth and often took calls from the insured, the employer and me the agent just to get a co-payment for a doctor visit paid. The group had qualified for immediate coverage because it had moved as an existing group to the new carrier. (So the sales material said)
What I discovered was this was not really the case. The insurance company used what is called in industry terms, post claim underwriting to disqualify otherwise valid claims. When they did not disqualify the claim they simply took so long to pay the bill that my clients were ending up in collections! That first experience was not a unique one and repeated itself over and over again different employer groups and different insurance companies it did not matter which group or insurance company this is how health insurance works, don’t even get me started on dental insurance that’s even worse. Needless to say I moved up rapidly within the industry because of my sales skills and was soon asked to participate with company actuaries on designing policies and was consulted on how to make marketing materials more attractive for the policies.
So, as a reformed insurance consultant am I scared of health insurance reform, you bet I am just not for the reasons that all my old peers are. What concerns me are the same sales tactics that got us into Iraq are being used to kill national health insurance, fear, fear sells in fact any sales professional will tell you the only two ways to sell anything effectively are fear and greed we don’t need greed in this sales pitch its already there pushing the fear button repeatedly. What if idiots didn’t run the world, we would have a national health-care system.
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