STOP SPENDING MY MONEY!

For all of our school districts, towns, villages, counties, state and federal government - a demand:

You need to stop spending. My pay is frozen. Why can't yours be? I pay more out of pocket every year for benefits. Why can't you? My medical plan co-pay went from $5 to $10 to $15. Why can't yours? Some of my coworkers will be let go. Why can't some of yours? My retirement savings is in the toilet. Why should yours be completely funded? I had to cut out things I didn't need, to save money. Why can't you? I drive a 1997 van and my computer is 6 years old. Do you really need new every year? I don't do things I can't pay for. Why should you?

I want next years school district, town, village, county, state and federal budget to be LOWER than this years. Not a "spending reduction" because they reduced the INCREASE! Reduce the budget. Spend 10% less next year, and reduce it every year for the next 5. Cut programs, cut benefits, layoff people. Eliminate the Congressional healthcare benefit, and give them the one I have. Freeze teacher and administrator salaries like mine is frozen. Change retirement plans to a 401K like an employer did to me. Cut, cut, cut!

In short - STOP SPENDING WHAT YOU DON"T HAVE. This video needs to be required viewing:

Following my rant about government run systems, as related to healthcare, a close friend pointed out a graph to me that made his "stomach turn". At first blush - mine turned too. For reference, the graph is here: http://blogs.ngm.com/blog_central/2009/12/the-cost-of-care.html. It lays out the cost of health care verses life expectancy. Initial reaction is "how can we spend so much more than and have a lower life expectancy?" After a day of reflection, however, the graph doesn't turn my stomach - it just makes me angry.

On the graph the notation says "Dollar figures reflect all public and private spending on care, from doctors visits to hospital infrastructure." Read that again, especially about hospital infrastructure. So - we can "fix" this problem by eliminating half our hospitals. We can forego expensive MRI or CAT scan machines. We can stop elective surgery. Botox injections. Viagra or Cialis. Get rid of all this "care" and "infrastructure" and the graph would look much better. We can approach the cost per person in Mexico of $823 per person. Just get rid of those pesky expensive hospitals, nursing homes, and other care facilities.

Then, there is the basic assumption of the graph that correlates cost to life expectancy. Does spending more money on health care cause longer lives? Just like spending more money on education makes for higher graduation rates. Just wrong. How about a graph of obesity rates verses life expectancy? Or physical activity verses life expectancy? Maybe diet verses life expectancy? I can provide studies that prove correlations for these factors, but no where does it say that spending more money will or should increase life expectancy. Plotting these two elements together on a graph makes as much sense as plotting the number of dogs and cats per nation against life expectancy.

As Mark Twain said (which he attributed to Disraeli) "There are three kinds of lies: Lies, Damned Lies and Statistics".

Just an observation

Over the holidays I had a couple of occasions to send packages and/or cards out to friends and families far removed from our location but not our hearts.

One trip was to a commercial shipper (e.g. FedEx or UPS) where they obviously recognized the need to add staff, and create more efficient processes for the holiday rush. As I waited in line (48 people - no kidding) a person walked up and down the line handing out forms, and when forms were done, using a hand-held scanner to pre-screen and pre-scan the forms. Every window location was open, and no kidding, the line of 48 people took less than 5 minutes. About 7 seconds per person.

My second visit was to our U.S. Postal Service. This line was much shorter - only 10 or 12 people. Ahhh - should be in and out in a couple of minutes. Yeah, right. There was one window open staffed by a person who had one speed - "glacial". Looking beyond the counter you could watch several people walk back and forth, each one who looked at the line, then without a thought continued back about their business. The one guy working did not change his pace as the line behind me grew longer. People began to mutter under their breath. The "holiday" mood began to turn ugly. Our government employee didn't seem to notice or care. The Postmaster walked out from his office, looked at the line filling the lobby and went to a counter location - where he used the device there to accomplish some task, and then LEFT! I waited 35 minutes to mail my parcel. Number 12 in line, and 35 minutes. Almost 3 minutes per person.

This is a very real contrast between "free market" and "government". So - my simple question: Do we REALLY want to turn over our health care to be a government run program?

A simple proposal

It is a simple concept really. I propose replacing the words "Government" and "Free" with the words "Taxpayer funded". Here are examples: "Government Bailout" would become "Taxpayer Funded Bailout" and "School Free Lunch Program" would become "School Taxpayer Funded Lunch Program", or another big one of "Government Healthcare Option" would be "Taxpayer Funded Healthcare Option". There is no such thing as "Government" money, just like "There ain't no such thing as a free lunch" (TANSTAFL). This is our money, taken from us and distributed by the government. I want more say in where my money goes.

The rise and fall of the empire?

It has been said by pundits that an excellent predictor of the impending collapse of a civilization is a general disregard for manners and courtesy. If this is true, and I have no proof that it isn't, then our American Society is well on its way to total collapse. A higher and higher percentage of our culture accepts, and even practice active rudeness, disrespect and aggressive behavior. Foul language, rude sayings on shirts, Calvin decals peeing on (fill in the blank here) , balls hanging from the trailer hitches of pickup trucks, all visible and protected under the umbrella of "political correctness" or general acceptance of any and all behavior. How many times this week have you heard the "f-bomb" without even noticing it? Take some time this week to really listen for foul language. It has become so commonplace we don't even hear it anymore. Like sex and violence on TV, the objectification of women, the exposure of our young people to more and more influences to grow up quickly - it is just creeping into our everyday life. SHAME ON US for becoming inured to it. SHAME ON US for not speaking out about it. SHAME ON US for moving away from those values that allow us to become the people we are today.

Take a stand. Next time you hear that casual foul language, just say no! Tell the speaker you don't like that kind of talk. Don't tolerate rude behavior. Voice your displeasure at the rude shirt you see. Stop being the silent majority, or else we will become the silent minority.

It is all about character

Regardless of what is presented daily on Television, in the Print Media or on the internet, America is not composed of sleazy, carousing, dirt bags. The VAST (and silent) majority have a core set of values that have been largely unchanged since the founding of our country. Belief in a higher authority, the desire to "do the right thing", compassion, reliability, steadfastness are all still out there. The same kind of values that are sung about every day in your average country music statement, are still there, and are keeping America strong.

We are not all "Desperate Housewife's", "Brothers and Sisters" or "Dirty, Sexy Money" people. We share a lot more with "Leave it to Beaver" or "Andy of Mayberry". Let's make these values popular again. Character DOES count. Only vote for people with character. Hold elected officials to a higher standard, not a lower one.

I strongly believe that modeling behavior is the most effective way to implement change. I don't: hang around with felons, fool around on my wife, cheat on my taxes, cuss, do drugs, drink and drive, etc., etc.. I do, however, go to church, volunteer, donate, love, laugh and have fun.