The Nelson Dilemma

Senator Ben Nelson (D) from Nebraska has proposed an amendment to the senate health care bill. According to the Washington Examiner, Nelson will propose an amendment that would prevent tax money from paying for abortions much like the Stupak amendment stipulated in the house bill. It will be interesting to see how this will play out and its greater impact on the legislation's chances of survival. If the amendment passes, which needs 60 votes, this would be a compromise that Harry Reid would have to drag his caucus towards. The Democratic Party does not tend to support the right to life movement and Ben Nelson is a rare pro-life democrat. Without the Nelson amendment, Nelson might vote against the final bill and Reid will fall 60 votes short to move the bill off the floor. With the amendment, staunch abortionist in the party could also derail the bill. Senator Reid has to thread the needle with this sensitive issue. Also, Senators Nelson, Joe Lieberman, Mary Landrieu, and Blanche Lincoln are all opposed to a public option being proposed which further complicates matters. I am against tax money going to pay for abortions in any form. I am also against the creation of another government insurance program.

Deliberative body?

The senate has voted to begin debate on the health care bill. I must admit that I struggle with politics. I have a vision of where the United States should go as a nation. We are a people of choices. Look at most products sold in this country and you get choices. Different cell phone companies, fast food, cars, and we even choose our leaders. I am weary of the legislation going forward in Congress. We are dealing with 10.2% unemployment and critical decisions facing us in Afghanistan. Congress has moved ahead with health care and with cap and trade legislation. I struggle with all of this because I feel as if we are slowly moving away from choices and closer to restrictions and insurmountable debt. Government may not always know best. Our system has worked so well because we let the common man, the "individual", make choices and have the grand opportunity to fail. I do not like the idea of debt in any form. I have read somewhere that J.C. Penny, the founder of the department store chain, hated debt. I would like to believe that we elected a president who loves this country and wants it to succeed. I don't understand the argument that we can spend a trillion dollars on a new entitlement program and save money. The Bible says, "The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender." Proverbs 22:7. We will continue to borrow and spend without end until the world community realizes what is already evident to many, we are out of money. Social Security and Medicare will possibly be insolvent within a decade. America will have to make some hard choices. We have to cut up our national credit cards and take a hard look at our priorities. If we think about it, most of us have been the beneficiaries of some kind of government program, state or national, at some point in our lives. The hope scholarship in Georgia, Medicare, Social Security, Welfare, the Pell Grant, public schools, Tricare, S-Chip, an array of short term stimulus money, etc. My wife and I did not even pay taxes last year and got over nine hundred dollars from state and federal returns and stimulus. This was money we never even asked for. We would be stupid not to except this money but I felt this was a case of government redistribution. Trust me, I did not make enough to get back over nine hundred dollars. For those who might think I am a party hack for the republican party, this stimulus money came from a Republican president. A mindset of entitlement has settled in on all sectors of society. How do we change our ways? I pray every day to God that he would have mercy on us as a nation and that He would lead us to repentance. I am ultimately a citizen of the Kingdom of God but I am blessed to live in the United States. Our problems will not be solely resolved by cleverly thought out doctrines or reforms passed by men. We Americans should get back to the basics that made this country what it is today. A reliance on God and the ability to choose our future in accordance with His divine will. Our founding father may not all have been Christians, but they understood human nature in accordance with biblical principles and created a system that checks many of the passions of human flesh. "Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other." -John Adams

Newly helpful websites for developing public policy

(This is the Congressional Budget Office's web site)

http://www.heritage.org/
(The Heritage Foundation)

http://www.gao.gov/
(The Government Accountability Office)

Changes in the health bill from the Heritage Foundation blog

The Foundry

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Roundtable: Economic Comeback

Roundtable: Economic Comeback

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Greenspan and Secretary Geithner

I don't want to be considered a hack for any party. I want to be objective and consider the facts. I didn't really support the stimulus bill. I didn't read the bill but I didn't think that pumping nearly a trillion dollars of money that we don't have into the economy was a good deal. From what I've gathered from history books and other sources, building bridges to nowhere and employing people for 9 months in "shovel ready" jobs is not a good proposition. I was younger and not as attentive as I am now to world affairs but I thought that the press was harder on the 2004 economy than it has been on Obama's 2009 economy. I want the economy to comeback and I do think that what the White House and Congress has done will be a test on how well Keynesian economics works or doesn't work. I'm also trying to understand the argument for how dumping another trillion dollars into nationalizing health care will help remedy our deficit problems. Many in favor of the health care reform bill shy away from the "nationalizing health care" vocabulary. When you put in place a public option that is paid for by the tax payers, doesn't have to make a profit, and is run by a government that can pass laws to regulate its private sector competitors, the "competitors" will squeezed out of the picture. Many advocates of H.R. 3200 also use the argument that we are the only industrialized nation in the world that does not provide health care to all of its citizens. I find this argument petulant and reverts to the kind of logic that gives us the "well everybody else is using drugs." I found a couple of videos on "This Week" with George Stephanopolous and found them informative.

Update: Healthcare

I'm in the middle of converting this blog and setting it up to look cool. The graphics are rough and I bet my readership remains in the zero digits. All amateurish postings aside, I will comment and try to stay objective on the latest news and steer away from political rhetoric. My interest lays with the issue and how public policy works or doesn't work. Everybody these days are talking about health care. I would like to add a disclaimer. My parents have never voted for a democratic party presidential candidate. I grew up listing to Rush Limbaugh and all forms of conservative talk radio. They came of age politically during the Reagan administration and I have adopted many of their right leaning convictions. However, I have made a commitment to throw out my preconceived notions and to objectively analyze proposals and ideas. People who tend to be liberal or lean in that direction may have had life experiences that make them more sympathetic towards those of lower income. Conservatives tend to like the constitution and believe that sacred document has served us well as a country because of success or cultural upbringing.