HR 3590, The Cancer of America

***WARNING~~~If you are easily offended in the political arena, this post may not be for you to read. Please feel free to bypass this post and return when I have something friendlier to write.***

The much touted, much debated, much heated, and most passionately fought HealthCare Bill passed last night at a very, very narrow margin: 219 to 212. This was not a sweeping victory, and I pray that the proponents of this bill realize this. Bart Stupak was the holdout vote until he foolishly fell for President Obama's "promise" to write an executive order (which can easily be overturned, and I'm having trouble understanding why he thought it would hold) against tax payer funding for abortions. It's an unequally-yoked promise w/ an unequally-yoked heart. I do not care for President Obama's leadership so far. He's a politician, not a national leader. President Obama is a smooth-talking, charismatic, emotionally-charged promise-making politician. While he is basically stoic and even robotic in speech and mannerism, he thrives on others' emotionally-led and emotionally-driven rally to change. He has already had an agenda in his head, he just needed the nation to join in the orgy. He, like Pelosi, will not stop until they accomplish what they set out to do; this is under the guise that it's for the American people. Those who desired the change he has proposed and is still proposing are not THINKING of the implications of what his changes will bring. We will visit that web soon enough. When the frenzy dies down, I'm seriously afraid the Americans who voted for this healthcare change may find themselves in compromising situations and Catch-22s in more than one area of life. I do pray I'm wrong, but God gives us the spirit of discernment, and just because it sounds good, maybe even looks good, "makes sense", it doesn't mean it IS good. The bill itself has been overhauled for over a year, it's over 2000 pages long, it hasn't been critically reviewed to its fullest, has grown more corrupt by political interests, it's been vehemenently protested by MANY Americans because of the afore-mentioned reasons, and yet it's now passed. What is this country in for now? What tie-ins did our politicians put into this rat's nest of a bill that has nothing to do w/ what is good for the average American? What kinds of hurdles are going to meet the Americans who try to use health care as defined by this bill? What is going to bite us in the rear when we are met with, "Well, you WANTED this!" This tumor of a health care bill has grown and metastasized in areas other than health care, and growing with each promise given to the politicians. Who is going to remove the tumor from the American people?? Not everyone wanted this!!! As a matter of fact, opponents were just as passionate as proponents about this health care bill, we simply didn't have a voice strong enough to overturn it. What do we have now?

Before anyone jumps me for "not understanding" the need for this bill, let me just point out that I agree that some kind of health care reform is in order. However, I firmly believe that this bill (HR 3590) should been scrapped, killed, and buried and burned. I believe that some things learned from HR 3590 should've been a fresh start for a less complicated, more understandable, less bureaucratic, and basically more beneficial health care bill for America. As it is, we must pray for the benefit w/o the corruption that may be attached to it.
My husband and I have been w/o insurance for 10 years. The boys are either on Medicaid, CHIPS, or nothing, depending on our income qualifications of the moment. Our income, which is erratic, puts us right on the poverty level or just above it. We are forever on the border of qualifying or not qualifying (more often) for insurance. We fall between making just enough to knock us out of eligibility but not enough to acquire our own insurance, or we might be able to squeak 6 months of coverage at a time; most times they fall between the crack. Logically, it seems like I'd be jumping up for joy that this bill passed. If I was only thinking of immediate gratification, I might feel that way. However, I try to look beyond the current circumstances and see the long-term, and the long-term issues of this current bill are yet to be seen.

When President Obama was first announced as our President in November 2008, my heart sank. His spirit troubles me greatly...still does. This bill, and the way it came to be, brought back yet another remembrance of my spiritual slap in the face from that election moment.
This is from 1 Samuel 8, KJV:

And it came to pass, when Samuel was old, that he made
his sons judges over Israel.
Now the name of his firstborn was Joel; and the name of
his secon, Abiah: they were judges in Beersheba.
And his sons walked not in his ways, but turned aside
after lucre, and took bribes, and perverted judgment.
Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves
together, and came to Samuel unto Ramah.
And said unto him, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons
walk not in thy way: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.
But the thing displeased Samuel, when they said, Give
us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed unto the Lord.
And the Lord said unto Samuel, hearken unto the voice
of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee,
but they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them.
According to all the works which they have done since
the day that I brought them up out of Egypt even unto this day, wherewith they
have forsaken me, and served other gods, so do they also unto thee.
Now therefore hearken unto their voice: howbeit yet
protest solemnly unto them, and shew them the manner of the king that shall
reign over them.
And Samuel told all the words of the Lord unto the
people that asked of him a king.
And he said, This will be the manner of the king that
shall reign over you:
He will take your sons, and appoint them for himself,
for his chariots, and to be his horsemen; and some shall run before his
chariots.
And he will appoint him captains over thousands, and
captains over fifties; and will set them to ear his ground, and to reap his
harvest, and to make his instruments of war, and instruments of his
chariots.
And he will take your daughters to be confectionaries,
and to be cooks, and to be bakers.
And he will take your fields, and your vineyards, and
your oliveyard, even the best of them, and give them to his
servants.
And he will take the tenth of your seed, and of your
vineyards, and give to his officers, and to his servants.
And he will take your menservants, and your
maidservants, and your goodliest young men, and your asses, and put them to his work.
He will take the tenth of your sheep, and he shall be
his servants.
And ye shall cry out in that day because of your king
which ye shall have chosen you; and the Lord will not hear you in that
day.
Nevertheless, the people refused to obey the voice of
Samuel; and they said, Nay; but we will have a king over us.
That we also may be like all the nations; and that our
king may judge us, and go out before us, and fight our battles.
And Samuel heard all the words of the people, and he
rehearsed them in the ears of the Lord.
And the Lord said unto Samuel, Hearken unto their
voice, and make them a king. And Samuel said unto the men of Israel, Go ye every man unto his city.

I read that passage while listening to the news in the background, and my spirit was sorely troubled b/c I saw our first American king. This health care bill that recently passed is corrupted with the bountiful promises given to our politicians at the expense of the American people (verse 3). I don't believe this is what America is truly ready to embrace. I have a political cartoon image in my mind of Government force-feeding an American citizen this bill and him spitting it out like a baby not fond of peas. I hope the Government has a big enough bib to cover those rejections.

I'm glad to hear that a repeal of sorts is in the works, Texas seems to be spearheading this venture. We still have a chance to make things right, and to make it more usable by everyone w/o the risks involved in the current HR 3590 Health Care Bill. We need to achieve a balance, we need to re-establish and implement the checks and balances our forefathers had the foresight to establish. We need to get rid of the corruption that has taken place in this particular bill, and we must do so NOW. This cancerous tumor of a bill needs to be surgically removed and healing with a new bill needs to begin. Come November, we need to surgically remove those in office who are NOT voting according to constituent will and objectives.

Incompetent Tooth Fairies

No, we did NOT see THE TOOTH FAIRY movie just yet. However, I don't even think HE could have been much more incompetent than me and hubby. I'm serious. This is one profession that just might need a renewable license!
As you probably figured out, J7 lost his first tooth yesterday at school. :) He'd been wiggling it to death the last few days, and it finally just fell out. He brought it home in a sandwich baggie w/ the teacher's neatly printed words "J's 1st baby tooth." That gave me an idea. We'll just encourage him to put the WHOLE BAG under his pillow so it'll be an easy grab, right?? WRONG. We could NOT have been more wrong.

Okay, T12's tooth missions were basically a cinch to perform. He was on the top bunk, so we just pole vaulted over to his wall and braced ourselves there if we couldn't find our stilts. Slipped an agile hand underneath that fluffy pillow, did the switcheroo, and somehow got back out of his room in perfect peace. If we say so ourselves, we used to be kind of graceful at this maneuver. Hey, we've done this numerous times now (I don't think he has any more teeth to lose, but you never know, I guess, lol) and got the hang of it.

Let's now go to J7. We should've known. ANYTHING THAT WORKED FOR T12 DOES NOT WORK FOR J7, and yet...here we try again.... ((insert rolling eyes and head smacking against a brick wall emoticons))

Unlike T12, J7 is PERPENDICULAR to the wall. That makes things tougher b/c he's kinda longer to reach than T12. I guess we got so used to the pole vault system that we were thrown at a loss as to how to handle the bottom bunk in which he's perpendicular to the wall AND the bed. You read right, he hasn't slept lengthwise on his bottom bunk yet b/c he is short enough to fit in that direction, and he's slept that way since he got out of the crib at 18 months. I got used to laying beside him to read him bedtime stories, so I didn't think anything about it.
There's also the issue of him being a relatively LIGHT sleeper. Not so much that he opens his eyes and is aware of stuff, but he moves around, A LOT when he does move. Most times he's just a hunk of lead until morning, remaining in the same position he went to sleep in.
Note to self...gotta get him a NEW pillow that fluffs!!! Do you have any idea how heavy a self-propelled bowling ball feels on your momentarily arthritic hands??? If I found the bag, I never knew b/c the pain in my hand cancelled whatever mission I had in mind.
Hubby's turn.

He gets this notion to have a flashlight...y'know, one of those weird blue-white lights (LEDs?? not sure). It's not particularly bright but it shines weird. He shines that thing behind J7's head trying to peek under the pillow. He moves that big head o' his again and "looks" straight at hubby. He waits for about 10 minutes b/f proceeding. J7 has been quiet during this time, so we're thinking we've got a chance to find that bag w/ the tooth. He lifts the corner of the pillow, and that bowling ball moves again. He thrashes around a little more, pulls the covers up on himself a little more, and again drops back into deeper sleep...we think. Hubby repositions himself so that he's kinda poised above him. He flashed the light around J7, lifting corners of the covers and pillow, and J7 turns some more. He evidently got a little aggitated in his sleep b/c he outright turned over and there where his shoulder was gleamed that sparkly bag containing that troublesome pearl. Hubby grabbed that okay. Now came the hard part. He was trying to be legitimate about leaving the money under the pillow, J7 had his hands under the pillow at this point. Hubby finally was running out of patience and just put the money beSIDE the pillow. Turns out that worked out perfectly. J7 had an itchy nose or som'n rolled over and the pillow went right on top of the money like hubby planned it there all along.

This is his first tooth. Obviously we're just gettin' started w/ him. :{ Anyone got the Tooth Fairy Manual for Dummies you can give us? We are seriously lacking skill for handling restless sleepers who wouldn't fall asleep at bedtime when he USUALLY did. Of course, part of that could've been my fault. He DID ask me for a glass of warm milk so he could go to sleep. Had I read page 22 of that book, we might've saved ourselves a lot of restless anxiety taking that Tooth Fairy exam.