American's on both
sides of the aisle are in an uproar over the new health care
bill and for good reason, not to mention that the bill is
unconstitutional! Our founding fathers deliberately wrote into
our constitution guarantees that the government could not force
us to buy anything we didn't choose to purchase. This plan
attempts to undo what our constitution guarantees. This health
bill is contrary to God's principals as well.
God expects all of
us to use the intelligence He gave us to advance His causes and
to advance our fellow man. God wants all of us to be as creative
and beneficial to one another as is possible for each of us. God
expects us to be good stewards and smart business people as
well. A great example of this is the parable of the "servants"
who were given money and some grew it while one just
buried it and did nothing with what he was given. By the way, we
should all be concerned if we are using the talents that God
gave each of us to the fullest. Back to our story, the Lord was upset with
that servant and scolded him for his lack of creativity and his
laziness. He threw him into outer darkness. Its never a good
thing to fall into the hands of God when He is angry - not good
at all.
Read Matthew 25 for context and details. Below is a summary
of this health bill nightmare along with some important
headlines.
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Editorial Credit:
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Why are American’s in an uproar over the new health care bill?
Read this and you’ll see why:
THE HEALTH
CARE OVERHAUL
The pro-life House Democrats capitulated on Sunday night and
joined on a party line vote to pass the health care bill, to the
dismay of large numbers of American voters. Any compassionate
person wants to make sure that all people, whether rich or poor,
can get help when they are ill or injured. However, this step
deeper into the arms of socialism may have unintended
consequences that leave us worse off than before.
The US House voted to pass the Senate version of the health care
bill on Sunday night by a 219-212 vote. Every Republican and 34
Democrats voted against it. President Obama cheerfully signed
the bill into law on Tuesday, pleased to be ensuring health
insurance for 32 million additional Americans, widening the
social safety net to offer nearly universal medical coverage.
Heart wrenching stories abound about people who have been
swamped in medical bills, unable to make their payments, or
worse yet, who have been refused medical care because they lack
insurance. Rising medical costs make getting sick a serious
financial issue. The government hopes that this sweeping new
legislation will fix some major problems. Yet, many Americans
believe the nation's health care troubles could be
addressed without resorting to massive government spending and
intrusion into American lives and businesses.
"We have now just enshrined the core principle that everybody
should have some basic security when it comes to their health,"
the president said at the bill’s signing on Tuesday.
What
will it do?
Effective right away, insurance companies will no longer be
allowed to deny coverage to children with pre-existing medical
conditions and by 2014 insurance companies will be required to
insure anybody with pre-existing conditions. Starting this year,
insurance companies will not be allowed to put lifetime caps on
the amount of coverage any family receive and will be required
to allow parents to keep their children on their insurance until
the kids reach 26-years-old. By 2014, Americans will be required
to carry health insurance either privately or through their
employer or through a government program. Also by 2014, those
who make less than 400 percent of the poverty level (about
$43,000) will be able to receive Medicaid and federal subsidies
to help pay for insurance premiums through a health insurance
exchange program. People who fail to get some form of coverage
and employers who fail to cover their employees will be fined.
The legislation does not provide for a "public option."
Who will
pay for it?
Individuals who make more than $200,000 per year and couples
filing jointly who make over $250,000 will find their taxes on
capital gains, dividends, interest, rents and royalties notched
up several percentage points, along with an increase in their
contributions to Medicare.
Roberton Williams, an economist at the Tax Policy Center noted,
"It’s very clear that taxes are levied on the wealthy and the
benefits will spread across the entire income distribution, with
a lot going to expanded Medicaid distribution and expanding
health insurance. One couldn’t claim didn’t keep that promise"
to "spread the wealth around."
In the next few weeks, Congress will work to pass the
reconciliation bill that House Democrats are pushing, one that
will add $100 billion more in spending and delay the tax on
"Cadillac" health plans.
Unconstitutional?
If some millionaires aren’t bothered by their new burden, plenty
of other people are upset by the legislation. Attorneys general
from 14 states filed suit minutes after the President signed the
bill, arguing that the Federal Government was overstepping its
constitutional bounds. Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum
contends that the bill violates the Constitution’s commerce
clause by forcing Americans to buy health insurance.
"It forces people to do something -- in the sense of buying a
health care policy or paying a penalty, a tax or a fine -- that
simply the constitution does not allow Congress to do," McCollum
said at a news conference in Tallahassee.
Subsidizing Abortion?
Pro Life groups also believe the bill will open the door for
federal funding of abortions. The pro-life Democrats in the
House were the last major wall against the bill, but Rep. Bart
Stupak, D-Mich., leader of this pro-life bloc, agreed to support
the bill after President Obama issued an executive order to
maintain all prohibitions against taxes paying for abortions.
However, organizations like The National Right to Life Committee
argue that the bill is "riddled with provisions that predictably
will result in federal subsidies for private insurance plans
that cover abortion" and that the executive order will have no
real effect. In a statement, the NRLC said, "The executive order
promised by President Obama was issued for political effect. It
changes nothing. It does not correct any of the serious
pro-abortion provisions in the bill. The president cannot amend
a bill by issuing an order, and the federal courts will enforce
what the law says."
Other
Concerns:
While the health care legislation makes it possible for more
people to get on Medicaid, there is concern that there won't be
enough doctors to take on the number of patients out there.
Christopher Conover, director of the Health Policy Scholars
Program at Duke, commented on the health bill, saying, "We
already have a primary care system that's pretty overburdened;
now we're adding tens of millions to the Medicare rolls and not
significantly expanded the capacity of the system to absorb
them. I think that's going to create real problems. Everyone is
going to feel the impact of adding so many more people to the
system without fundamentally altering the supply side, the
number of providers."
People with insurance tend to go to the doctor more often, which
is beneficial since problems are caught in their early stages
rather than later on when treatment might be more difficult and
costly. However, adding millions of people to doctors' waiting
rooms means the wait time for an appointment will be that much
longer. There is already a shortage of physicians, and
especially those willing to accept Medicaid patients. Having
either private insurance or Medicaid may not guarantee that an
ill person will get to see a doctor when needed.
Businesses are also concerned about what the costs of insuring
their employees will mean, even with tax breaks for small
companies of 25 people or less. Larry Keller, CEO of the
Asheville-based company Visual Intelligence & Analysis said, "My
business – I have no intention of adding people and will use
1099 contract folks to do my work. I had envisioned becoming a
real corporation one day employing people with excellent
compensation and benefits but there is no way I would consider
that now."
Americans have had a wide variety of responses to the health
care legislation, with progressives arguing that it does not go
nearly far enough and conservatives regretting the deeper plunge
into socialism. Some are upset that it slashes Medicare, and
others that it raises taxes and will be very expensive in the
long run. One CNN reader commented sarcastically, "This is
cool. I'm just going to drop my insurance now, pay the $700
yearly fine, and then pickup insurance when I get sick since
insurance companies can't deny me. I'll save a bundle of money
every year."
Bro Stef Comments: My
wife and I will save $7,700.00 each year by only buying the
protection when we need it. America is built on each peoples
ingenuity. Take this away, and the country will not survive.
This plan incentivizes people for doing less and being less
productive. This is a travesty of HUGE proportions! I will go
out on a limb here and say, I believe that this plan was devised
to help usher in a collapse of America! I believe with all of my
heart that we are witnessing a demonic plan to undo the America
we have all come to love and know. For a glimpse into what I am
eluding to, listen to Brother Jack's audio on this. Jack is part
of our online family and in a masterful way, lifts the curtain to show whose behind
it pulling all the levers.
Listen Now:
Jack
Hook's Web Site
Important Headlines
March 24, 2010
The prospect that China may report
its first monthly trade deficit in six years could offer an
unexpected boost to the nation's position in the increasingly
heated international debate over its currency policy. Top
Chinese officials have in recent days said trade numbers for
March could show China imported more than it exported this month
— its first monthly deficit since April 2004.
- The Wall Street
Journal
March 24, 2010
The Palestinian Authority appears
to have backtracked on its decision to close down 10 TV
stations, including a private Christian channel. The PA had
taken the stations off the air, claiming they did not have
proper licenses, but announced Wednesday that the networks would
be given one month to sort out the issue. Nevertheless, the
owner of the Christian station said he would not reopen the
channel until the PA apologizes. He accused the PA of cracking
down on freedom of expression.
- The Jerusalem Post
March 23, 2010
Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden's
son issued a plea Tuesday for some country to accept members of
his family seeking to leave Iran, where they have been held
under house arrest since 2001. After two of Omar bin Laden's
siblings were released by Tehran to Syria in the past three
months, he and his wife Zaina issued a statement pleading for a
refuge for their other family members still in Iran. He also
says none of them have al-Qaeda sympathies.
- AFP
March 21, 2010
A volcano erupted near a glacier
in southern Iceland, shooting ash and molten lava into the air
and forcing the evacuation Sunday of hundreds of people from
nearby villages. "This was a rather small and peaceful eruption
but we are concerned that it could trigger an eruption at the
nearby Katla volcano, a vicious volcano that could cause both
local and global damage," said Pall Einarsson, a geophysicist at
the University of Iceland's Institute of Earth Science.
Authorities evacuated 450 people between the farming village of
Hvolsvollur and the fishing village of Vik, some 100 miles
southeast of the capital, Reykjavik.
- AP
March 21, 2010
Israeli will neither change
policies that have been upheld by its various governments since
1967 nor halt construction in Jerusalem, Prime Minister Binyamin
Netanyahu stressed at Sunday's cabinet meeting. "We will clarify
that building in Jerusalem is like building in Tel Aviv,"
Netanyahu said. A final-status agreement between Israel and the
Palestinians, he said, could only be reached at the conclusion
of direct talks in which the two sides "sit together and sort
the issues out."
- The Jerusalem Post
If we don't
meet again here, I'll see you in the air and in Heaven...
Until Next Time
Lord Willing,
Bro Stef
John 14:27;
Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world
gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled,
neither let it be afraid.
Romans 10:8-11: "The word is near you; it is in your mouth and
in your heart,"
that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming:
That if you confess
with your mouth, "Jesus is LORD,"
and believe
in your heart that God raised him from the dead,
you will be saved.
For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified,
and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.
As the Scripture says, "Anyone who
trusts in Him will never be put to shame." (NIV)