Universal Healthcare: The Slippery Slope

// 8.15.09 // 28 Comments » // Freedom & Politics

I’d like to write a long, informative post defending my opposition to universal healthcare, but frankly, I don’t have the time. And there are plenty of people out there who say it better than I.

I will come out and say (in case you didn’t know) that I can’t stand the current President of our country. Can’t. Stand. His arrogant, joking attitude. His socialist agenda. Makes me sick.

And I will say that if “universal” (totalitarian?) healthcare is implemented, universal education, universal property management, and universal business regulation won’t be far behind.

I truly fear for our future.

Update 8/17/09: Yes, this post was written when I was upset and I absolutely tend to be dramatic. Here’s a calmer, more informative opinion piece on the healthcare issue. And a quote from it:

Once health care is a “free good” that government pays for, demand will soar and government costs will soar too. When the public finally reaches its taxing limit, something will have to give on the care and spending side. In a word, care will be rationed by politics.

Thoughts on School Choice

// 6.7.09 // 4 Comments » // Freedom & Politics, Homeschooling, Link Love

It’s been awhile since I engaged in a good “debate” on homeschooling. After commenting on A Dad First’s response to an anti-homeschool article, I started clicking around the web and came across some gems.

Here is school reform advocate John Taylor Gatto:

“If you gave children and families (schooling) options … inside of a decade the institutional schools would vanish because they don’t teach the way children learn nor can they teach the way children learn. That’s not what they’re set up to do … They’re set up to sort people into occupational categories…”

Hat tip to Muse with Indy Jane.

Buying a Nebulizer is Tougher Than Getting Through Airport Security

// 5.15.09 // 10 Comments » // Freedom & Politics, My Daughter, Parenting

Last week I had to buy a nebulizer for my daughter. While she hasn’t been diagnosed with asthma, she does have “respiratory sensitivity” that turns every simple cold into an alarming event in which I end up sitting on the bathroom floor holding her while the shower runs hot for half an hour to steam up the room and help her breath.

So the doctor gave me a prescription for a nebulizer. My health insurance won’t cover it, so I’m thinking I’ll just walk into the medical supplies store and pick one up. Not. First I had to fill out paperwork. Three pages of medical background and personal information. The woman then told me to “take a seat” and she’d be back in a few minutes. Huh?

She went back to her semi-private office area in the back of the store and starting typing away on her computer. She calls questions out to me every now and then. What county do I live in… Was my daughter actually diagnosed with anything… She’d need to copy my health insurance card… After 15 minutes, I reiterated that my health insurance is not covering this and was all this paperwork necessary? Oh yes, she says, “for my protection.”

TWENTY-FIVE minutes later she comes out with several pages of printout from what looks like the old dot-matrix printers with the little holes down the sides that you have to tear off. She busily starts separating all the copies and asking me to sign. I have to sign that I DON’T want them to submit to my insurance company. I have to sign again that I fully understand I am buying this product WITHOUT expectation of financial compensation from any insurance company. I have to sign two sets of instructions on how to use the machine. I have to sign that the store employee opened the box and demonstrated the instructions. Then I have to wait while she gets a respiratory nurse on the phone to explain the instructions yet again. And, oh, then I have to sign that… you guessed it… the respiratory nurse spoke to me and I understand the instructions.

Forty minutes later, I am allowed to give her my credit card and purchase the damn nebulizer. Well, at least I didn’t have to take my shoes and belt off.

And getting the government more involved in health care is a good idea?