Choose your Heroes Carefully

I had promised myself I would not write anything about Tiger Woods and his troubles. I have continued to be amazed by the uproar and media blitz. But I have been more surprised by the reaction of so many of my friends and this post came out of that amazement. Why do we continue to attach our hopes, dreams, and morals to people we don’t even know? Just because a person can hit a ball, throw a ball, or shoot a ball we expect them to be as good or better than us?

So last week I get in this conversation with good friends of mine and one of them still can’t believe Tiger could be so stupid, wrong, immoral, or whatever. He’s never even met the guy. Plenty of our “heroes” have disappointed us over the years. Based on many of their transgressions, what Tiger did could be considered to be not so bad. Heck it appears plenty of people have forgiven/forgotten Bill Clinton’s transgressions. I’m just guessing but I bet he cheated more than Tiger!!

Anyway, this thought came to me during this conversation. I looked at the three guys I was sitting with at Nick’s Bar and I realized they are all bigger heroes to me than any celebrity. I know them and have for years. They are all good husbands and fathers. They try to make the world and people around them better and happy. Then I started thinking about all the other heroes in my life. My wife is incredible. My parents – incredible! My in-laws - raised six successful kids – incredible. Then I thought about all the people that came to our aid during my cardi-astrophe. The love and support they provided was absolutely heroic.

So just maybe we should stop attaching these mythical fantasy attributes to people we don’t even know. Look around your own life and I bet you’ll find plenty of heroes that deserve your respect and admiration.

I sure know I did.

It's already a victory

I wanted to be sure to write this before the election tomorrow in Massachusetts. Coakley vs Brown, a Democrat for the infamous Ted Kennedy seat against a Republican. This election should be a slam dunk for the Dems. But the latest polls all show Brown ahead. Now I won’t believe it ‘till it’s over but one can only hope.

If it really happens it is absolutely a referendum on this past year of congressional politics. Actually, the fact that the race is this close is already a referendum. But watch what happens if Brown actually wins. The democratic spin machine will be in full force. Since the oh so popular Obama couldn’t even help then whom? They may need to bring in the master himself, James Carville, to spin this one.

They’ll say Martha Coakley was a weak candidate.
They’ll say the third party candidate pulled votes away from her.
They’ll say Brown was more likable.

Hell they’ll say whatever they have to shift the talk away from healthcare reform and the rest of this administration’s unpopular agenda.

But it won’t work. Don’t let it work. Every incumbent Congressman/woman should already be shaking in their boots, from both parties. But the Democrats should be more worried. The largest expansion of government and the excessive spending is all on them. The back room deals and late night votes are all on them too.

So yes, tomorrow’s election is a referendum. Just maybe come November there will be a changing of the guard in Congress. Maybe we can get back to enough gridlock so we can have thoughtful, open, and bipartisan decisions.

Hey one can only hope.

Twas the Day Before Christmas

Twas the Day Before Christmas

Twas the day before Christmas, and all through the Senate
The Dems said they would pass health care and by God they meant it
The votes were bought one by one
If you don’t believe me just ask Senator Ben Nelson

Just days earlier they had a vote in the night
It wasn’t transparent, just doesn’t seem right
The vote was cast straight down party lines
We’re headed for trouble, there are all sorts of signs

The people had spoken, they raised quite a clatter
The senate vote shows that public opinion doesn’t matter
They think they’ll make history and have statues erected
But they forgot why they’re there, why they were elected

President Obama wants this done and he wants it done quick
Thinks he can give people something for nothing, must think he’s St. Nick
But unlike St. Nick he comes in my house uninvited
So don’t tell me I get too excited.

This legislation makes promises that it just can’t keep
As history has shown us, the cost will be steep
And so as he pressured them, one by one they came
It’s important that we call them each by name

Now Boxer! Now Durbin! Now Reid and Lieberman
On Baucus! On Dodd! On Feinstein and Franken
Get this bill done so I can sign it at last.
Hurry now! Hurry now! My popularity won’t last!

He will add more bureaucracy claiming he’ll lower the cost
Showing once again that common sense is lost
Government agencies are full of corruption and waste
So I ask you again sir, what is the haste?

Obama is not Santa, he is more like Robin Hood
But redistributing wealth will do more harm than good
Innovation and competition is what makes this country strong
Take away those incentives and we won’t last long

Let insurance companies compete, that will lower the cost
And that you should do so soon, before all is lost
Add tort reform too, that’s what we all need
Doctors should heal not have to worry how they’ll plead

You will tell us it’s a good bill, but you can’t make your case
No one likes this bill, not even your base
We can’t afford Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid
It is always the tax payers that you want to raid

If Obama was truly St Nick, he would look at my list
And then maybe, this opportunity wouldn’t be missed
There’s no doubt healthcare costs are out of control
But getting them down is not the government’s role

But still he insists, I will sign this bill though I didn’t read it
I can do whatever I want ‘cause I am that conceited
Let’s get this thing done, then we’ll have it made
Then we can move on and pass cap and trade

So as he jumped in his limo he shouted to Pelosi and Reid
Reconcile these bills and do it with speed
Obama waved goodbye although there weren’t many cheers
Because I heard him exclaim ‘I’ve still got three more years!’

"A billion dollars for your thoughts"

It used to be "A penny for your thoughts" but with inflation and all I figured I'd update the cliche. I chose a billion dollars since that's the kind of numbers our government throws around now; and a trillion is right around the corner!

You know the latest $900 billion dollar health care bill the Senate just passed? Estimates of the unfunded liabilities of this bill will exceed $9.2 trillion!!

Nonsense you say. Well this estimate is based on similar, under funded government programs that now have historical data. Lets start with Medicaid. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated that the first year of the program would cost $238 million. It actually topped $1 billion. The program now cost 37 times more (adjusted for inflation) then when it started. The current cost for Medicaid is $251 billion!!

Maybe that's an anomaly you say. OK, let's look at Medicare. In 1965 Congress estimated that this program would cost $12 billion in 1990. It's actual cost was $90 billion. And, over a 20 year period, the number of Medicare beneficiaries rose by 37% but the program cost rose by 372% . This is not a good track record.

No one in Congress is looking at cost cutting. That would require free market solutions. Instead, in a blatant attempt to get re-elected, they continue the policy of promising people everything -cost be damned. Unfortunately for them this time we're not buying it. Poll after poll shows that the majority of Americans don't want any of these health care bills to pass. I know that's not what the administration will tell you. They don't look at facts that are inconvenient to their story. I'm guessing that the best way to get re-elected is to do what you constituents want, not what the president wants.

But maybe that's why I'm not in politics. Common sense apparently has no place in Washington.

Financial data obtained from US News and World Report.

Why aren't we calling it a terrorist attack?

Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan entered a medical facility at Fort Hood, shouted "Allahu akbar" then started gunning down American troops. 13 dead, 29 wounded. Obama says we can't be quick to rush to judgement. Well I agree with that but now that there is overwhelming evidence proving he was a terrorist, we can judge. Yelling "Allahu akbar" was just the last clue.

Our intelligence agencies found e-mails he sent to known al-Qaida imams and operatives. Hasan denounced the "war on terror" as a war against Islam, and said Muslims should attack Americans in retaliation for the war in Iraq. He had openly denounced non-Muslims and had reportedly said they should be beheaded and have burning oil poured down their throats. I am not an intelligence expert but these seem like signs that should have made this guy a person of interest!

The media is saying he was under incredible stress and this may have caused him to snap. What stress? He was never in combat, never left Ft Hood. Hasan had business cards. They didn't mention his military grade but had SOA and SWT under his name. These are not military acronyms. SOA is short for "Soldier (or Slave) of Allah" and SWT is short for "Subhanahu Wa Ta'all," which means "glory to God".

It is frightening that our military and intelligence agencies missed all these signs. But why can't it now be called a terrorist attack? Just maybe it's because of politics. This would be the first attack on US soil since 9/11. Terrorist acts don't have to knock down buildings and steal thousands of innocent lives. This act was heinous and was a cool, collected, and vicious attack on our soldiers; and America.

Hopefully the evidence will force the media and Obama to call it what it was. This is absolutely no time for politics.

Let me get this straight

New Orleans gets hit with Katrina, a hurricane that is bigger than anything we'd seen before. The state of Louisiana initially refuses federal help and people refused to leave their homes. And it was still all President Bush's fault. It was because he hates black people, remember?

But now, after knowing for quite awhile that the H1N1 flu had pandemic potential, we still don't have enough vaccine. Where is the outrage that the Obama administration was not prepared?

Does Obama hate sick people? Maybe it's part of their government health care takeover plan. Let people get sick and then they'll need insurance- very shrewd - actually too shrewd for this group.

Even Fox News, the "enemy" of Obama and his administration, isn't placing blame. And of course the Main Street Media won't touch this.

Finally, fair and balance reporting!

When you least expect it. . .

. . . life can certainly throw you a curveball. On Sept 17th I experienced an aortic dissection which I learned can be quite fatal. Up until that moment I thought I was a relatively healthy 47 year old. The inner wall of my ascending aorta ruptured and blood stop flowing to most of my right side. Fortunately I received help and had open heart surgery on early morning, Sept 18th. Complications ensued and I got to enjoy a second open heart surgery six days later.

I will spare you guys all the other gory details. Suffice it to say I am rehabbing now but on but am supposed to still severely limit my activity.

I have gone through the usual range of emotions that such an event conjures up. I don’t want to get too sappy but this event has made me appreciate everything I have in life. I realized that I have a great family. My wife has been so strong and supportive during this ordeal that I can’t believe how lucky I am. Every day when I see my three girls I again realize that I’m a lucky guy.

The other, most amazing, thing I’ve come to appreciate is the love and support I have received from my family and friends. Besides all their thoughts and prayers, they have provided the support my wife and I needed to get through this. Meals just kept showing up at our door, the chores around the house got done, and I have had plenty of company while I recuperate.

I now often think about the last line from It’s a Wonderful Life – “No man is a failure who has friends” (and family).