Bailouts…

My husband found this and I thought it was absolutely great!  And, really, doesn’t it just sum it all up perfectly?

 

My Plan…

Ok, I’ve been giving this a lot of thought, and I think I have a pretty good plan to significantly help the economy as well as help solve the healthcare problem.  It’s a two for one kind of thing.  Here it is, and I want to know what you all think of this. 

Step 1:  Significantly lower corporate taxes.  At 39%, the United States has one of the highest corporate tax rates in the world.  That’s absurd.  It’s no wonder big companies outsource so many jobs to other countries.  I might get really irritated when I call tech support and get someone in India that I can barely understand, but I also understand why it’s done. 

Step 2:  Get the unions out.  Let’s face it, the unions are in control of way too much in this country!  Why do you think it was automakers that had to deal with the UAW were the ones getting that bailout money.  Companies like Toyota and Honda, who have manufacturing plants here, but are not unionized, did not need the government to bail them out.  Those companies don’t have the union restrictions placed on them.  And, let’s not beat around the bush here, the unions bring nothing but restrictions and hardships to companies.  They might claim to be helpful to workers, they really seek for power for themselves.  By placing all those regulations and restrictions on companies, it causes the companies to hire fewer people and do less for the employes they have. 

Step 3:  Stop having employers provide health coverage fro employees.  Yes, this might initially sound harsh, but hear me out.  If a company doesn’t have to provide health coverage for employees, it will free up a lot of money for the company to do other things, such as hire more people or pay the employees they have more.  This will create more jobs for the currently jobless or underemployed.  Also, if employers didn’t have to provide coverage, the deals with the group coverage wouldn’t be in place.  If all the insurance purchasing is put back in private hands, prices will drop.  If prices are lower, people will buy coverage.  Ok, I can hear your argument:  “What about all those people with pre-existing conditions?”  Great question.  I maintain that insurance companies will be able to provide coverage for those they wish to cover (provided the government gets out of the picture – see step 4).  If allowed to, insurance companies will be allowed to cover people with exceptional health at super low rates and people with conditions at a higher rate.  It’s like car insurance.  There are some companies that just have better rates, and it’s up to them to set those.  If people don’t want to pay those rates, they can shop around.  I think, though, that it should be completely up to the insurance companies. 

Step 4:  De-regulate the health insurance industry.  I’m a firm believer that in the free market, the best products/services will prevail, and that consumers are capable of making decisions for themselves.  One of the huge problems with the health insurance industry is that there is too much government interference, directing their operations.  If, for example, the insurance companies were allowed to cross state line and be national, that would open up competition more.  When there is more competition, the prices are necessarily driven down.  I maintain that they would drop substantially. 

Ok, there you have it.  That’s my plan.  It’s all about returning things to the private market and getting the government out of the private sector.  What do you all think?

O, America, Where Art Thou?

In watching recent events, I’ve come to believe more and more that this country is rapidly sliding towards Socialism, Marxism, and eventually Communism.  Extreme?  No, I truly don’t believe so.  The liberties and freedoms that have been taken from us are growing, and more and more are at risk.  So many people can’t see what is right before their eyes.  How quickly people will willingly give up their freedoms in the name of safety or entitlement or countless other excuses.  But what it really comes down to is the government controlling more and more aspects of our daily lives and our freedoms falling by the wayside.  For those who might say that this is just because I don’t like Barack Obama, think again.  This is not an Obama thing,

Ahh…Facebook…

It’s clearly been a while since I’ve been visible on my blog.  See, I discovered Facebook.  So, because of its ease, I started putting all my “random thoughts” on there and sadly neglecting my blog.  It’s fun to play around on, but it’s just not the same.  So, old friend blog, I’m back.  Hopefully for good.  Facebook is great and has its place, but I’ll be putting many more “random thoughts” on.   here, also.  No reason why we can’t share, right? 

It’s been busy since I last posted, but not too much has changed.  I could talk about all the details of the summer, but that would really serve no point, except to bore people.  So, let’s suffice it to say that we’ve kept very busy, both personally and politically.  And, we’ll just go on from here.

Wow, So Much to Say…

It’s been a while since I’ve posted, and that’s for a couple reasons.  The first, I’ve been really super busy.  Second, sometimes words seem inadequate to express my thoughts on certain things, generally politically.  But, there are just way too many things going on that I’d like to comment on, so I’m going to touch on them today. 

First, what seems to have become a big story:  Sarah Palin vs. David Letterman.  I find it ridiculous that Letterman would joke about a 14year old (and yes, it was the 14 year old daughter not the 19 year old) girl being sexually assaulted.  I find it ridiculous that Letterman would joke and call Gov. Palin “slutty.”  On this, I have two questions.  1.  What would have been the repercussions if a conservative comedian made those kind of jokes about liberals, say Hillary and Chelsea Clinton, or the Obamas?  There would have been extreme outrage.  (And let me just say the jokes were distasteful, and I would think the same regardless of who the jokes were about.)  However, because the jokes were about conservative Governor Sarah Palin and her family, there are just excuses being made, none of which I buy, by the way.  It is absurd the extreme double standard that exists in mainstream media.  Of course that is nothing new, but it’s still irritating.  2.  What would Dave say if someone made jokes like that about his child or wife?

Second, the elections in Iran.  Initially, I favored the defeat of Ahmadinejad because I thought the contender, Mousavi, would be better on international issues.  However, I don’t think there would be much difference between the two as far a international policy.  However, I still think Mousavi would be great for the country because he supports more freedoms for the people of Iran, and he has a great deal of support from the citizens in Iran.  And, personally, I think any steps toward freedom are good, and in a country like that, they will be small steps.  Now, this morning, it’s coming out that Ahmadinejad has been declared the winner of the election.  The results are highly contested and controversial.  This was supposed to be a very close race, and it seems astounding that he would loose by such a huge margin, let alone in his own home town.  People have taken to the streets in protest, and frankly, that’s a great thing to see in a country so tightly ruled.  The Interior Ministry of the country has blocked communications, including text messaging, and pulled newspapers from the stands.  So, we actually know more here, than the people in Iran do.  Something is foul about all this, to be sure. 

What next?  Ah, yes, North Korea.  First of all, I think we can all agree that Kim Jong-Il is completely crazy.  The idea of this guy being in charge of weapons

Prayer Day

Taking Out the Trash

I know it happened earlier this week, but I’m just now getting to my blog, and I wanted to comment about Arlin Specter.  So, after almost 30 years in Washington, he’s decided to officially change his party affiliation from Republican to Democrat.  There are a lot of people out there that are really worked up about this.  “This will give the Democrats the filibuster-proof majority!”  “Now the Democrats have the 60 votes they need!”  And other such statements.  Well, personally, I don’t see what the big deal is.  He was already voting liberal.  He was going to vote with them anyway!  It’s not like he’s magically started voting with the Democrats.  By switching parties, he just formally did what he’s been doing for a long, long time.  I, quite frankly, am glad that he left the party and I wish he’d take some of the other RINO’s, like Snow and Collins, with him!  He is truly helping the Republican party by leaving, because people will not associate his horrible votes with the Republicans.  It’s about time we got rid of some of the trash!  (Especially when he says that he switched parties because he thought the Republicans were moving too far to the right!  Really, I was thinking that we’re farther left than we have ever been! ) I hope the people in Pennsylvania get a really good CONSERVATIVE Republican to run against him, because he will be done then!  And, that would be fabulous!  It’s better that the RINO’s leave the party, so we can get ourselves together and get back on a truly conservative platform!  Hey everyone, remember Ronald Reagan?????  Yeah, let’s go back to those principles- and here’s a newsflash- THEY WORK!!!

So, another interesting development was the announcement that Supreme Court Justice Souter will be retiring, which means that President Obama will have the opportunity to fill a seat on the Supreme Court.  Interestingly enough, Souter was appointed by Bush 41, which no one would really be able to tell by the way he’s voted.  He’s moved farther and farther left.  So, having Obama appoint someone to fill his seat won’t really change the make-up of the Court.  It’s going to be interesting, though, because who ever he appoints will have to first make it through the Judiciary Committee.  To get out of the Committee, the nominee will have to have at least one Republican vote.  As a member of that committee, Senator Arlin Specter has often been that vote.  Well, now that he’s changed parties, he can’t be that vote any more, so the President is likely to have to put someone up as a nominee that is a little bit more moderate than he would like.  An ultra-liberal appointee is not going to make it through now.  Way to go, Senator Specter!

Exactly!

I love this.  There is a good group of videos that he has done, but this is especially great! 

Powerful Testimony

I know that the words of Elder Holland are true!  What a marvelous and glorious truth it is!!

Create

This was shown at our Stake Enrichment Night last night, and I thought it was very moving and good. 

So, let’s all get out there and CREATE!!!