A MESSAGE TO ALL MOTHERS…PLEASE READ

Angels surround us, and they are always near,
Without asking, they know what we think and what we feel.
Expecting nothing, yet willing to sacrifice everything,
Just to ensure that we never feel all alone in this world.

As we grow, they watch, invisible in the background,
Should we need anything, they will suddenly appear.
To do what is necessary, and with no questions asked,
With a rainbow of remedies for whatever comes our way.

If there is pain, they will remove it,
When we are sad, they will hug it away.
Should we stumble, they will catch us,
And hold us until we can recover.

If we are hungry, they will feed us,
When thirsty, they quench us.
Nothing stands in their way;
It simply is not allowed to happen.

We need not worry; they will comfort us,
With an endless supply of emotional support.
Setting their personal wants and needs to the side,
Putting us first; that is all that matters to them.

When we are lost, they show us the way,
To remind us where we truly belong.
Without delay, while putting their lives on hold,
They remind us daily that we are never alone.

I do not question any of God's decisions.  He makes no mistakes.  With the creation of motherhood, He found pure perfection...God, bless all mothers on this day...

Vic Damico 2012

Understand The Health Care Plan…Don’t Just Agree Or Disagree…

My morning was focused on listening to the Supreme Court Justices, as they spoke of the health care plan, as has been the case for the last three days, and I am quite disturbed by the lack of focus on the actual content and even ignorance of the Supreme Court Justices, as it applies to their understanding of that content, or the fact that this opens the door to allow congress to regulate and control everything related to the private sector. With all of the back and forth debate on the health care issue, I have only been allowed to conclude a single obvious factor in all that has been said. Supreme Court Justices should not under any circumstances be allowed to serve life terms, especially since some of them are inadequate even in their early stages of those terms. When you hear a Supreme Court Justice make a statement that maybe “half a loaf is better than no loaf” it indicates that this person is simple saying this is better than nothing, and to me, that is a pathetic attempt of a Supreme Court Justice to suggest that even with such a massive venture as national health care, we should maybe just accept this and assume it will serve some purpose. The debate seems to be determining if the health care plan is a good plan, as opposed to trying to determine the Constitutional legality of the plan, and this may very well result in decisions based on the pre-determined evaluations of the actual support or opposition of the health care plan, instead of its legal representation, dictated by the United States Constitution.

Based on my personally inflicted pain, on having to listen to this back and forth, irrelevant forum that is searching for justification to allow the health care plan to stand, as opposed to finding the legal standing of the plan, I will revisit my earlier words from three years ago, to explain my personal understandings of what the plan means to the future of the health care of our entire nation.

I will first address the numbers that have been used to represent those who are without health care insurance, since they have changed more often than the weather. Originally, the argument for a universal health care plan was based on 47 million people who did not have health care insurance, and it remained at 47 million for years. Then came the debate as to whether illegal immigrants would be covered with the plan, and suddenly, without any explanation, the number was reduced to 30 million. Now, with the current debate with our Supreme Court Justices, the number is at 40 million people. The truth is that the actual number is not only unknown, but is irrelevant, in the sense that this number is merely being used to justify the passing and implementation of the health care plan. The numbers, whatever they may be, tell us what the focus of the plan should be, but like most ventures involving our federal government, the problem is not usually the true focus. The focus of the heath care plan should be to provide health care insurance for those who do not currently have it, not to allow the government to literally take over the entire health care industry in America, because an estimated 15% of the entire population does not currently have health care insurance.

The following may be a simple, and even silly example, but if you pay close attention to my words, you will understand the premise of my main argument with the national health care plan. Let’s say you are a family of five, husband, wife, a son, and two daughters. It comes to your attention that your son needs a pair of shoes. The logical response would be to purchase a new pair of shoes for your son, and the problem is immediately solved. Now with government logic, as it relates to the health care plan, you would not have simply purchased a pair of shoes for your son. You would have purchased shoes for the entire family based on the fact that eventually, they would need them. This does not even qualify as logic, and yet, we accept anything the government says if they present it as a needed component of life. Now, revisit the family situation. The son needed shoes, as the husband, the wife, or the two daughters did not have that same need. If you buy only the son a pair of shoes, it represents the 20% of the family that actually had the need. You simply do not need to focus on the other 80%, because of the fact that the need does not apply to them, so the problem solving should not incorporate the 80% of the family that does not have a problem with the current situation.

Step One…Determine the true problem…

The problem begins with the number of American citizens who currently do not have health care insurance. That should be the focus and the direction taken to solve the problem should not automatically include the rest of the nation who do currently have heath care insurance.

Step Two…Understand the actually funding of the health care plan.

The federal government regulates, controls, and dictates the actions of the plan, but they do not fund it; they have no money. Whether you like the insurance companies, or not, they are the ones who fund the health care industry. You cannot destroy the single component that is meant to fund the industry, and even expect the industry to survive, much less work in a manner that will solve the initial problem.

Step Three…Understand that a government controlled health care industry is destined for failure.

The government does not need to, nor does it have the Constitution authority to control the private sector of America, and for a very good reason. They are simply not qualified, nor would it be in the best interest of the private sector of America, and especially of the American economy. The federal government needs to research directions that will improve the quality of health care and to decrease the cost of the health care, but not by taking control of the industry. They need to allow the private sector to remain private, and to allow it to exist in a manner that it will allow the problems to be solved, but not to allow the components of the health care industry to be destroyed in the process.

Step Four…Understand the detrimental affects that government control will have on the health care industry.

With the health care plan, as currently written, it will control all components (either directly, or indirectly) of the industry, and will not allow a control of profit to sustain a stable industry, nor will it allow the components of the industry to be efficient and productive, as the control by the government would not allow that to even be a priority, much less a possibility.

Doctors, nurses, hospitals…The government control of the health care industry would dictate what prices would be allowed to be charged by the doctors or the hospitals (private sector) and would base medical treatments on government mandates and regulations, as opposed to the knowledge, experience, and urgency determined by the medical staff involved. This will result in a decline of medical students who are unwilling to go into a field of study that will be controlled by the government, and not based on their own motivation and personal goals. An eventual shortage of doctors and nurses would be inevitable, and that would not be in the best interest of the health care industry.

Pharmaceutical companies…With government control of the health care industry, the pharmaceutical companies would be told how much they are allowed to charge for their products. (medication) This would result in a loss of control of profit for the pharmaceutical companies, and would lead to less research (at their own expense) and the drugs produced may very well be less likely to serve their intended purpose.

Insurance companies…Complete government control of the health care industry will lead to the eventual destruction of the insurance companies, which are the very foundation of the industry, as they are the ones who provide the actual funding. Consider the following. The health care plan will mandate that the insurance companies are to insure those with pre-existing medical conditions for all American citizens. This would include diabetes, blood disorders, bone disorders, mental disorders, M.S., aids, and the list goes on and on. It is estimated that 96 million American citizens have some type of pre-existing condition, and to be forced to include these people at their own expense, would literally bankrupt the insurance industry. Once you have eliminated the funding for the health care industry, the industry fails to exist, period.

My opposition to the health care plan has been steady from the beginning, and it has been based on my above words. What we need to do is to first, concentrate on those who do not have health care insurance and simply leave the rest alone. It does not require much intelligence to determine it is more economically feasible to provide health care to the 15% who currently do not have it, than to take over the entire industry and move your focus to the 85% that currently do have some type of health care insurance. Many people would certainly be in favor of insisting that we have health care insurance, if our government seemed sincere in providing for those who actually need the assistance, as opposed to a quest to completely take over the health care industry.

Remember this single point…The government is investing absolutely nothing as they push for this national health care plan. They are merely setting rules and guidelines that determine and dictate who will pay for the plan. The only true goal of the government with the health care plan, as currently written, is that they will gain control of the industry. That is their true goal, or they would not see the need to involve the 85% who currently are not in need of such a plan.

Vic Damico

Clueless in Washington:

Print, spend, and borrow…the solution to all

Note: I wrote this a few years ago, but I felt compelled to revisit my words, mainly because they still seem to relate to our direction as a nation, and as a people...It is a little long, but please take the time to read it...Bless you, my friends...Vic Damico

The federal government, as well as everyone else in our great country is so busy trying to solve all problems related to the national economy, that they forgot the first step in the process, which is to determine what is the actual problem behind the economy. The problem is not that the automobile industry is not producing enough cars or not producing cars that are more efficient. The problem is not that banking industry is not loaning enough money, or not doing exactly what the idiots in Washington are suggesting that should be done. The problem is not that the federal government is not spending enough money, not printing enough money, or not borrowing enough money. The problem is not that the large corporations are in a situation that layoffs are taking place in order to survive the economic conditions in America. The problem is not that our roads and bridges need repair, or that we are not spending enough money toward newer energy technology. The problem is not that we do not have healthcare available that is provided and regulated by the government. The problem is not that our education system in America is under funded. The problem is not that our deficit in America is $9 trillion less than it should be. The problem is definitely not that those who have worked so hard to be successful and wealthy are not paying more than their fair share of taxes.

Please pay close attention to the following! The real problem with the American economy is that the people, themselves either do not have the money to spend, or are unwilling to make certain purchases because of the lack of consumer confidence in what is happening with the economy. Everything that I mentioned earlier as not being the source of the problem with the economy is related to the lack of spending by everyday people, and as simple as that may sound, it is not even talked about because it would be detrimental to the agenda that is completely mapped out by those we have put into office.

The automobile industry is simply not selling cars, and other than that, there is no problem with the automobile industry that is related to the economy. If we gave the industry enough money to level all their factories, and then to rebuild them from scratch, completely retool the industry, and manufacture 10 million new efficient, safe automobiles, they still would not sell until people were either able or willing to spend money to buy them. The bailout money toward the industry is used to make payroll and continue manufacturing and research, but will not do anything to give relief to the people it is designed to help.

The banking system in America made questionable loans, and was not concerned because in the event that the borrower was unable to make payments, the banks would own the home. What the banks did not anticipate is the enormous amount of foreclosures that would take place, and how it would affect the value of the houses. The banks suddenly owned houses that were worth less than they had invested in them. Legal contracts were signed, so what has happened with the housing industry was the fault of both the banks and those who purchased the houses. If the borrowers had read the contracts, they would have understood that by not having a fixed interest rate, the payment would increase as much as double at a certain point. Many purchase homes that they were simply unable to afford, and should not have been given the loans in the first place. First of all, it is not the role of the government to provide a home to the people, nor is it their role to keep someone from losing their home. If someone cannot afford to pay for a house, then that is a problem that is related to that individual, and should not involve getting help from taxes from someone on the other side of the country who lives in an apartment complex making $25,000 annually. You will not hear a political official state that those who do not own a home are paying taxes for someone else to not lose their home. Owning a home is not a right and the government should not intervene with this part of our lives. If foreclosures are avoided with the help of government funding and regulations, and the same people find themselves in the same situation a few years later, are we to repeat the same behavior that did not work in the first place? The answer is not to allow the federal government to dictate to the banks what people they can loan money to, at what interest rate, and how much they are allowed to pay their employees. The banking bailout will only accomplish more government spending and control, and will not address the real problem of people not having the money to spend.

President Obama has determined that somehow if we increase spending to the point that the deficit will increase to almost $10 trillion in the next ten years, it will somehow be beneficial to the country. That is an absolutely ridiculous theory, and it will not only have a negative impact on our economy for years to come, but will do nothing more than give the federal government more control of our lives. That is not how it works in the real world with real people. If I cannot afford to pay my mortgage on my house, I do not solve the problem by purchasing another house. If I cannot afford to make monthly payments on my credit cards, I do not solve the problem by acquiring more credit cards. We, the people have a budget that we must balance in order to survive as individuals. The federal government has a budget, but the logic that applies to the individual obviously does not apply to that budget. Their budget, and our budget have a common denominator. In order to balance either budget, it requires our money, and with this in mind, get ready for major tax increases. More money will be printed, which will do nothing more than to devalue the dollar and lead to inevitable inflation in record proportions. With the money that we will borrow, either from China, or the secret dealings of the Federal Reserve Bank, just paying the interest on the money will be a major burden on our economic future. All the spending that President Obama has projected is geared at making our lives easier, which will make individual responsibility all but vanish, because all we want or need will be provided for us. It is not the responsibility of the government to make our lives easier. We need to go through less than perfect times. This allows us to grow, gain knowledge, and through these tough times, we develop wisdom. In the great depression, people stood in line with hopes of getting something to eat. Today, we have people standing in lines with hopes of saving their $500,000 homes. There is a difference between going through difficult times and suffering. Today, it is not just the poor who have their hands out reaching for an easy way out. There are now those who have an annual income of $200,000 or more looking for relief.

Many people have lost their jobs because of the current economic situation in America. I feel for those people! I lost my job in June of 2008 and it was difficult for me. I did not seek help from the government, nor collect one dime in unemployment compensation. I simply found another job, even though it paid about half of what I was making with my previous employer. If you lose your job, do not blame it on the government. Go find another job. If you do not do so, you are either not trying, or you are just being too picky. Stop waiting for the government to take care of your problems. It is not their job to do so. Don’t point fingers at the company that made the cutbacks in jobs. It was not a conspiracy. The businesses have budgets too, and they have to make changes to survive the economic situation. Pointing fingers, blaming others, and waiting for the government to solve your problems will not feed your family. Individual responsibility is the key to all that is happening with today’s economy.

President Obama has projected that he will create millions of jobs and much of it will result from repairing roads and bridges, rebuilding the electrical grids, and new energy projects. In order to actually create new jobs, you must assume that those who have lost jobs are qualified to work in these areas. You cannot expect a plumber who lost his job to be qualified to build roads and bridges. You cannot expect someone who worked at Circuit City to be able to understand how to repair or rebuild an electrical grid. The point I am making is that unless we use the people who have lost their jobs, it will not solve the unemployment problem in America. This was a projection that President Obama made that is based more on an overactive imagination and hope, than facts, knowledge, or even reality. The promise does little more than to create the illusion that something will be done.

Another part of our wonderful economic stimulus plan is to provide healthcare for everyone within our great country. This may sound cruel, but healthcare is not a right. It is an individual responsibility. Consider the following. It has been said for several years that we have 47 million people within our country that do not have healthcare. What that says to me is that in a country of 360 million people without a universal healthcare system in place, we have 313 million people that do have healthcare. Why would we want to restructure the entire healthcare system when according to the government’s own numbers that 87% of our country has healthcare? We do need to find areas of improvement, but not by government mandate. Once again, it is all about spending and control by the government. Universal healthcare does not work in other countries and it will not work in America.

President Obama wants to nationalize the education system in America. It amazes it that with all that is happening within the schools throughout the country, that the problems can always be solved if only we would throw more money into them. As with everything else the government tries to repair or improve, they seem to always be blind as to the actual problem they are trying to confront. Education is not the building that holds the students. It is not the fact that every student does not have a computer at his or her desk. It is not that the classes are so crowded that the students are not able to focus. There are four components that are preventing students from excelling within our school system. First of all, the parents are falling short in their efforts to prepare their children for school. Many children, both young and older simply do not even understand what respecting others means. I was taught as a child to respect others, especially adults, and to always say yes sir, no sir, etc. That seems to be a lost art in today’s society. Teachers today are so busy dealing with behavioral problems that they do not have adequate time to teach. If children are not taught to respect their parents, they will certainly not respect anyone else, especially the teachers. Secondly, the students seem to not understand why they even go to school. So much emphasis is placed on just keeping the children’s attention, and trying to deal with all of the distractions, that there is minimal time for the teachers to do what they are actually trying to accomplish. This problem relates back to the parents not teaching their children how to behave. The third problem with our school system is the teachers, themselves. I do want to make it clear that this by no means pertains to all teachers. There are incredible teachers throughout the country that teach at levels above and beyond what is expected of them. Any school principle in any school in America knows who these teachers are, and there are methods of measuring the performance of the teachers in place. If a teacher is not performing to the level that the students are getting the full benefit of the school system, that teacher does not need to be in that position. That is how it works with all other jobs in the country whereas the employee is not performing on an acceptable level. Lastly, and most importantly, we need to minimize the role of the federal, state, and local government that cripples the education process. They concentrate on keeping Bibles and prayer out of school, determining what foods are acceptable to be a part of the lunch menu, what school you are allowed to attend, and seeing how much money they can shove into the system that they are doing nothing more than placing obstacles in the way while accomplishing nothing more than controlling the system. The government needs to back off and let the system work, and stop thinking for a moment that they are doing anything that contributes to actually educating our children.

I have always had a problem with the government mentality that those who have worked so hard to become successful and in the process, developed wealth should somehow be held responsible for funding most of what happens in America. Our taxation is this country is extreme, and it is used as a method of collecting funds that are used throughout the country for spending without logic, without oversight, and absolutely no accountability by those who determine how the money will be spent. The government somehow has decided that the upper 5% highest income should pay more taxes than the remaining 95% of the people in our country. We have been told that it is the moral and patriotic thing for those who have become successful to do more in financing the nonstop spending spree that seems to be the main priority of those we have placed into public offices. It is only moral or patriotic if it is done on a voluntary basis, not as a result of government mandate. There are many people in our great country that by choice will not work and our government allows them to do so by providing them with all they may want or need. These people who probably cannot spell individual responsibility are rewarded while those who work so hard to achieve success are forced to provide for these people. It is not the responsibility of the government to make our lives easier to live, and it makes absolutely no sense to make it difficult for those who choose to be responsible and provide for themselves, and their families as a result of hard work. Even the federal government does not truly believe that those who are successful should pay for those who are less successful. The upper level incomes are targeted for one simple reason. They provide a larger pot from which the government can collect taxes. The government simply searches for every opportunity to tax anyone and anything because they have one thing in mind in all they do. They want to have money to spend at any given time, and if anyone does not view this as a problem, then you are either an idiot, or you are a government official.

We are heading in the direction of being converted into a socialized government that is called a democracy. The government did not bail out the banks. They increased their control of the banks, as they continue to allow the banks to exists in their evil daily representation. They want to tell the banks who they can lend money to, what interest rate they will be allowed to charge, and even how much they are able to pay their employees, yet they are in bed with these banks and will do anything to keep them in place, regardless of their questionable actions and behavior. The government did not bail out the automobile industry. They added regulations and decided since they are providing funds, are allowed to control the industry just as they are doing with the banks. If you do not believe that, how do you explain the fact that the government suddenly has the right to remove the CEO from General Motors? With the bailouts for the banks and the automobile industry, neither situation has improved, which to me, indicates that both are failed attempts in solving the problems. The government now wants to provide more bailout money to both industries to do more of what failed in the first attempt. You cannot repeat the same behavior and expect different results. President Obama has made it clear that he wants to nationalize the education system in America which is basically saying that they do not have enough control at this time. He wants to do the same thing with our healthcare system, which will hurt doctors, insurance companies, and the pharmaceutical companies while only adding to their control of all aspects of our lives.

The economy may be strong once again in the future, but it will have nothing to do with what the government is trying to do. It will happen because of the individuals, small businesses, and the corporations doing what needs to be done. It will take time, but what will happen is that when we reach that point, you will hear the political officials who are slowing down the whole process state that it is the result of what they have done. They will take credit for what would have happened without them doing anything in the first place.

We, as individuals need to be responsible for our own lives, and do whatever it takes as an individual to take care of ourselves and our families. If we would do that, there would be no need for the government to help us in areas of our lives that we should take care of without them. I do not blame our economy on the banks, the automobile industry, the education, the healthcare system in America, or anything that the government is trying to use as a way of spending more money or gaining more control of our lives. I blame it on the people of this great country who are waiting for the problems to simply go away, and the government for catering to those people because they are more vulnerable and represent future votes to the politicians who are promising to fulfill their every want and need. I want to make a point, and at the same time finally say what no one else seems to understand about what Rush Limbaugh meant when he made the statement about wanting President Obama to fail. Rush does not want President Obama to fail because he is a Democrat. He does not want him to fail because he is an African-American. He does not want him to fail because they do not agree on everything. What Rush Limbaugh wants is for anything that is not in the best interest of our country, or will not lead us down the road to maintaining what has always separated us from the rest of the world to fail. Why would anyone view that vision as a negative? The liberals who are speaking ill of Rush Limbaugh know exactly what he meant when he said he wanted President Obama to fail, but as they do with much of their ongoing agenda, details, facts, and even the truth are not important. The path that President Obama has chosen for the country, with much of what he wants to do will change America forever, and it will not do what he daily promises. The liberal part of our country view Rush as an enormous threat because he says what they do not want us to know, which is the truth. I do not live my life by the words of Rush Limbaugh, nor do I agree with all he says, but he is entitled to his opinions and he should not have all he says dismissed on simply his political affiliation. The liberals (not all of them) have reached the point that they seem to agree with anything that is associated with their party agenda with absolutely no concern with the consequences, or the outcome. This does not apply to all within the Democratic Party, but they know who they are. What we all need to do is to stop playing follow the leader when it comes to our political parties, and grow a backbone, and to stop allowing those we have sent to Washington to rule by a political agenda, an overactive imagination, and lack of respect for the people, rather to simply govern by the United States Constitution. That would solve most of the problems that we facing, today. We are in the process of re-molding America, and changing it to almost the exact opposite of what our forefathers had set forth as its original goals. If all that President Obama wants to do is allowed to become a reality, it will be too late to just change our minds. The damage that will follow will change our country, forever, and much of it will be almost impossible to reverse. If you as a liberal truly believe that our course of action that you are supporting 100% is in fact the right course, you had better hope you are right, because I predict that this ongoing liberal agenda we are seeing will be the downfall of the Democratic Party, but most importantly, it will be detrimental to the country as a whole. We will always have major problems within this country until we; the people stop placing party agenda above the good of our country. This behavior is no different than the gang affiliation within our prison systems in America. The liberals have such strong commitment to their party that they will stay by their side no matter what they may want to do, and regardless of whether it has a negative effect on this great country we call America. This mentality, and unconditional devotion to party agenda is gradually removing our rights, our freedoms, and the ability to live according to our own terms. It simply needs to stop. We, the people need to think for ourselves, and stop letting others do it for us. Until we do so, we should not complain about what is happening within our country, because we are doing nothing more that just sitting back and watching as others are determining how we, as individuals are to live our lives. We, as individuals are responsible for providing for ourselves, but we are also responsible as citizens of this great country for being aware of what is happening with those we have put into office to represent us as determined by the United States Constitution, not by personal or party agendas. It is simply unacceptable for those we have put into office to do as they please, with no concern as to whether it is in the best interest of America. It is also just as unacceptable for the people of America to allow this behavior to continue simply because someone represents their political party, and are more concerned about their party remaining in control than the future of our country. It must stop, or we will continue to see the loss of our rights, our freedoms, our security, and the ability for our country to reach, and maintain its full potential.

Vic Damico