We live in a society where Lady Justice is supposed to be blind. It is a Constitutional right that we are to be tried in a court of law by our peers. If you look at Lady Justice, she is holding the scale of Justice and is blindfolded. But is she truly blind anymore or does she now look at things through the eyes of the media, bloggers and the internet.
I am watching the "trial" of Sgt. James Crowley play out and I sit here in disbelief. Let me say IF this man did anything wrong and IF this man is a racist, then he should be stripped of his badge, his responsibility and duty as a law enforcement official. Conversely, IF Henry Louis Gates Jr. acted in such a way that warrented his arrest, then I would expect an appology from not only him, but also the President.
The beauty of our justice system is we are supposed to be assumed innocent until proven guilty. However, because of 24 hour news, bloggers and the internet, we are quickly becoming a society of guilty until proven innocent. The burden of proof lays on the prosecution. It must be proven, beyond a reasonable doubt, that a person is guilty. Is it perfect? No! Would I trade it for any other system? No!
As I sit here and listen to the police union, I say....Good for you! Yes....you heard me correctly. A die hard, card carrying member of the Republican party who is not a fan of unions said.....GOOD FOR YOU! I have often felt that unions have outlived their usefulness, but under these circumstances, I am happy there is a voice of reason defending the situation.
There are far to many times when misinformation or lack of information causes the system to faulter. We live in a society of "who can get the news out first." Don't believe me, see the Duke LaCrosse case. I know some of the people involved in that case. It was tried in the court of public opinion way before that of a court of law.
The president asked for "Cooler heads to prevail!" I couldn't agree more!
Friday, July 24, 2009
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
America....the next Animal Farm?
In junior high, I had to read "Animal Farm." Thought it sucked. Why the hell am I reading a book about talking pigs and horses and what's the big deal. Fast forward 25 years and now realize it may be one of the most profound books I've ever read. If you haven't read it, pick up a copy. Easy read really. Otherwise, check out Wikipidia and look it up.
I sat there tonight watching President Obama speak and I thought, have we really come to this? First, I have to say, the president is doing exactly what he promised while campaigning, so if you voted for him thinking he would govern from the center and are now pissed, well, should have thought things through a little more. But I digress. Our government was not set up to "give" to the American people anything but the opportunity to succeed. You see, I feel that is what we have lost sight of. The greatest gift anyone can have is the gift of an opportunity to succeed....and fail. Equal health care is not a right. I admit the health care I offer to our employees is good, damn good, but they have to pay. As a small business owner, I am only able to pay a certain amount for health care. Nothing would make me happier then to be able to pick up 100% of every employees health insurance as well as their entire family, but the simple fact is I have a BUDGET I must live within and if I don't I am not doing my job as the head of the company.
But you see, manditory health care "sounds" nice. It's politically correct. Frankly, it doesn't really affect me unless the government says to me what we offer isn't good enough. But the dirty little secret very few are talking about is this....."Under this plan, you would be able to keep your current plan if you choose." Sorry folks, I'm calling b.s. on this one. Let me tell you why....
Say I work for ABC company. (A fictious name, not the television station) The leadership at my company look at the options they have out there. They can either keep their existing insurance OR pay 8% into a federal fund and offer their employees government run health care. In choosing the latter of the two, they will save $250,000. Now I ask you, which do you think the company would choose? At that point, I DON"T HAVE THE CHOICE. I have the choice to keep my company insurance, find my own, but at this point competition has been deminished so costs have increased or pay a fine because I choose not to have insurance. Not really great choices.
So the thought of government run health care scares the hell out of me because most of the time when the government gets involved in private industry they manage to mess things up. Don't believe me, take a look at Amtrak's balance sheet sometime.
So, again I ask the question.....at what point was everyone "entitled" to quality health care and more importantly, who defines what quality health care is? Does that mean we all have doctors following us around like the president? We already have the law that states a hospital may not refuse service if a patient does not have health insurance. We have free clinics. A doctor in my community saw a gap in health care for the underprivilidged and did something about it....He started Clinic with a Heart. You see, I believe in a simple biblical phrase....."Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime."
If we continually mandate taxes, fees and penalties on companies (yes people, companies create wealth, jobs and opportunites. Governments do not) and have a government not able or willing to make the tough decisions and live within their limits, we will eventually undo everthing our founding fathers set up.
The cold reality is life is not equal. It is possible to be fair to all and have it not be equal and that is ok. Not everyone has the same. Some have more. It may come from luck, hard work or hitting the powerball. Whatever the reason, it is the country we live in. The flip side is, some have risked more, taken more chances, failed, learned and put it all on the line. To them I say good job. Well done! Reap the rewards of your hard work. But the other reality is, I believe in the good of humans. We help those in need. Yes, there are those who do not, but for the most part, people are generous....when they are not forced to be.
I hope, for my children's sake, we stop trying to be "equal." I fear that if we do, there is a good chance we will go the way of Animal Farm.
I sat there tonight watching President Obama speak and I thought, have we really come to this? First, I have to say, the president is doing exactly what he promised while campaigning, so if you voted for him thinking he would govern from the center and are now pissed, well, should have thought things through a little more. But I digress. Our government was not set up to "give" to the American people anything but the opportunity to succeed. You see, I feel that is what we have lost sight of. The greatest gift anyone can have is the gift of an opportunity to succeed....and fail. Equal health care is not a right. I admit the health care I offer to our employees is good, damn good, but they have to pay. As a small business owner, I am only able to pay a certain amount for health care. Nothing would make me happier then to be able to pick up 100% of every employees health insurance as well as their entire family, but the simple fact is I have a BUDGET I must live within and if I don't I am not doing my job as the head of the company.
But you see, manditory health care "sounds" nice. It's politically correct. Frankly, it doesn't really affect me unless the government says to me what we offer isn't good enough. But the dirty little secret very few are talking about is this....."Under this plan, you would be able to keep your current plan if you choose." Sorry folks, I'm calling b.s. on this one. Let me tell you why....
Say I work for ABC company. (A fictious name, not the television station) The leadership at my company look at the options they have out there. They can either keep their existing insurance OR pay 8% into a federal fund and offer their employees government run health care. In choosing the latter of the two, they will save $250,000. Now I ask you, which do you think the company would choose? At that point, I DON"T HAVE THE CHOICE. I have the choice to keep my company insurance, find my own, but at this point competition has been deminished so costs have increased or pay a fine because I choose not to have insurance. Not really great choices.
So the thought of government run health care scares the hell out of me because most of the time when the government gets involved in private industry they manage to mess things up. Don't believe me, take a look at Amtrak's balance sheet sometime.
So, again I ask the question.....at what point was everyone "entitled" to quality health care and more importantly, who defines what quality health care is? Does that mean we all have doctors following us around like the president? We already have the law that states a hospital may not refuse service if a patient does not have health insurance. We have free clinics. A doctor in my community saw a gap in health care for the underprivilidged and did something about it....He started Clinic with a Heart. You see, I believe in a simple biblical phrase....."Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime."
If we continually mandate taxes, fees and penalties on companies (yes people, companies create wealth, jobs and opportunites. Governments do not) and have a government not able or willing to make the tough decisions and live within their limits, we will eventually undo everthing our founding fathers set up.
The cold reality is life is not equal. It is possible to be fair to all and have it not be equal and that is ok. Not everyone has the same. Some have more. It may come from luck, hard work or hitting the powerball. Whatever the reason, it is the country we live in. The flip side is, some have risked more, taken more chances, failed, learned and put it all on the line. To them I say good job. Well done! Reap the rewards of your hard work. But the other reality is, I believe in the good of humans. We help those in need. Yes, there are those who do not, but for the most part, people are generous....when they are not forced to be.
I hope, for my children's sake, we stop trying to be "equal." I fear that if we do, there is a good chance we will go the way of Animal Farm.
Why politics, religion and diet coke?
First, welcome. If you are viewing this, you are either a friend of mine, have been sent the link by a friend of mine or seriously have way too much time on your hands. So, the obvious question.....Why politics, religion and diet coke? Well, I have always said, there are three things you never bring up with friends....politics, religion and abortion. Usually, when these things are brought up, friendships are tested and the conversation usually turns ugly. These are issues of passion and emotion.
That being said.....I love to talk about all three. I love being challenged and love challenging others. It is important to our society, our children and the future to not sit back on the sidelines and watch. As one person said to me, "Life is a contact support!" I couldn't agree more.
So back to the title of the blog. First, I like the sound of it. Second, with as many blogs that are out there, it is hard to find a name and third, I figured putting two of the three in the title along with my favorite drink was just kind of fun.
So, here I am. I guess now offically I am a blogger. Don't know how this all works, but, that gives me the freedom to make my own rules. After all, it is my blog. A little about me to give you a little background. I am male, married for 13 years, have three kids, one on the way, am Catholic (a PRACTICING Catholic), a reformed pro-choicer, card carrying member of the Republican party, business owner, father, son, brother, community volunteer, and the list goes on. Yes I have friends who do not share my views, yes we debate and yes I make no appologies for my beliefs. I am not politically correct, yet I always try to be respectful. I believe America is the greatest country in the world and the fact that those who do not feel this way are given the right to speak out publicly is a testiment to this.
Now what I am not.....I am not an english major so there will be misspellings bad punctuation and the list goes on. I am not afraid of a debate, just please check your facts and be prepared to have them challenged. I am not a professional blogger, I am just a guy who is tired of sitting on the sidelines. I am not a radical and I am not afraid to admit when I am wrong.
So, here we are. The world wide web. On my blog the rules are simple...debate often but be respectful. Use of derogitory names will not be tolerated at anytime. Agree to disagree, but understand, if you are coming here, you will be getting a right leaning conservative slant. I have no idea if anyone will ever read this, but frankly, I'm not doing it for anyone else but me. I welcome your thoughts, ideas, comments and view points.
So once again....welcome to Politics, religion and diet coke
That being said.....I love to talk about all three. I love being challenged and love challenging others. It is important to our society, our children and the future to not sit back on the sidelines and watch. As one person said to me, "Life is a contact support!" I couldn't agree more.
So back to the title of the blog. First, I like the sound of it. Second, with as many blogs that are out there, it is hard to find a name and third, I figured putting two of the three in the title along with my favorite drink was just kind of fun.
So, here I am. I guess now offically I am a blogger. Don't know how this all works, but, that gives me the freedom to make my own rules. After all, it is my blog. A little about me to give you a little background. I am male, married for 13 years, have three kids, one on the way, am Catholic (a PRACTICING Catholic), a reformed pro-choicer, card carrying member of the Republican party, business owner, father, son, brother, community volunteer, and the list goes on. Yes I have friends who do not share my views, yes we debate and yes I make no appologies for my beliefs. I am not politically correct, yet I always try to be respectful. I believe America is the greatest country in the world and the fact that those who do not feel this way are given the right to speak out publicly is a testiment to this.
Now what I am not.....I am not an english major so there will be misspellings bad punctuation and the list goes on. I am not afraid of a debate, just please check your facts and be prepared to have them challenged. I am not a professional blogger, I am just a guy who is tired of sitting on the sidelines. I am not a radical and I am not afraid to admit when I am wrong.
So, here we are. The world wide web. On my blog the rules are simple...debate often but be respectful. Use of derogitory names will not be tolerated at anytime. Agree to disagree, but understand, if you are coming here, you will be getting a right leaning conservative slant. I have no idea if anyone will ever read this, but frankly, I'm not doing it for anyone else but me. I welcome your thoughts, ideas, comments and view points.
So once again....welcome to Politics, religion and diet coke
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