Over the past few weeks I have had the occasion to talk with two youth from Denmark, each at different times and apart from the other by a number of weeks. Clearly they had formed opinions about America based upon news brought to them overseas by sources consistently touting Americans as greedy, thoughtlessly rich, wealth-mongers who couldn’t care any less about the poor on their own, who wanted no part in making life equally painless for all citizens and apparently thirsting for “stuff” more than caring for their own, all the while meddling in the affairs of others the world over.
In the first case, the young man, an exchange student who was on a multi-state tour ending a year of “studies” that did not count toward his official education, said he had learned a lot about Americans by being here. He said he had realized that Americans were not what he had always believed them to be: Spoiled rotten brats who didn’t know how to work, let alone work hard, that had everything at their fingertips, so to speak. His opinion now is quite the contrary: we are hare working, ambitious, caring people that do much good on the planet. How refreshing and “whew” are we ever saved by the bell! But it is too bad that he had to live here before realizing that we aren’t all a bunch of spoiled jerks only out for our own good, not caring about any one or anything other than ourselves. Where did such a grossly distorted and blatantly bias opinion ever become so inflated?
A few weeks later, a friend’s niece arrived, also from Denmark, for a multi-week visit. While we sat visiting and I was pouring over Face book requests, she noticed one particular request asking for support to get rid of liberal Democrats including Pelosi, and of course, President Obama. When my friend’s niece saw that I clicked on the button to become a member she was aghast and stunned! Questioning my clarity of mind, she asked why in the world I would ever want to get rid of a hero such as Obama who is saving America from itself. I was curious to say the least.
She couldn’t see how anyone would want to get rid of Obama over McCain especially with all the good Obama wanted to accomplish. He is doing do much good, she said. So much good, I wondered? I wondered where she was hearing this. In school, from her teacher, for one, she told me. She was shocked that so many of her classmates didn’t know anything about what Obama was doing. I admit I was wondering the same thing about her teacher. I was equally wondering the same thing about her. How could she possibly not know what menacing acts Obama was doing here in America? How could she not know, or even see, or detect that he is a Fascist Marxist? It occurred to me that she probably didn’t know what that was and I realized that much education needed to be taking place.
This is not the forum to report the entire discussion. Nor would it serve the right purpose, as we discussed many facets of politics, including socialized medicine, school choice, and Cap and Trade. The latter will be used as an example of how to solve the conundrum Americans have in remedying our complex and confusing perception problem by other countries in this blog entry.
What is the Problem with our Perception by Other Countries?
This is still the nation that out-performs all other nations in giving—not just government spending to give, but in personal donations to charitable causes. This is still the nation that donates and contributes to the rebuilding of other nations at our expense. This is the nation that ships, via government programs and private charitable organizations massive amounts of cargo and supplies to refugees, displaced, and homeless countrymen around the globe. And this is the nation that invests more into global programs and organizations that tout peace but later prove helplessly wasteful and defunct; yet we pick up the tab without complaint. With all this we still seem to have a serious PR problem with other countries, despite our attempts. How is that?
If one follows the news, it is hard to miss a number of weird and interesting public relation plays by Obama that leave most Americans scratching their heads, at the least. When the President of the United States goes overseas and apologizes for our behavior like we are the Universal Outlaws of the new century, one has to wonder. But if we look back over time at what might have caused this plight, we cannot blame Obama for it—only point to him as an opportunist seizing the timeliness of our bad publicity and even contributing to it by feeding the hungry dragon it has become. The real culprit is, as it should be, us. I mean US.
Yes, the US, is us. We the people are always the answer and the solution to any problem or triumph. The brilliance of our system of government makes it so. We ARE the government. When we, the citizens forget that we run the government, as we have done, trouble blossoms and festers. Unlike other countries, ours cannot function, nor perform as designed without citizen contribution. “We the People” really does mean something. Them’s not just words here in America—or at least it shouldn’t be. The simple truth is that when we acquiesce to elected leaders to do what we should be doing—and should have been doing all along—we have failed, not our leaders.
So, to solve the problem of our horrible perception, we must return to caring for the government. In other words, we must return to caring for our country. We run it. If we run it, Obama cannot sign into law with the sweep of his pen actions he claims are “Executive Orders” that several generations ago would have marked him as a traitor and had him guilty of treason, and high crimes against the citizens of America for the dangerous position he has put us in. Running the government is simply a matter of attending local meetings, writing our elected officials, banding together to join forces on particular issues and making use of ALL possible avenues to speak our minds opening and bluntly and holding our officials accountable to report to us what they are doing and WHY they are doing it.
Through the discussions with my friend’s niece, I shared a couple of strange acts Obama displayed. He is for the so-called, “Cap and Trade”, which some less than affectionately refer to as “Cap and Tax” legislation. As I explained to her, this legislation will require utility companies—uh—er, force them, to develop a percentage of their production from alternative energy sources, I.E.: wind turbines, solar panels, etc. in combination with their current traditional sources of energy. I, personally am all for alternative sources of energy, as a designer of homes that specialize in alternative sources, I support that creativity. But FORCE is NEVER the answer in free markets. Never.
This legislation is a perfect example of what happens when the government forces action: The “Cap and Trade” causes is huge increased expense to the consumer of an approximate average cost per capita per annum of $2000!! The town I live in has its own power generators. They have for over 100 years. The projected cost for those who use Provo City Utilities is projected to be any where upwards to $5000! Thank you Obama! Way to be a hero to the poor as those across the sea believe you are! The painful reality that our foreign friends must see is that we are not only crippling our economy, but sticking it to the poor and creating a huge reservoir of greater poor among us to those overseas believe Obama has come to save. Sadly his policies and actions are causing grave damage to us and we could use the support of all our foreign friends in getting him out!
When I explained this legislation, plus Obama’s “moratorium” on production of gas drilling in Utah—with one of the largest deposits in the nation—which will only tighten the supply and drive up the costs of fuel, her face became serious and forlorn. I thought she was going to cry. No longer did she look as though she would emphatically support Obama. Indeed she acknowledged that she could see actions in Obama that were inconsistent with his words.
The moral of the story is that most of us are not going to have the opportunity to discuss politics with foreigners. We won’t have the chance to share the truth with them about what is really going on in America, or what our legislators, to say nothing about our President, are doing verses what they say they are doing. The truth and reality is that our closest link to them is in controlling our elected officials.
Who’s the boss? We the People. We must rise up, speak up, get involved in saying what is right and what is certainly wrong and doing something to stop the latter and promote the former. It is in the power of the will of the people that others across the globe will get the truth. But only if we care enough to deliver it to them rather than ignoring what is going on until our reputation is sorted and tainted. Believe it or not, that latter takes more work than just getting involved in the first place. The old adage, “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”, applies profoundly in American politics. Our involvement in our system of government is the answer to our PR problem. If we don’t take action we cannot blame Obama for his.
Banding together in organizations that speak for us with power to represent our thoughts and beliefs as well as give us updates on information to keep our elected officials informed about our opinions is key. Here are the links to the Utah County Republican Women, one of the most influential groups in Utah and a superb information portal as well as an avenue to take that information into action.
Timpanogos Republican Women, a new upstart organization taking after the model of UCRW and located on the Northern side of Utah County facilitates particularly those women who need to meet in the evening. It’s young and vibrant leadership and small, fast growing membership welcomes new members as well. Their information can be found below and on the UCRW website.
http://www.ucrw.org/
President: Elaine Bonham: mailto:elainebonham@aol.com
Membership Chair: Suzanne Merrill: merrillsuzanne@gmail.com
Blog general info: Sheryl Devereaux: sherphd@gmail.com
(TRW President Debi Ring: http://sn116w.snt116.mail.live.com/mail/EditMessageLight.aspx?MailTo=%22Debi%20Ring%22%20%3cdebi%40sixrings.org%3e&n=1770413546)
801-910-5600 phone; or text message
801-995-8672; phone; text message; Skype IM
Monday, July 27, 2009
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Universal Healthcare: Evidence of a Desperate Nation or Impulsive Leadership? The solution is in restoration of key virtues & sound principles
A recent poll on Facebook asks whether the member is for or against the Universal Healthcare Plan supported by President Obama. In response: Let me use the wise words of my youngest daughter (a young adult): "heck no, techno!"
In words that Obama and his administration can understand--and any legislators who may think we are backed into a corner: We are not a desperate nation. We do not need to resort to this manipulation to "solve" our problems today to make them worse in the future.
Patience, a virtue needing as much restoration as the Constitution itself, is the answer: We don't need impulsive pen scribbles on legislation that will cripple our nation.
We need private policies to flourish. Specifically, eliminating the (HMO) middle man, a basic economics principle, in reducing costs to consumers will allow doctors to negotiate with patients a sliding scale fee like the old days where patients paid as they went and catastrophic insurance was the only "health insurance" available.
Current FDA criteria is two-fold. A drug must be tested for a period of time in double blind testing for safety, usually on rats or other "spare" animals. Once that testing passes standards of safety, clinical trials for effectiveness begin, requiring many years of study and documentation and funding. Reducing the FDA criteria for testing Rx's, allowing doctors to prescribe directly to patients drugs without trials for effectiveness, allows years off the arduous and expensive clinical trials required. In reality, docs already use this method of "testing" meds with patients--and have been for years--prescribing a drug for something other than what it was originally intended. For instance, Rogaine was originally a heart medication in pill form. But dermatologists, knowing of its potency for hair restoration would grind the pill into powder, and mix it in an alcohol base to prescribe it to patients as a topical treatment for baldness. Why not extend this practice to drugs not jet on the market, that have been tested for safety, (the one trial FDA should continue) but allow doctors to test effectiveness among their patients who want to try the drug. Who would, and should a patient trust more, their doctor or the FDA? This bureaucratic policy change would literally shave millions, perhaps billions, off the expense of medications--an ever increasing drain for most American households.
A medical co-op plan put together by the private sector may be the viable solution for many who need the "bulk rate" of many pooled together for their personal risks to go down. Unlike the scams of insurance, which, by the way, is the# 1 primary market for investments, (meaning they are a financial entity, not a service, as most of us believe) a co-op is a direct shared expense for only health costs with little to no overhead and no hidden agenda. (Imagine that.)
Universal Healthcare? Absolutely not.
Universal anything? Never: the very definition is totally un-American.
In words that Obama and his administration can understand--and any legislators who may think we are backed into a corner: We are not a desperate nation. We do not need to resort to this manipulation to "solve" our problems today to make them worse in the future.
Patience, a virtue needing as much restoration as the Constitution itself, is the answer: We don't need impulsive pen scribbles on legislation that will cripple our nation.
We need private policies to flourish. Specifically, eliminating the (HMO) middle man, a basic economics principle, in reducing costs to consumers will allow doctors to negotiate with patients a sliding scale fee like the old days where patients paid as they went and catastrophic insurance was the only "health insurance" available.
Current FDA criteria is two-fold. A drug must be tested for a period of time in double blind testing for safety, usually on rats or other "spare" animals. Once that testing passes standards of safety, clinical trials for effectiveness begin, requiring many years of study and documentation and funding. Reducing the FDA criteria for testing Rx's, allowing doctors to prescribe directly to patients drugs without trials for effectiveness, allows years off the arduous and expensive clinical trials required. In reality, docs already use this method of "testing" meds with patients--and have been for years--prescribing a drug for something other than what it was originally intended. For instance, Rogaine was originally a heart medication in pill form. But dermatologists, knowing of its potency for hair restoration would grind the pill into powder, and mix it in an alcohol base to prescribe it to patients as a topical treatment for baldness. Why not extend this practice to drugs not jet on the market, that have been tested for safety, (the one trial FDA should continue) but allow doctors to test effectiveness among their patients who want to try the drug. Who would, and should a patient trust more, their doctor or the FDA? This bureaucratic policy change would literally shave millions, perhaps billions, off the expense of medications--an ever increasing drain for most American households.
A medical co-op plan put together by the private sector may be the viable solution for many who need the "bulk rate" of many pooled together for their personal risks to go down. Unlike the scams of insurance, which, by the way, is the# 1 primary market for investments, (meaning they are a financial entity, not a service, as most of us believe) a co-op is a direct shared expense for only health costs with little to no overhead and no hidden agenda. (Imagine that.)
Universal Healthcare? Absolutely not.
Universal anything? Never: the very definition is totally un-American.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
EDUCATION THEN ACTION
One of the most exacerbating problems with public policy is that most of us suffer from information overload. We live in a world anxious to pour an overwhelming amount of so-called "facts" on all of us to the point that we suffer from inebriation of "knowledge". The problem isn't that we don't want the facts, but that the media are so happy to help us become informed that we cannot process what in the world to do with the information once we have it. Generally speaking we either have two much information to know what to do with what we think we know, or we wonder if the information we are getting is accurate in the first place. How do we know anymore that what we are hearing is verifiable? Virtually everyone has been the victim of spreading what they thought was accurate information only to find out later that it was anything but that. And, again, what do we do with the plethora of information once we have it? It is enough to cause a society to shut down from what I term "information anxiety". Indeed we have.
There is hope. There are people and organizations, seeing the need for a support system and a cohesive way to deliver accurate information that is verifiable, that have set up networks, and memberships to help the population cope. The Utah County Republican Women and the Timpanogos Republican Women are ranked among those powerful groups that have taken the initiative to make a difference in disseminating information then taking action--correct action--powerful action--to utilize that information.
If you are absolutely sick of too much information that you cannot process--if you don't know where to turn to take that information, and get better information to make a difference in your world, then become a member of one, or even both of these organizations. If you are disturbed by the increasing, and even exponential decay of our form of government and our society, then become a member of either the Utah County Republican Women or the Timpanogos Republican Women. The UCRW is one of the oldest in the state of Utah. TRW was just newly formed, and is meeting in Saratoga Springs. The latter takes in the northern part of Utah Valley, whereas, UCRW, traditionally took in any part of Utah County. Both have individual charters and are designed to take on growth and help assist other Charters to form.
For more information about either organization, please call 801-910-5600; or visit www.ucrw.org; or visit the group Utah County Republican Women on Face book.
There is hope. There are people and organizations, seeing the need for a support system and a cohesive way to deliver accurate information that is verifiable, that have set up networks, and memberships to help the population cope. The Utah County Republican Women and the Timpanogos Republican Women are ranked among those powerful groups that have taken the initiative to make a difference in disseminating information then taking action--correct action--powerful action--to utilize that information.
If you are absolutely sick of too much information that you cannot process--if you don't know where to turn to take that information, and get better information to make a difference in your world, then become a member of one, or even both of these organizations. If you are disturbed by the increasing, and even exponential decay of our form of government and our society, then become a member of either the Utah County Republican Women or the Timpanogos Republican Women. The UCRW is one of the oldest in the state of Utah. TRW was just newly formed, and is meeting in Saratoga Springs. The latter takes in the northern part of Utah Valley, whereas, UCRW, traditionally took in any part of Utah County. Both have individual charters and are designed to take on growth and help assist other Charters to form.
For more information about either organization, please call 801-910-5600; or visit www.ucrw.org; or visit the group Utah County Republican Women on Face book.
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