Salesman of the Year!

Barack Obama declared the other evening that, “It’s time for America to chart a new course.”  (Quite possibly the scariest words in American politics.)  And who wouldn’t buy what this guy is selling??? 

Obama promised affordable education and declared that a college education should be a birthright for every American!  Obama promised affordable healthcare for every American and that all of us will have the same top-of-the-line healthcare as members of Congress in four years!   Obama promised to take the record profits of big oil and ”make” them reinvest in alternative energy sources and pay for pollution!  Obama promised good paying jobs for the jobless!  And for such a young man with little experience, Obama has done very well for himself in finding enough people to buy into the hype with their votes.

First, Obama does not seem to appreciate that education, especially higher education is something that should be earned through hard work, dedication and personal sacrifice.  What kind of a birthright is Obama talking about?  What kind of message does that send to slackers in high schools across America if the government will ensure that you get a college degree whether you’ve earned it or not?  How many excellent future graduates will then have their degrees discounted because the market is flooded and employers can’t determine whether these degrees represent any significant achievement?  Obama doesn’t understand that promising government-backed college education does not raise the bar, it lowers the bar for everyone.  Obama doesn’t understand that information, i.e. education,  is a commodity that students buy and that college education is an investment in yourself that shouldn’t be passed out to people who haven’t earned the privilege.

Second, Obama doesn’t appreciate the fact that compared to private sector compensation, full-time civil servants and elected officials in the Federal government typically make far less money in public service. One of the incentives to retain well-trained and competent employees and leaders is to provide an excellent healthcare incentive package.  The idea that EVERY American should be entitled to the same government healthcare benefits package is simply pandering for votes.  So, why work for the government anymore?  And more importantly, Obama’s plan cannot work well simply because healthcare services are limited and finite.  Anyone who has visited an emergency room lately already knows this.  If the government begins footing the medical bills of every American and disregarding the limited resources available and increasing the demand on our skilled medical professionals, we will be begging for the days of the 3 1/2 hour emergency room waiting experience.  Further, individuals will have less incentive to be proactive in maintaining their own health (quitting smoking for example) because medical bills will be a thing of the past.  (Well, not exactly, but I’ll get to that.)

Third, the evil “big oil” corporations.  Since when is actually making money such a problem in America?  I really don’t understand how people in cafes can complain about $3.75 per gallon gas while simultaneously paying $64.00 per gallon for their lattes with tipping to boot. Think about it.  We hear a lot about big, bad, American oil corporations and their outrageous profits, but Starbucks is making out like a bandit!  And Obama needs to brush up on corporate formation.  Last time I checked, it’s the shareholders, i.e. regular Americans, who actually own these companies and invest in them!  Obama promises to punish these oil companies for excessive profits, force them to reinvest in other energy sources and make them pay for global pollution.  So Obama’s policies will actually punish the investors, i.e. you and me!  So what’s the point in investing in stocks or mutual funds of American companies if the government is going to limit your opportutnities to amass wealth or save for retirement?  IT IS OUTRAGEOUS that Obama is going to take profits from hard-working, investing Americans and claim that he will help us and the economy by doing so. The government already rakes in billions of dollars with a “B” through corporate taxes and fuel taxes.  If you wish to revive the American economy, the answer cannot be found in punishing with EVEN MORE TAXES the very industries driving the economy in the first place.  Furthermore, Obama doesn’t explain why American oil companies should have to pay for global pollution but not other countries such as Mexico, India, and China. 

Finally, Obama promises good paying jobs (not good jobs) for the jobless–all 5% of them.  This can only mean one thing: raising the minimum wage.  If you haven’t already figured this out, artificially raising wages decreases the overall standard of living because prices rise as well.  You have “more” money, it just has less value.  So rather than raise the bar for everyone and strengthen the economy, minimum wages discount everyone’s dollar–all 100% of us.  Thanks, Barack!  So while a jobless person may find a new job, it won’t necessarily be worth it.  The taxes taken out of their pay check to fund American college educations, universal health insurance, global warming initiatives, and massive job programs won’t leave much after the bills are paid.  And any money left over won’t be worth investing in companies since profits are evil.  So Obama’s policies won’t be free at all.  All of us will pay much higher taxes, have much greater dependence on government and have less money and fewer opportunities for ourselves and our families.

So Obama really knows how to work a crowd and get people excited about “change” even though no one really seems to understand that change can be very, very, bad.  He appears to many as a political saviour, yet his policies only represent the tired old liberal ideas that have never worked.  Obama has the least experience of any Presidential candidate in modern times.  I ask you, “How is that change we can believe in?”

Vote for Obama! It’s easier than thinking! 

Think Healthcare is Expensive?

Wait until it’s free…

Despite all that, the Democrats’ plan probably beats McCain’s if you’re scoring on political viability. Their program doesn’t involve anything that smacks of a cut in benefits, and it’s just easier to win with largesse.

But on economic merits, McCain wins. For all its problems, at least it puts the consumer in charge. Would that create a world where we’re forced to dicker with heart surgeons? No. It will create a world where health care is treated as the precious resource that it is, rather than a costless entitlement; where nationwide competition pushes down the price of catastrophic care and consumers focus their attention and budgets on what’s really crucial to their health. That’s an important first step. The price of health care is never going to get under control until patients get what they deserve: the right to be customers too. [emphasis mine]

Full Article: WHY McCAIN HAS THE BEST HEALTHCARE PLAN

FYI: Obama’s Plan

Your Best Life Later

Joel Osteen has an extremely popular book called “Your Best Life Now.” 

But what about the next life after this life? 

When it comes to our eternal souls and the next life, Joel bombed a huge opportunity on the Larry King Live show to share the Truth and the good news of Jesus Christ with all those viewers!!!  Amazingly, Joel Olsteen, pastor of America’s largest evangelical Christian congregation, seemed downright afraid to speak the truth!  (”But keep buying my books & keep those tithes, gifts, and offerings coming!”) 

The Apostle Paul declared: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.” –Romans 1:16  

If you don’t know Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Saviour my friend, whether Atheist, Hindu, Muslim, Jew or whatever, the Word of God is crystal clear on the issue: 

“Neither is there any salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” –Acts 4:12

You and I my friend, are both one day closer to kicking the bucket than we were yesterday.  Certainly, this life is important and we should try to make the most of it, but your life will be only wasted if you are not prepared for the all-important life hereafter. 

The True Face of Facebook

Do you want your underage children earning free condoms on Facebook? 

Facebook.com, once a creative networking site for students and alumni of Ivy League schools, is quickly degenerating into a sloppy, ad-filled Myspace cultural polluter.  This past year, changes were made that allow almost anyone to create a personal profile including kids in junior high and high school.  (More members = more advertising dollars for the people at Facebook.) 

So the question is, “Do the parents of these kids realize that Facebook is succumbing to advertising dollars with gimmicks such as free condoms?”  While the advertisers would attempt to hide behind their “safe” sex mantra, the reality is that they are just promoting MORE sex among teenagers.  And that gives a whole new meaning to social networking.

FYI Update:  “[T]een abstinence as a ’significant and independent predictor of academic success,’ [is] associated with a 40 percent lower rate of highschool expulsion, a 50 percent lower rate of dropping out of high school, a 70 percent increase in the probability of attending or graduating from college, and a 66 percent increase in college graduation.”

Fresh, Hot, Buttery, Killer Popcorn

“[T]he ailing patient, a man [with lung disease] whom she wouldn’t identify, consumed ’several bags of extra butter flavored microwave popcorn’ every day for several years.”

Consumers, not just factory workers, may be in danger from fumes from buttery flavoring in microwave popcorn, according to a warning letter to federal regulators from a doctor at a leading lung research hospital.

A pulmonary specialist at Denver’s National Jewish Medical and Research Center has written to federal agencies to say doctors there believe they have the first case of a consumer who developed lung disease from the fumes of microwaving popcorn several times a day for years.

“We cannot be sure that this patient’s exposure to butter flavored microwave popcorn from daily heavy preparation has caused his lung disease,” cautioned Dr. Cecile Rose. “However, we have no other plausible explanation.”

The July letter, made public Tuesday by a public health policy blog, refers to a potentially fatal disease commonly called popcorn lung that has been the subject of lawsuits by hundreds of workers at food factories exposed to chemicals used for flavoring.

In response to Rose’s finding, the Flavor and Extract Manufacturers Association issued a statement Tuesday recommending that its members reduce “to the extent possible” the amount of diacetyl in butter flavorings they make. It noted that diacetyl is approved for use in flavors by the federal Food and Drug Administration.

One national popcorn manufacturer, Weaver Popcorn Co. of Indianapolis, said last week it would replace the butter flavoring ingredient because of consumer concern. Congress has also been debating new safety measures for workers in food processing plants exposed to diacetyl.

The FDA said in an e-mail it is evaluating Rose’s letter and “carefully considering the safety and regulatory issues it raises.”

Fred Blosser, spokesman for the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, said it is the first case the institute has seen of lung disease apparently linked to popcorn fumes outside the workplace.

Me: NOOOOOOO!!! Not POPCORN!!!