Healthcare Reform - Start With Your Own Mouth

My husband and I just returned from the beach and I must say that I am absolutely appalled at what we saw. We have become a nation of Lard Asses. There is no nice way of putting it, as a nation we are disgustingly fat. There were more 300 pound women on the beach than there were women in shape. So as not be be accused of sexism, the men were bad, just not as bad as the women. I grew up at the beach and it is clearly getting worse.

Not only are we out of shape and fat - we don't seem to care. String bikinis and guts, thongs and cellulite, and the new trend - the top of the butt crack showing - nasty! Our family makes a trek to the beach once or twice a year and I am always extremely cognizant of my shape and attire. When I was heavier, I covered up! Black one piece suit with a sarong, silver jewelry, nails and toes done- I was heavy but I looked the best I could. I am obviously in the minority.

I believe instead of taking care of our own bodies and making the sacrifices and hard choices, we secretly despise those who are in shape. We scorn and stare at them as we stroll along the beach while they are sweating and huffing trying to finish a hard run. We scoff at the weird woman doing yoga at 6:30 am and go back inside and eat another doughnut. As a culture, we complain that airplane seats are too small and wait in parking lots blocking traffic to get 20 feet closer to the door.

This phenomenon crosses sex, age, ethnicity, and even body type. The biggest culprit?
I believe it is portion control. When did restaurants start serving platters to people instead of plates? George and I regularly split an entree and still take food home. We as a culture know very little about what to actually do to get this under control, we are looking for the quick fix, the pill, or the easy new diet. No one wants to hear diet and exercise. We cling to our favorite "diet" food, the salad - full of bacon, cheese, fried chicken, and gobs of ranch dressing, all served in a bowl larger than my Mother used to feed our family of FOUR.

As a culture, we must stop this gluttonous behavior and take responsibility for the size of our own guts. Health Care reform starts at home - at your own table, on your own plate, in your own mouth.

Elections Have Consequences

"Elections have consequences", I heard a conservative pundit say the other day (sorry I can't remember who). As simple as the statement was, it rang true to me. They do and they have and they are. These consequences are ringing in my ears daily and will effect everyday life for the rest of this country's life, unless a Constitutional Revolution takes place and we start over again. I just wonder if the people that voted for Obama and the Democrats really had this in mind when they pulled that lever on November 4th.

I am not surprised, I am just old enough to remember the country under Carter and this feels just like that. A few days before the election, I saw a bumper sticker that summed up my feelings it read: Obama = Oh Shit.

It's Torte Reform, Stupid

Instead of taking over and destroying the greatest health care system on the planet, let's talk tort reform. That's right folks, step right up and hear all about it - tort reform is the single biggest area for health care reform that the Federal and State Governments could enact and guess what? It doesn't cost anything! Shocking I know, but all the LAWYERS in government need to change the way our judicial system processes medical related lawsuits.

The cost of malpractice insurance is one of the largest costs a doctor's office has to bear - more than rent and salaries. The expensive tests they order are part of the defensive medicine practice, would cease. The class action lawsuits advertised during daytime TV - gone for the most part. The lawyers are getting rich, not the doctors.

Fix two things - Loser pays, where if you sue someone and loose, you pay for their legal costs. Takes care of stupid and frivolous lawsuits. Cap punitive damages - if the doctor is guilty of malpractice the patient should be compensated maximum for their lifetime of lost income and punitive damages capped at $250K. We should not be in the practice of making people rich from these lawsuits.

The have capped the punitive damages in Texas and it has been wildly successful. Kansas has also adopted similar measures and have seen their costs go down and doctors come back to the state.

Last thing - get the states and the governments out of insurance writing. For example, in Virginia it is a state mandatory provision for all health insurance to cover cranial prosthetic - you know what that is? A wig, a freaking wig. So Joe 22 year old healthy guy goes in to buy health insurance and he HAS to have wig coverage - that drives the cost up for Joe, even though he will never use it.

I have a radical idea? What if I want to start a charity to help people that have lost their hair buy wigs? Wouldn't that be better? But of course, after I pay my 60% taxes, I can't give to the charity anyway - cause hey, "I'm just trying to spread the wealth around".

The Angry Mob

Leaving work the other day, because you know I am one of those pesky tax paying Americans, I stopped in the lobby to say goodnight to my assistant. On the TV, Glenn Beck was playing the DNC video of the Town Hall citizens and calling them a GOP orchestrated mob. Folks, I mean to tell you, I lost my religion. I don't know if I can accurately convey to you what was going on in my spirit. Perhaps disbelief, anger, outrage, a sense of awe at the political strategy (because to a certain degree it is very successful), frustration, and a sense that this was one of the crookedest and dirtiest political ploys I had ever seen. What makes this all the more remarkable is that while it wears the veil of attacking the Republican Party, it is an attack on Americans. In a sane world, this will backfire on the DNC jackasses, but I have little faith that we are living in a sane world any longer. Although, the engagement of the American People has given me hope and not the Obama kind.

Warning Warning - Permanent Bureaucracy Ahead

As our faithful Abigail and Dolley readers know, this blog is not the mouthpiece of the GOP. As the political wind blows we have in fact probably been more angry with them than the Democrats, because you expect that from them.

The below outlines 53 new offices created by the Health Care monstrosity. If it costs a dollar and lasts a day....

http://www.gop.gov/download?folder=recesskits&file=2009-august-healthcare-bureaucracies.pdf