America's spiritual core awakens

The secular progressive movement has been effective in limiting the spiritual component of issues from being more significant in popular discourse. In fact, spiritual aspects of issues have been ignored completely by the mainstream news and most political office holders. But the passion of the crowds and the grassroots nature of the opposition to President Obama’s health care overhaul is I believe derived from our nation's spiritual core as much as it is from intellectual evaluation. The spiritual question we face as a nation is simple and comprehensive, it is: “Is there enough?”

Enough what? Many will ask and then attempt to throw the question away, unwilling to consider the deeper meaning. “Is there enough, of anything?” Is there enough food? Is there enough wealth? Are there enough votes? A portion of the population answers this basic question in the negative. There is not enough, of anything. Therefore we must take from one group that has and transfer it to those without. Democrats in general fall into that mindset and President Obama has organized his entire administration around the premise that redistribution of all things including power is not only possible but mandatory for survival.

Nowhere in the policy and discussion of this administration do you find reliance upon or confidence in the proposition that humans create their world and that the universe is abundant. Many in the world experience starvation, but food is limited by choices of those in power, more than by material limits. North Korea suffers shortages because of Kim, not because there are limited resources.

Some in this country suffer financial hardship. I include myself in that group. But it is my experience of lack, not the imperative of lack that is at work. I know I can create a new business and recover my life. I need not take anything from another in order to have some of it.

President Obama believes that health, not health care, is limited and so he proposes equalizing the amount of health mandates by taking from some and redistributing to others. President Obama is willing to sacrifice the health of some to change the experience of illness of a few. Wellness is abundant in the universe but free people sometimes experience lack and suffering. Reducing the wellness of some will never increase the wellness of others.

Across the country thousands are seeing the debate about health care and financial recovery and are reacting in a truly spiritual manner. They know something is wrong with the core belief of lack and redistribution. Americans want solutions that recognize creative genius and American excellence. Obama promises a future of failure and works from the basis that there is never enough of anything. So he takes what others have.

Go ahead, report us

Slated on Backbone Radio, Aug. 9 Listen every Sunday, 5-8pm on 710 KNUS, Denver... 1460 KZNT, Colorado Springs... and streaming live at 710knus.com.

Guilty plea. Can't deny it. Caught redhanded. We at Backbone Radio, BackboneAmerica.net, Centennial Institute, and the '76 Blog don't like Obama's plan for government health care one bit. We think it's dishonest, dysfunctional, disgusting, dangerous, and deadly. We don't see how a policy that is anti-life for the youngest and oldest among us can possibly be "healthy" for everyone else. We think it's socialized medicine, a bankruptcy prescription, a poison pill. We don't see how a plan that is anti-freedom, and wildly expensive besides, can seriously be foisted on the public as "free."

So on the basis of that, we've been studying that horrible House bill and passing along the ugly realities of what's in it, line by line. We've been running down details on Democrats' townhall meetings in Colorado (not always easy) and urging folks to show up with a civil tone and hard questions.

According to the President's enforcers, this makes us purveyors of "fishy stuff," surveillance targets, undesirables who must be reported to Flag@WhiteHouse.gov. Busted!

The absurdity and creepiness of it all was beautifully captured today by columnist David Harsanyi (see DenverPost.com, opinion section). But since confession is good for the soul, we are fessing up here and now. Go ahead, report us. I understand Guantanamo is nice this time of year.

Actually it's California, not Cuba, that is our family's destination this weekend. Backbone Radio in my absence will be ably hosted by former congressman Bob Beauprez -- an expert on Nancy Pelosi and her Democrats -- with Matt Dunn and Joshua Sharf helping out.

They'll have a great show for you. Please tune in. This can't really be happening in America, can it? Yup, it's happening. But people are starting to wake up. The turn is coming. Thanks for doing your part.

Yours for self-government, JOHN ANDREWS

BHO does a Pinocchio on health care

Listening to President Obama explain "his" health care plan, I can't help but wonder if he actually believes his own words. Maybe it's been so long since the adoring press corps has held him accountable for his innumerable exaggerations, omissions and misstatements that he believes he can create a new reality simply by speaking it into existence. However, for anyone who's been paying attention, the President's recent health care pep rally disguised as a press conference was littered with statements that just don't square with reality:

• Obama: "So let me be clear: if we do not control these costs, we will not be able to control the deficit."

Here, the President comes so close to the truth as to stare into its eyes before veering away like an over-correcting teenage driver on a country road.

Medicare and Medicaid, the government's previous forays into health care, are devouring the budget and exploding deficits. Controlling the costs of those programs should be the target, but few in Congress have demonstrated the courage to do so.

Instead, Obama's prescription is to fix these fiscal disasters by expanding government's authority over what's left of the voluntary private health care market. That's like your doctor wanting to break your right arm to be sure he sets your broken left arm correctly.

• Obama: "I have also pledged that health insurance reform will not add to our deficit over the next decade — and I mean it."

Reminds me of the famous "read my lips" pledge by the first President Bush. We all know how well that worked out.

Congress has consistently under-estimated the costs of government health care programs. Medicare cost $3 billion when first implemented in 1966. At that time, costs for 1990 were estimated at $12 billion (allowing for inflation), but actual costs in 1990 were $107 billion — or 791% greater.

When the Congressional Budget Office pegs the cost of ObamaCare at an opening bid of $1 trillion (others estimate as much as $4 trillion), that should scare the pants off anybody who cares about how deeply in debt we bury our children and grandchildren.

• Obama: "In addition to making sure that this plan doesn't add to the deficit in the short-term, the bill I sign must also slow the growth of health care costs in the long run."

CBO economists recently told a Senate committee that the current legislation, which the President admits he "isn't familiar with," would actually make matters worse by "significantly expand(ing) federal responsibility for health care costs." Over the long run federal spending would keep rising at an "unsustainable pace."

• Obama: "It will keep government out of health care decisions, giving you the option to keep your insurance if you're happy with it."

What's the point of this huge expansion of the federal health care bureaucracy if not to put government — instead of silly, selfish citizens — in charge?

If the President really believes what he says, then the prescription is simple: repeal federal laws governing private health care. That's the surest way to "keep government out of health care decisions."

That, however, would undermine the nanny-statists inherent desire to regulate and tax everything that might adversely affect your health. And then why would you need government?

Instead, Obama and the Democrats demand that you purchase insurance, micro-manage the coverage you must buy, empower the IRS to penalize you should you refuse, and establish a government commission to decide which treatments your doctor can provide for you.

All this from the President who says, "When you hear the naysayers claim that I’m trying to bring about government-run health care, know this: They’re not telling the truth."

Whatever you say, Pinnochio.

Mark Hillman served as Colorado Senate majority leader and state treasurer. To read more or comment, go to www.MarkHillman.com

New polls: "Obamacare" is not inevitable!

We should all hope and pray that Karl Rove is right in his opinion piece today in the Wall Street Journal ("Obama Care in Trouble"). Rove argues that both the polls and the political calendar are working against Obama's attempt to socialize health care in this country: On Monday, the Washington Post/ABC poll reported that 49% of Americans approve of his handling of health care while 44% disapprove. What many people missed is that those who strongly disapprove of the president’s approach on health care now outnumber those who strongly approve by 33% to 25%. That presages further decline. Already, 49% of independents disapprove of the president’s approach, up from 30% in April, a staggering shift in 11 weeks.

As I have written previously ("Are American voters finally catching on"?), this echoes general polling that shows independents and conservative Democrats -- the key swing vote that elected Obama in the first place -- turning away from Obama as well.

According to Rove, Obama's support is crumbling because of a flood of bad news about Mr. Obama’s health-care proposals.

One batch of such news came from a July 17 study by the Lewin Group that was commissioned by the Heritage Foundation. It projects that if the House bill becomes law, 83.4 million people—nearly half of those with private coverage—will lose private insurance as employers drop their plans. Mr. Obama’s promise that you can keep your plan is being left on the cutting room floor with nary a peep from the president.

Not a surprise, of course, since Obama's true goal is to provide an American version of Britain's National Health Service. Nevermind, of course, that the NHS led to substandard care, rationing and long waits for basic procedures. In the true hubris that only an American president can muster, Obama thinks "we can do it better". That same kind of thinking, by the way, has led us to ignore the disaster that befell the Japanese economy in the 1990s when it undertook government stimulus to right its massive recession -- more than 15 years of stagnation and anemic growth. But nevermind. The left has its ideological orthodoxy and let's not get bogged down in details or facts.

We should be thankful that at least somebody in Washington has the courage to tell the truth, even if he was called on the carpet afterward by the President for deigning to provide an honest evaluation of Obama's plan. Douglas Elmendorf, the Director of the Congressional Budget Office, testified last week that

"...the White House’s health-care proposals would not “reduce the trajectory of federal health spending by a significant amount.” This shattered the central claim Mr. Obama has been making: that his health-care plan controls costs. In a July 17 letter, Mr. Elmendorf added that the House’s health-care bill would result in a “net increase in the federal budget deficit of $239 billion” over 10 years. That’s likely a low-ball estimate because it assumes that Congress will increase taxes by $583 billion over the next decade."

Ahh, but of course -- new taxes. In the end, this is the heart of the Obama mission -- to tax the productive into submission so that the poor (Democrat voters, all) will have their free lunch. This is no surprise (or shouldn't be, anyhow), since Obama told "Joe the Plumber" that his ultimate goal is to "spread the wealth around". He wasn't lying about that, my friends.

I do sense that a tide is turning. Yesterday I attended a meeting of the local GOP club here in Colorado. It was a packed house on a Wednesday afternoon, and the energy in the room was palpable. Several of those who were there were Democrats who apparently have seen and heard enough of Obama, and who are now committed to seeing the defeat of his big government plans.

It's encouraging. But we must keep up the pressure. Show up at meetings. Go to protests. Write and/or call your Representatives. The time to fight is now -- before its too late.

Responsibility & health are inseparable

And whatever happened to Cleary?Okay, what do Arlo Guthrie; Joan Baez; Richie Havens; Ravi Shankar; Santana; Grateful Dead; Creedence Clearwater Revival; Sly and the Family Stone; The Who; Jefferson Airplane; Joe Cocker; Country Joe and the Fish; The Band; Blood, Sweat & Tears; Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young; and Sha-Na-Na have in common? If you are under the age of 30 you may not have any idea. But older generations know these musical legends participated in the largest and, in retrospect, surely the greatest rock concert of all time in Bethel, New York from August 15-18, 1969. On the 40th anniversary of Woodstock we are reminded of the untimely deaths of two other big names to perform that weekend, Janice Joplin and Jimmy Hendricks. And what did Elvis Pressley, Michael Jackson, John Belushi, Chris Farley, Heath Ledger, Anna Nicole Smith, Sigmund Freud, Len Bias, Lenny Bruce¸ Kurt Cobain, Freddy Mercury, Judy Garland, Margaux Hemingway, Christina Onassis, Freddie Prinze, Ike Turner, Hank Williams, and Howard Hughes have in common with Joplin and Hendricks? Each died from suspected complications from drug abuse or a drug overdose. They lost control of their own lives through drug addiction and left an enduring legacy which will, forever, diminished their otherwise great accomplishments. There are other types of addictions also known to be hazards to your health. In 1966, Congress mandated the following message be included on every pack of cigarettes "CAUTION: Cigarette Smoking May Be Hazardous to Your Health" and was replaced in 1970 by one saying "WARNING: The Surgeon General Has Determined That Cigarette Smoking Is Dangerous to Your Health." And yet, forty-three years later it is estimated there are 45 million adult American smokers, 70% of whom want to quit. So quit!

To paraphrase a rather well-known quote from 16th century English farmer and writer Thomas Tusser (1524-1580) ‘A fool and his money are soon parted…and after mindlessly wasting money on an addiction one is soon parted from this life!’ Isn’t it pretty clear that nearly all additions or abuses- primarily personal choices- will lead to a certain and untimely death.

Therefore, in order to take care of the growing number of citizens who make irresponsible choices every day to destroy their health I propose we create a universal health care program to take care of them. A universal health care program supported by and run by the government, of course. That sounds reasonable and fair. Reasonable until we realize the government has no money and they have to take the hard-earned money from most Americans who make better lifestyle choices, in order to take care of those who don’t. Wait a minute…that makes no sense at all. Whose dumb idea was that?

Last week, the 44th President of the United States indicated he wanted to make something perfectly clear, and “make no mistake about it, we will have a national health care program.” Mr. President, let me make one thing perfectly clear: we don’t want a national health care program administered by the U.S. government…the same government which is in the process of nationalizing the automobile industry, our banking system and more. You are destroying our country.

Or do you remember Hillary Rodham’s book “It Takes a Village: And Other Lessons Children Teach Us”? In the book Mrs. Clinton promotes a society in which all of a child’s needs should be met by individuals and groups outside the family. Really? The title of the book stirred immediate opposition. In 1996, Republican Presidential nominee Bob Dole said "... with all due respect, I am here to tell you, it does not take a village to raise a child. It takes a family to raise a child.” Amen, Senator Dole.

In his 1989 State of the Union address President G.H.W. Bush (#41) referred to a ‘thousand points of light’ reflecting the dominant theme of conservatism in the '80's. Problems, he said, weren't going to be solved by a central government. Problems were going to be solved by the thousands of individuals doing the right thing. He and Senator Dole were talking about personal responsibility. What a concept!

On life, some believe in destiny, that everything is predetermined, and they must play the hand they’ve been dealt. Many deal with it gracefully. Others say “Woe is me, this isn’t fair, why me?” They believe society’s problems are the government’s problems. While these problems may have been caused by the government do we really want the government to solve them? If you think you have it bad I have a cure for you: visit a Veteran’s hospital.

Others believe you create your own destiny. To an extent that is certainly true. Throughout life we have many choices to make (free will) and some make far wiser choices than others. We’ve all met people who literally make themselves sick, through worry, self-induced stress, bad habits, or other means.

So it follows that we have another choice…to have a more positive attitude and to deal directly with issues as they present themselves to us? Is it possible that there is a direct relationship between one’s physical and mental well-being? I am living proof that this is absolutely true.

Another who felt very strongly about that was prominent political journalist, author, professor, and world peace advocate Norman Cousins (1915-1990). His most riveting writing was about mind over illness.

Two of his writings were: • Anatomy of an illness as perceived by the patient : reflections on healing (1979), and • Head first : the biology of hope and the healing power of the human spirit (1989)

Cousins also served as Adjunct Professor of Medical Humanities for the School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles, where he did research on the biochemistry of human emotions, which he long believed were the key to human beings’ success in fighting illness. Battling heart disease and told that he had little chance of surviving, Cousins developed a recovery program incorporating mega doses of Vitamin C, along with a positive attitude, love, faith, hope, and laughter induced by Marx Brothers films.

Regarding celebrities and rock stars we glorify and, in some cases, deify them. At the same time we choose to ignore their lifestyles or song lyrics which directly impact the behaviors and future choices of our children. It is high time to redefine qualifications for the celebrity status we confer on so many who, quite simply, do not deserve the honor.

So, are you looking for a new role model, a new hero? How about anyone who has worn the uniform of our country in service to what is still, far and away, the greatest nation on Earth?

=================== EPILOGUE

Who is Cleary? I have never met anyone by the name of Cleary…but don’t you think there is someone named Cleary at this very moment, yet another fool, who is parting with his or his family’s money, who is wasting his life, and who will most assuredly suffer a premature death due to drug abuse? If you are out there Cleary, stop your foolishness right now, stop your senseless and selfish extracurricular and illegal activity and turn your life around now. It’s probably too late...but maybe not. And that goes for anyone else who is in the process of self-destruction. Why? Because I don’t want to pay for your healthcare.