I am not sure I understand the mindset of celebrities who cheat on their spouses. In general I think people in the entertainment and sports world have a different set of beliefs on the way to go about their lives. I would guess for many of them they act the way they do because they surround themselves with people telling them how great they are, The line between reality and the fantasy world they work in then becomes blurred.
Before I go any farther I want to say that a lot of regular people cheat as well. In terms of family life they have just as much to lose. In terms of money it seems that celebrities have a lot more to lose and I don't understand why they would risk millions of dollars when most of them have significant others that are just as attractive or more at home.
A couple examples of the celebrities feeling like they can get away with infidelity are Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant and Tiger Woods. While it has not been proven that Tiger cheated every can guess that his wife put Tiger's golf club through the back of his Escalade because she was upset and not to get him out of the truck. Mrs Bryant wears a $1 million apology everywhere they go and MJ lost one third of his wealth livin' it up.
Michael Jordan's worth is in the hundreds of millions and his divorce settlement was $168 million plus a huge house and his ex wife got custody of the kids. I feel guilty when I spend $168!!! I can't imagine what it would be like to breakup my marriage and my family AND have to pay $168 million to someone. Tiger Woods is worth a lot of money and if he can't work out whatever needs to be worked out with his wife, it will cost him a lot of money as well.
Do celebrities think that they can get away with it because the people around them say they can? Or do celebrities think they can get away with it because they have so much money that they can afford to pay their significant others off and have plenty left over? It just seems that celebrities live on a different moral system than the rest of us.
Monday, November 30, 2009
I want my vote back
Last November I crossed Party lines and Voted for President Obama. It seemed that Obama was going to be the lesser of 2 evils between he and McCain. While I will not speculate on how McCain would be doing if he was elected, I will comment on the disappointment I feel regarding President Obama.
Our new President has mortgaged future generations by spending nearly a trillion dollars on an economic stimulus package that was twice the size it needed to be and much of it could not possibly do anything to improve the economy. I posted on Facebook at the time it was too large and I stand by it now.
While I credit Obama for trying to reform health care he has gone too far with trying to create a government run option. The new program will become bloated with people that the government did not anticipate would join the program. Please see my previous post for additional views on the health care debate. Once again the plans in Congress will cost approximately 1 trillions Dollars. Who will ultimately have to pay for the debt we are taking on? The answer is the average person. the rich will not be able to pay anymore because they will have had their taxes raised already.
Another issue I have is the President's lack of foreign policy skills. Between going around to other countries and apologizing for America's actions to bowing to another foreign leader, it's making the United States look weak to the rest of the world. The United States is a great country and the world owes us more than they can repay. How do you repay freedom?
President Obama should not go around criticizing this great country who elected him to the office held by George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan. Also as a head of state bowing to another foreign leader is not appropriate. The President's staff should prepare him better on a situation like this. Common sense should tell the leader of this country that he shouldn't do it anyway.
These are among the many things over the past year that have disappointed me about our new president. I regret my vote and wish I could have it back. The great things about this country is we vote every 4 years and hopefully the Republican Party can get it's act together and run someone who can compete with the President.
Our new President has mortgaged future generations by spending nearly a trillion dollars on an economic stimulus package that was twice the size it needed to be and much of it could not possibly do anything to improve the economy. I posted on Facebook at the time it was too large and I stand by it now.
While I credit Obama for trying to reform health care he has gone too far with trying to create a government run option. The new program will become bloated with people that the government did not anticipate would join the program. Please see my previous post for additional views on the health care debate. Once again the plans in Congress will cost approximately 1 trillions Dollars. Who will ultimately have to pay for the debt we are taking on? The answer is the average person. the rich will not be able to pay anymore because they will have had their taxes raised already.
Another issue I have is the President's lack of foreign policy skills. Between going around to other countries and apologizing for America's actions to bowing to another foreign leader, it's making the United States look weak to the rest of the world. The United States is a great country and the world owes us more than they can repay. How do you repay freedom?
President Obama should not go around criticizing this great country who elected him to the office held by George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan. Also as a head of state bowing to another foreign leader is not appropriate. The President's staff should prepare him better on a situation like this. Common sense should tell the leader of this country that he shouldn't do it anyway.
These are among the many things over the past year that have disappointed me about our new president. I regret my vote and wish I could have it back. The great things about this country is we vote every 4 years and hopefully the Republican Party can get it's act together and run someone who can compete with the President.
Friday, November 27, 2009
The problem with the Republican Party
I consider myself a Republican but there are many things I agree and disagree with both parties. This post will focus on the problems with the Republican party and what they need to do correct them.
It seems that the GOP has failed to adapt to changing times. They still focus on older members of their party to run the party and run for President. These older member are out of touch with what is currently happening in our country. The party needs to adapt and focus on younger members who have more moderate views on various issues such as abortion, health care and the economy.
One example of being out of touch is John McCain. I have a lot of respect for John McCain and what he has done for this country. He lost my vote, during the last presidential campaign, when he said that the middle class would be people who make around $2.5 million a year. REALLY??? If that is the case there are a lot of people who are very poor. I would say that if you think that making that amount of money is middle class, you are out of teach with real america.
If the Republican Party can attract younger, charasmatic members to the party, they will be able to compete with the President Obama and the Democrats.
It seems that the GOP has failed to adapt to changing times. They still focus on older members of their party to run the party and run for President. These older member are out of touch with what is currently happening in our country. The party needs to adapt and focus on younger members who have more moderate views on various issues such as abortion, health care and the economy.
One example of being out of touch is John McCain. I have a lot of respect for John McCain and what he has done for this country. He lost my vote, during the last presidential campaign, when he said that the middle class would be people who make around $2.5 million a year. REALLY??? If that is the case there are a lot of people who are very poor. I would say that if you think that making that amount of money is middle class, you are out of teach with real america.
If the Republican Party can attract younger, charasmatic members to the party, they will be able to compete with the President Obama and the Democrats.
Basketball and the Bulls
Growing up I was not a big basketball fan. When Michael Jordan came to the Bulls and they started to get into the playoffs, I became a bandwagon fan. It wasn't hard to watch MJ, Pippen and the rest dominate the league.
I remember watching a game during the Championship years when they trailed during most of the game by 8 or 9 points. Suddenly after a time out they picked up the Defense and were ahead about ten points. This was within about 5 game minutes. It was incredible.
Those days are long gone. The past few years, every time I turn on a game, all I see are passes not going to the intended player and going out of bounds. I see missed free throws and missed layups. My mom has always said that a professional basketball player should not miss a free throw. While I don't completely agree, they should be a lot better than some of them are.
Layups are a different story. A layup is the most basic shot a basketball player learns when they begin to play basketball. The past several years every time I watch a game I see Kirk Hinrich missing layups in games. How does this happen to a pro basketball player? I understand that once in awhile it will happen but it seems to happen at least once a game to this guy!! I believe the lack of fundamentals that players are not learning growing up are the reason why they have such a problem when they get to college and the pros.
Around the league there are a lot of great players that are fundamentally sound. Kobe Bryant and LeBron James are two that come to mind. But there are a lot of players that will not play defense or do not shoot well.
Until I turn on a game consistently and do not watch bad play, I will not be a watcher of the NBA much less the Chicago Bulls on a consistent basis. Hopefully younger players can learn the fundamentals of the games and the future of basketball will be a lot brighter for the league.
I remember watching a game during the Championship years when they trailed during most of the game by 8 or 9 points. Suddenly after a time out they picked up the Defense and were ahead about ten points. This was within about 5 game minutes. It was incredible.
Those days are long gone. The past few years, every time I turn on a game, all I see are passes not going to the intended player and going out of bounds. I see missed free throws and missed layups. My mom has always said that a professional basketball player should not miss a free throw. While I don't completely agree, they should be a lot better than some of them are.
Layups are a different story. A layup is the most basic shot a basketball player learns when they begin to play basketball. The past several years every time I watch a game I see Kirk Hinrich missing layups in games. How does this happen to a pro basketball player? I understand that once in awhile it will happen but it seems to happen at least once a game to this guy!! I believe the lack of fundamentals that players are not learning growing up are the reason why they have such a problem when they get to college and the pros.
Around the league there are a lot of great players that are fundamentally sound. Kobe Bryant and LeBron James are two that come to mind. But there are a lot of players that will not play defense or do not shoot well.
Until I turn on a game consistently and do not watch bad play, I will not be a watcher of the NBA much less the Chicago Bulls on a consistent basis. Hopefully younger players can learn the fundamentals of the games and the future of basketball will be a lot brighter for the league.
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
New thoughts will be coming
I hope to be posting frequently on here. I have a lot of time to think of topics considering my average round trip commute is two and half hours 4 days a week. I drive about 60 miles each way and work a 10 hr shift.
I will have thoughts about the church, President Obama, the republican party, various Chicago sports teams and other things that pop in my head. If anyone has any subject they want to hear my opinion about feel free to tell me and I will definitely try and put something up here about it.
Don't forget to let friends and family who know that there is a new blogger out there who may have new thoughts and ideas than other people.
Have a very happy Thanksgiving!!!
I will have thoughts about the church, President Obama, the republican party, various Chicago sports teams and other things that pop in my head. If anyone has any subject they want to hear my opinion about feel free to tell me and I will definitely try and put something up here about it.
Don't forget to let friends and family who know that there is a new blogger out there who may have new thoughts and ideas than other people.
Have a very happy Thanksgiving!!!
Monday, November 23, 2009
The Bears
I want to start off by sending my condolences to Jay Cutler for being traded to this awful team. The Bears brought the first legitimate quarterback they have had in years to a team that can not protect him and take advantage of his talents. Also they apparently have a running back who appears to be a one hit wonder and a bunch of wide receivers who are young and inexperienced.
Culter has not been perfect and the game against the Eagles is an example. The problem is he has lost his confidence and is not stepping into his throws which have caused them to sail over their intended receivers. Why is this happening? It is happening because he has been beaten to a pulp in every game and wants to get rid of the ball as soon as possible and then get away from the onslaught. He needs to roll out more often, scramble and make better decisions in the red zone.
Let's move to the offensive line. The O line has been a problem since the year they went to the superbowl. That year, they started off very slowly and the Bears had trouble running the ball effectively. This is one of the main reasons Rex Grossman got off to such a hot start that season. Rex had no choice to throw the ball!! Once the line improved the running game did as well and they were able to run the ball more effectively when Rex started having his problems and went game to game alternating between good Rex and bad Rex.
The line has been bad ever since and they have not done enough to try and fix it. Orlando Pace and Olin Kreutz are hall of fame linemen who are way past their prime and should have retired a long time ago. Roberto Garza has been adequate and Chris Williams is essentially a rookie and it's too early to tell whether he will be good or bad. Beekman has been adequate and Omiyale has been awful. Another problem is some of these players do not play in their natural positions. It is harder to be able to block properly when you are not playing your natural position that you are used to. The bottom line is they have to fix the line again, on the fly, through free agency. My suggestion would be to go after players that are in their prime instead of has beens or never will be players.
Next up is their highly overrated running back. It would help that their running back would not run right into the pile and fall down. Last year Forte's best attribute was his ability to catch the ball out of the back field. He did not have a good average per rush. Forte needs to learn how to find the hole and run through it like Kahlil Bell who ran for about 72 yards on his first carry. If Forte can not improve his rushing ability, they need to give Bell a shot and then go looking for a new running back in the off season.
Once again the wide receivers are young and inexperienced. Bennett and Knox look like they have a chance to be good. Hester is a good possession receiver but was better suited to be left as a returner and a part time receiver. He is not a number one guy and should not be labeled as such. Once again the team needs to find a big solid player Calvin Johnson, Randy Moss type of player. Until they do, they will not have a consistent passing attack. The tight end Greg Olsen has been a disappointment as well. Olsen is big and fast but wont fight for the ball, drops too many passes. and is not a good blocker. He should be moved to a full time wide receiver position.
The defense is in rough shape. The D line is adequate. Alex Brown is highly underrated and is the anchor of that line. Ogunleye is a good player but will price himself out of the Bears price range. Gaines Adams is too small to be an end and needs to bulk up. Tommy Harris needs to show something on a consistent basis otherwise he should not be back. I don't think he has the heart to be a consistent player. That being said the games he did not play this year the defense was humiliated. It's possible that he may be the focus on the other teams Offensive line and the reason why you don't hear about him much is he can't get off the double team which is a problem in itself. This would mean he needs another dominant tackle to take up the slack. The other guys that have been brought in to play next to him have not done the job. Once again the Bears need to bring in at least 1 defensive lineman to help that part of the D.
The secondary is a mess. Bowman and Afalava are decent player but it is too early to tell whether they will pan out and be good enough. Charles Tillman is a one of the best cornerbacks in the league when healthy(the problem he has a problem staying that way). Urlacher has been missed and his replacements have not done the job. Hopefully next year he can return to his pro bowl form of a few years ago. This brings me to Danieal Manning is the most overrated player in football. Just because he is a great athlete doesn't mean he is good at football. Manning may be fast but that's it. He does not have the football ability to be able to man the safety or the corner spot on a consistent basis. The team also has him taking kickoffs and that is where they need to leave him.
This brings me to Jerry Angelo, Lovie Smith and the McCaskeys. Jerry Angelo has not proven that he can draft the players on a consistent basis that can compete at this level. One example is Cedric Benson. Benson is turning out to be a good player but he didn't want to be here and the Bears knew it before they drafted him. Benson did everything he could to get himself off the team and ultimately succeeded. Who's fault is that? It's Angelo's fault because he had to be aware that Benson did not want to come here and he drafted him anyway. There are other players that were not good that don't even play football because they were bad.
Lovie Smith has taken over the Defense and it hasn't helped much. When a team plays like the Bears have, the coach usually takes the fall. That is what should happen in this case. What will happen is Ron Turner will get fired and be the scapegoat for the offensive woes. It's not all on Turner but he does have some questionable decisions on plays. Of course he is not the person who brought in the horrible offensive line and average running back.
The McCaskeys need to hold their collective noses and payoff Smith and Angelo and go after Mike Shanahan to do both their jobs. Shanahan is a local guy who has done it before with Denver. If Shanahan is not the option, bring in Holmgren or Cowher with a strong GM who is a good personnel evaluator. Then the family needs to bring in several players through trades and free agency to fix the team for their star QB.
If the McCaskeys are not willing to do what is necessary to fix the teams problems after this season, they should consider selling the team. Bears fans deserve better than the product they watch every Sunday. People who spend their hard earned money to attend the games deserve better as well.
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Culter has not been perfect and the game against the Eagles is an example. The problem is he has lost his confidence and is not stepping into his throws which have caused them to sail over their intended receivers. Why is this happening? It is happening because he has been beaten to a pulp in every game and wants to get rid of the ball as soon as possible and then get away from the onslaught. He needs to roll out more often, scramble and make better decisions in the red zone.
Let's move to the offensive line. The O line has been a problem since the year they went to the superbowl. That year, they started off very slowly and the Bears had trouble running the ball effectively. This is one of the main reasons Rex Grossman got off to such a hot start that season. Rex had no choice to throw the ball!! Once the line improved the running game did as well and they were able to run the ball more effectively when Rex started having his problems and went game to game alternating between good Rex and bad Rex.
The line has been bad ever since and they have not done enough to try and fix it. Orlando Pace and Olin Kreutz are hall of fame linemen who are way past their prime and should have retired a long time ago. Roberto Garza has been adequate and Chris Williams is essentially a rookie and it's too early to tell whether he will be good or bad. Beekman has been adequate and Omiyale has been awful. Another problem is some of these players do not play in their natural positions. It is harder to be able to block properly when you are not playing your natural position that you are used to. The bottom line is they have to fix the line again, on the fly, through free agency. My suggestion would be to go after players that are in their prime instead of has beens or never will be players.
Next up is their highly overrated running back. It would help that their running back would not run right into the pile and fall down. Last year Forte's best attribute was his ability to catch the ball out of the back field. He did not have a good average per rush. Forte needs to learn how to find the hole and run through it like Kahlil Bell who ran for about 72 yards on his first carry. If Forte can not improve his rushing ability, they need to give Bell a shot and then go looking for a new running back in the off season.
Once again the wide receivers are young and inexperienced. Bennett and Knox look like they have a chance to be good. Hester is a good possession receiver but was better suited to be left as a returner and a part time receiver. He is not a number one guy and should not be labeled as such. Once again the team needs to find a big solid player Calvin Johnson, Randy Moss type of player. Until they do, they will not have a consistent passing attack. The tight end Greg Olsen has been a disappointment as well. Olsen is big and fast but wont fight for the ball, drops too many passes. and is not a good blocker. He should be moved to a full time wide receiver position.
The defense is in rough shape. The D line is adequate. Alex Brown is highly underrated and is the anchor of that line. Ogunleye is a good player but will price himself out of the Bears price range. Gaines Adams is too small to be an end and needs to bulk up. Tommy Harris needs to show something on a consistent basis otherwise he should not be back. I don't think he has the heart to be a consistent player. That being said the games he did not play this year the defense was humiliated. It's possible that he may be the focus on the other teams Offensive line and the reason why you don't hear about him much is he can't get off the double team which is a problem in itself. This would mean he needs another dominant tackle to take up the slack. The other guys that have been brought in to play next to him have not done the job. Once again the Bears need to bring in at least 1 defensive lineman to help that part of the D.
The secondary is a mess. Bowman and Afalava are decent player but it is too early to tell whether they will pan out and be good enough. Charles Tillman is a one of the best cornerbacks in the league when healthy(the problem he has a problem staying that way). Urlacher has been missed and his replacements have not done the job. Hopefully next year he can return to his pro bowl form of a few years ago. This brings me to Danieal Manning is the most overrated player in football. Just because he is a great athlete doesn't mean he is good at football. Manning may be fast but that's it. He does not have the football ability to be able to man the safety or the corner spot on a consistent basis. The team also has him taking kickoffs and that is where they need to leave him.
This brings me to Jerry Angelo, Lovie Smith and the McCaskeys. Jerry Angelo has not proven that he can draft the players on a consistent basis that can compete at this level. One example is Cedric Benson. Benson is turning out to be a good player but he didn't want to be here and the Bears knew it before they drafted him. Benson did everything he could to get himself off the team and ultimately succeeded. Who's fault is that? It's Angelo's fault because he had to be aware that Benson did not want to come here and he drafted him anyway. There are other players that were not good that don't even play football because they were bad.
Lovie Smith has taken over the Defense and it hasn't helped much. When a team plays like the Bears have, the coach usually takes the fall. That is what should happen in this case. What will happen is Ron Turner will get fired and be the scapegoat for the offensive woes. It's not all on Turner but he does have some questionable decisions on plays. Of course he is not the person who brought in the horrible offensive line and average running back.
The McCaskeys need to hold their collective noses and payoff Smith and Angelo and go after Mike Shanahan to do both their jobs. Shanahan is a local guy who has done it before with Denver. If Shanahan is not the option, bring in Holmgren or Cowher with a strong GM who is a good personnel evaluator. Then the family needs to bring in several players through trades and free agency to fix the team for their star QB.
If the McCaskeys are not willing to do what is necessary to fix the teams problems after this season, they should consider selling the team. Bears fans deserve better than the product they watch every Sunday. People who spend their hard earned money to attend the games deserve better as well.
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Sunday, November 22, 2009
Why do this?
So I have been kicking around the idea of blogging for awhile now but just never got around to doing it. I decided to set it up with some encouragement from my family and friends. One of those friends thought I should introduce myself to let everyone one know who I am and maybe why I am doing this.
I am just an average guy, married to his college sweetheart and working an average job. So what do I have to say? There is a lot going on out there that I have thoughts on. Maybe starting a blog wont fix the many problems we have in this county, the world or even my own house but I want to express and share my thoughts with other people and get their perspective. I hope to get enough people who will pass my blog on to other people where real issues can be discussed and if there are enough people following maybe something good can come from it. That being said other things will be discussed like sports, video games and anything else I can randomly think of will be brought up as well.
So enjoy my thoughts and feel to express your own opinions because I would love to hear them. Also feel free to pass my link on to your friends and so I can get as many followers as possible.
I am just an average guy, married to his college sweetheart and working an average job. So what do I have to say? There is a lot going on out there that I have thoughts on. Maybe starting a blog wont fix the many problems we have in this county, the world or even my own house but I want to express and share my thoughts with other people and get their perspective. I hope to get enough people who will pass my blog on to other people where real issues can be discussed and if there are enough people following maybe something good can come from it. That being said other things will be discussed like sports, video games and anything else I can randomly think of will be brought up as well.
So enjoy my thoughts and feel to express your own opinions because I would love to hear them. Also feel free to pass my link on to your friends and so I can get as many followers as possible.
General Motors
I have some thoughts regarding General Motors restructuring. The company has not done enough to get itself ready to compete. GM has to go drastic and make itselk look like Ford. Ford is not in great shape either but they didn't have to take money from the government, file bankruptcy or sell itself again like Chrysler did. Ford also made a profit last quarter thanks in part to the cash for clunkers program.
GM needs to eliminate all it's seperate brands and go with 2 or 3 brands and incorporate all of it's most popular and money making models into those brands. Ford Motor Company has the Ford brand, Lincoln and Mercury and that's it. GM should consider changing it's name to GM Chevrolet and keep the Chevy brand. Cadillac and maybe Buick should be retained and then anything else they have should be scrapped. GM already annouced the Pontiac and Saturn will be shut down in the next few years.
Once GM has completed their drastic restructuring, they need to focus on quality, affordability and fuel efficiency. The company should develop alternative fuel cars and make them affordable for the average person. I drive 120 mile round trip to work 4 days aweek. If I can find a car that is fuel efficient, affordable, safe and somewhat stylish, I would consider purchasing the vehicle. One of the problems with these alternative fuel cars is they are not affordable. If GM can make them affordable, they will not be able to keep them off the lot!!!
GM still has a lot of work to do sincing coming out of bankruptcy. if they can become an efficient company with quality products they will have a successful turnaround.
GM needs to eliminate all it's seperate brands and go with 2 or 3 brands and incorporate all of it's most popular and money making models into those brands. Ford Motor Company has the Ford brand, Lincoln and Mercury and that's it. GM should consider changing it's name to GM Chevrolet and keep the Chevy brand. Cadillac and maybe Buick should be retained and then anything else they have should be scrapped. GM already annouced the Pontiac and Saturn will be shut down in the next few years.
Once GM has completed their drastic restructuring, they need to focus on quality, affordability and fuel efficiency. The company should develop alternative fuel cars and make them affordable for the average person. I drive 120 mile round trip to work 4 days aweek. If I can find a car that is fuel efficient, affordable, safe and somewhat stylish, I would consider purchasing the vehicle. One of the problems with these alternative fuel cars is they are not affordable. If GM can make them affordable, they will not be able to keep them off the lot!!!
GM still has a lot of work to do sincing coming out of bankruptcy. if they can become an efficient company with quality products they will have a successful turnaround.
Nobel Peace prize
Recently President Obama won the Nobel Peace prize. My question is for what??? It seems historically that the prize hase been given to some people that have done nothing to promote peace!! Yassar Arafat comes to mind. The commitee that gave the president the prize admitted that the award is for what they expect him to do instead of what he has actually done. I find this appalling!!!.
The Nobel peace prize should be an award that is above politics. The award should go to a person that does something to promote peace in the world and/or ACTUALLY DOES SOMETHING to achieve it. Someone who should have received the award was President Reagan. Mr Reagan initiated arms control talks and signed treaties that reduced the size of the nuclear weapons between the Soviet Union and the United States. Reagan's policies of modernizing the United States armed forces helped lead to the end of the cold war, the end of communism in most of the world and the tearing down of the Berlin Wall. If anyone was deserving of the award it was President Reagan.
The award has been given to President Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson. Roosevelt received the award for ending the Russo-Japanese war. Wilson won the award for his work in creating the League of Nations after World War I. These people actually did something to promote peace in their time.
This is what the award should be used for instead of what people are expected to do. Let's hope Obama lives up to the high expectations that the world has for him and earns the award. In the future the award should be reserved for those who have actually done something for peace in their time.
The Nobel peace prize should be an award that is above politics. The award should go to a person that does something to promote peace in the world and/or ACTUALLY DOES SOMETHING to achieve it. Someone who should have received the award was President Reagan. Mr Reagan initiated arms control talks and signed treaties that reduced the size of the nuclear weapons between the Soviet Union and the United States. Reagan's policies of modernizing the United States armed forces helped lead to the end of the cold war, the end of communism in most of the world and the tearing down of the Berlin Wall. If anyone was deserving of the award it was President Reagan.
The award has been given to President Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson. Roosevelt received the award for ending the Russo-Japanese war. Wilson won the award for his work in creating the League of Nations after World War I. These people actually did something to promote peace in their time.
This is what the award should be used for instead of what people are expected to do. Let's hope Obama lives up to the high expectations that the world has for him and earns the award. In the future the award should be reserved for those who have actually done something for peace in their time.
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Heathcare debate
I am not going to claim that I know everything about the heathcare system or what they are trying to do to fix it. Frankly what they put in these legislative bills is full of legalspeak and hard for the average person to really understand. What I do know is the healthcare system does need reform but it does not need to be completely overhauled.
There are a lot of people that do not have insurance for one reason or another. Many of these people may not have insurance due to being unemployed and can not afford COBRA. COBRA coverage is outragiously priced and should be done away with. To replace COBRA the government should tie insurance coverage into unemployment insurance. This would allow people to continue coverage for as long as their unemployment insurance lasts.
A couple of positive portions of the heathcare reform legislation is that it bans dropping coverage and not covering preexisting conditions. That is great and I do not problem with that.
The public option idea is another story. From what I understand having insurance will be mandatory either through your employer, directly though insurance providers, exchanges or the public option. If the company does not offer insurance it will have to pay a tax. I believe the government is naive to not to think that companies will choose to pay the tax instead of offering insurance to their employees. I believe it would be cheaper for many companies to go this route. That would leave the the government's public option a bloated government program that will be unprepared for the amount of people it will need to cover.
How will the government pay for this. Right now the plan is to tax the rich and large businesses. When the government realizes that the rich's taxes alone will not be enough to pay for the amount of people that will belong to the public option, they will come after the middle class. It may not be payroll taxes at first but eventually the average middle class person like you and me will get hammered. I pay enough in taxes, I don't want 30%-40% of my pay to go to the government.
The government needs to figure out another way to go before it's too late for all of us.
There are a lot of people that do not have insurance for one reason or another. Many of these people may not have insurance due to being unemployed and can not afford COBRA. COBRA coverage is outragiously priced and should be done away with. To replace COBRA the government should tie insurance coverage into unemployment insurance. This would allow people to continue coverage for as long as their unemployment insurance lasts.
A couple of positive portions of the heathcare reform legislation is that it bans dropping coverage and not covering preexisting conditions. That is great and I do not problem with that.
The public option idea is another story. From what I understand having insurance will be mandatory either through your employer, directly though insurance providers, exchanges or the public option. If the company does not offer insurance it will have to pay a tax. I believe the government is naive to not to think that companies will choose to pay the tax instead of offering insurance to their employees. I believe it would be cheaper for many companies to go this route. That would leave the the government's public option a bloated government program that will be unprepared for the amount of people it will need to cover.
How will the government pay for this. Right now the plan is to tax the rich and large businesses. When the government realizes that the rich's taxes alone will not be enough to pay for the amount of people that will belong to the public option, they will come after the middle class. It may not be payroll taxes at first but eventually the average middle class person like you and me will get hammered. I pay enough in taxes, I don't want 30%-40% of my pay to go to the government.
The government needs to figure out another way to go before it's too late for all of us.
Concert Behavior
My wife Jen and I went to a concert in Joliet last night at the Rialto theater. We had a great time seeing Phil Vassar perform. He did a great job and would see him again. My issue is with some of the concert goers namely the middle aged people who want to act and drink like they are 22. Sorry people but you need to act your age!. I have no problem with people drinking, dancing and standing when the time is right. We stood though much of the concert danced and sang along to the songs. Jen screamed in delight at the the songs that were being performed. When you reach middle age though I think you should be mature enough not to act like a fool and go out and dance in the aisle and stand up when the vast majority of the people around you are sitting.
This brings me to when we saw American English which is a Beatles tribute band. It amazed me that there were a bunch of 50 years trying to relive their youth by running down to the front of the theater and dancing to them. Based on the cat calls I heard, I think some people were delusional or drunk enough to think they were back in the '60's and the band on stage was really the Beatles. WAKE UP PEOPLE IT'S A TRIBUTE BAND!!!
I like to go to concerts when I can afford it as much as anyone but everyone should remember to act your age.
This brings me to when we saw American English which is a Beatles tribute band. It amazed me that there were a bunch of 50 years trying to relive their youth by running down to the front of the theater and dancing to them. Based on the cat calls I heard, I think some people were delusional or drunk enough to think they were back in the '60's and the band on stage was really the Beatles. WAKE UP PEOPLE IT'S A TRIBUTE BAND!!!
I like to go to concerts when I can afford it as much as anyone but everyone should remember to act your age.
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