Free Utah Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness

It is with sincere sadness for America that I view the passing of Judge Antonin Scalia. He was the last true Constitutionalist on the Supreme Court. America is worse for his passing.

Of the many quotes from Justice Scalia that ring so profound, I think my favorite is “That’s the argument of flexibility and it goes something like this: The Constitution is over 200 years old and societies change. It has to change with society, like a living organism, or it will become brittle and break. But you would have to be an idiot to believe that. The Constitution is not a living organism, it is a legal document. It says something and doesn’t say other things.”

This statement so clearly expresses what has gone wrong in America. We have, as a society, lost sight of what the true role of government is in a free society. In my lifetime alone, I have watched as we went from being taught the importance of guarding jealously our liberty to being taught that only the state can know how we should live our lives.

I fear that we have reached the point that the loss of our liberty cannot be halted, let alone our liberty restored, without massive bloodshed. As much as I abhor the thought, it seems that Thomas Jefferson was right when he proclaimed “The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.” I have often prayed that I would not see that day, and now I pray that my grandchildren will not have to see that day, but fear it is not going to be possible.

Glen Beck received a letter from a woman in Arizona. I have read many similar letters, but I have not seen any other that expresses my views any better than this.

GLENN BECK: I got a letter from a woman in Arizona. She writes an open letter to our nation’s leadership:

“I am a home grown American citizen, 53, registered Democrat all my life. Before the last presidential election I registered as a Republican because I no longer felt the Democratic Party represents my views or works to pursue issues important to me. Now I no longer feel the Republican Party represents my views or works to pursue issues important to me. The fact is I no longer feel any political party or representative in Washington represents my views or works to pursue the issues important to me. Instead, we are burdened with Congressional Dukes and Duchesses who think they know better than the citizens they are supposed to represent.

There must be someone. Please tell me who you are. Please stand up and tell me that you are there and that you’re willing to fight for our Constitution as it was written. Please stand up now.

You might ask yourself what my views and issues are that I would feel so horribly disenfranchised by both major political parties. What kind of nut-job am I? Well, these briefly are the views and issues for which I seek representation:

One: Illegal Immigration. I want you to stop coddling illegal immigrants and secure our borders. Close the underground tunnels. Stop the violence and the trafficking in drugs and people. No amnesty, not again. Been there, done that, no resolution. P.S. I’m not a racist. This is not to be confused with legal immigration.

Two: The STIMULUS bill. I want it repealed and I want no further funding supplied to it. We told you No, but you did it anyway. I want the remaining unfunded 95% repealed. Freeze, repeal.

Three: Czars. I want the circumvention of our constitutional checks and balances stopped immediately. Fire the czars. No more czars. Government officials answer to the process, not to the president. Stop trampling on our Constitution, and honor it.

Four: Cap and Trade. The debate on global warming is not over. There are many conflicting opinions and it is too soon for this radical legislation. Quit throwing our nation into politically-correct quicksand.

Five: Universal Healthcare. I will not be rushed into another expensive decision that will burden me, my children, and grandchildren. Don’t you dare try to pass this in the middle of the night without even reading it. Slow down! Fix only what is broken — we have the best health care system in the world — and test any new program in one or two states first.

Six: Growing Government Control. I want states rights and sovereignty fully restored. I want less government in my life, not more. More is not better! Shrink it down. Mind your own business… You have enough to take care of with your real [Constitutional] obligations. Why don’t you start there.

Seven: ACORN. I do not want ACORN and its affiliates in charge of our 2010 census. I want them investigated. I also do not want mandatory escrow fees contributed to them every time on every real estate deal that closes — how did they pull that one off? Stop the funding to ACORN and its affiliates pending impartial audits and investigations. I do not trust them with taking the census with our taxpayer money. I don’t trust them with any of our taxpayer money. Face up to the allegations against them and get it resolved before taxpayers get any more involved with them. If it walks like a duck and talks like a duck, hello. Stop protecting your political buddies. You work for us, the people. Investigate.

Eight: Redistribution of Wealth. No, no, no. I work for my money. It is mine. I have always worked for people with more money than I have because they gave me jobs — and that is the only redistribution of wealth that I will support. I never got a job from a poor person! Why do you want me to hate my employers? And what do you have against shareholders making a profit?

Nine: Charitable Contributions. Although I never got a job from a poor person, I have helped many in need. Charity belongs in our local communities, where we know our needs best and can use our local talent and our local resources. Butt out, please. We want to do it ourselves.

Ten: Corporate Bailouts. Knock it off. Every company must sink or swim like the rest of us. If there are hard times ahead, we’ll be better off just getting into it and letting the strong survive. Quick and painful. (Have you ever ripped off a Band-Aid?) We will pull together. Great things happen in America under great hardship. Give us the chance to innovate. We cannot disappoint you more than you have disappointed us.

Eleven: Transparency and Accountability. How about it? No, really, how about it? Let’s have it. Let’s say we give the buzzwords a rest and have some straight honest talk. Please stop trying to manipulate and appease me with clever wording. I am not the idiot you obviously take me for. Stop sneaking around and meeting in back rooms making deals with your friends. It will only be a prelude to your criminal investigation. Stop hiding things from me.

Twelve: Unprecedented Quick Spending. Stop it now. Take a breath. Listen to the people. Slow down and get some input from nonpoliticians and experts on the subject. Stop making everything an emergency. Stop speed-reading our bills into law.

I am not an activist. I am not a community organizer. Nor am I a terrorist, a militant or a violent person. I am a parent and a grandparent. I work. I’m busy. I am busy, and I am tired. I thought we elected competent people to take care of the business of government so that we could work, raise our families, pay our bills, have a little recreation, complain about taxes, endure our hardships, pursue our personal goals, cut our lawn, wash our cars on the weekends and be responsible contributing members of society and teach our children to be the same all while living in the home of the free and land of the brave.

I entrusted you with upholding the Constitution. I believed in the checks and balances to keep from getting far off course. What happened? You are very far off course. Do you really think I find humor in the hiring of a speed reader to unintelligently ramble all through a bill that you signed into law without knowing what it contained? I do not.

It is a mockery of the responsibility I have entrusted to you. It is a slap in the face. I am not laughing at your arrogance. Why is it that I feel as if you would not trust me to make a single decision about my own life and how I would live it but you should expect that I should trust you with the debt that you have laid on all of us and our children. We did not want the TARP bill. We said NO. We would repeal it if we could. I am sure that we still cannot. There is needless urgency and recklessness in all of your recent spending of our tax dollars.

From my perspective, it seems that all of you have gone insane. I also know that I am far from alone in these feelings. Do you honestly feel that your current pursuits have merit to patriotic Americans? We want it to stop. We want to put the brakes on everything that is being rushed by us and forced upon us. We want our voice back. You have forced us to put our lives on hold to straighten out the mess that you are making. We will have to give up our vacations, our time spent with our children, any relaxation time we may have had and money we cannot afford to spend on bringing our concerns to Washington. Our president often knows all the right buzzwords like unsustainable. Well, no kidding. How many tens of thousands of dollars did the focus group cost to come up with that word? We don’t want your overpriced words. Stop treating us like we’re morons.

We want all of you to stop focusing on your re-election and do the job we want done, not the job you want done or the job your party wants done.You work for us and at this rate I guarantee you not for long because we are coming. We will be heard and we will be represented…. You think we’re so busy with our lives that we will never come for you? We are the formerly silent majority, all of us who quietly work, pay taxes, obey the law, vote, save money, keep our noses to the grindstone… and we are now looking at you.

You have awakened us, the patriotic freedom spirit so strong and so powerful that it had been sleeping too long. You have pushed us too far. Our numbers are great. They may surprise you. For every one of us who will be there, there will be hundreds more that could not come. Unlike you, we have their trust. We will represent them honestly, rest assured. They will be at the polls on voting day to usher you out of office.

We have canceled vacations. We will use our last few dollars saved. We will find the representation among us and a grassroots campaign will flourish. We didn’t ask for this fight. But the gloves are coming off. We do not come in violence, but we are angry. You will represent us or you will be replaced with someone who will. There are candidates among us who will rise like a Phoenix from the ashes that you have made of our constitution.

Democrat, Republican, independent, libertarian.. Understand this. We don’t care. Political parties are meaningless to us. Patriotic Americans are willing to do right by us and our Constitution, and that is all that matters to us now. We are going to fire all of you who abuse power and seek more. It is not your power. It is ours and we want it back. We entrusted you with it and you abused it. You are dishonorable. You are dishonest. As Americans we are ashamed of you. You have brought shame to us. If you are not representing the wants and needs of your constituency loudly and consistently, in spite of the objections of your party, you will be fired. Did you hear? We no longer care about your political parties. You need to be loyal to us, not to them.. Because we will get you fired and they will not save you.

If you do or can represent me, my issues, my views, please stand up. Make your identity known. You need to make some noise about it. Speak up. I need to know who you are. If you do not speak up, you will be herded out with the rest of the sheep and we will replace the whole damn congress if need be one by one. We are coming. Are we coming for you? Who do you represent? What do you represent? Listen. Because we are coming. We the people are coming.”

THE AMERICAN PEOPLE HAVE HAD IT.

DRUMS ARE BECOMING MUCH LOUDER NOW.

PEOPLE ARE GETTING TOGETHER.

I just heard your statement on full body imaging. You, sir, are an idiot! There is absolutely NO excuse for such an invasion of privacy! There are more effective, less expensive and less invasive methods to screen for explosives. This is just one more invasion of privacy and the right to be secure in ones person. What is next, full strip and cavity searches?

There is great wisdom in the statement “Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve niether Liberty nor Safety.” (Benjamin Franklin).

When terrorists force us to give up our freedom, they have won. There is no such thing as government provided security. The only true security comes from one’s own spiritual and temporal preparedness, government can only provide invasions of privacy and a pretense of security, which history has proved repeatedly, provides no real security. Personal safety comes only from each individual being able to protect and defend himself, not being stripped of the means of self defense by a tyrannical government.

If you were even half of the man you claim to be, you would be taking strong, decisive, action to restore the liberties of the American citizens and stop the continued onslaught against our rights and freedom!

This is a piece originally written by Rusty Scalpel for publication on another site. Readers of Free Market Physician will recognize common themes accompanied by statistics that have not previously been published on this site. In particular we would point out the author’s finding that 24-38 cents of every dollar paid for doctor’s visits with health insurance is consumed by the billing process. This number was arrived at through extrapolation of data in a well-known New England of Journal article. To the best of our knowledge, this figure is not published anywhere else on the Internet.

President Obama says it is time to escape the status quo of the United States health care system. He proposes mandates and funding to provide health insurance for all Americans. Although such a plan may appear reasonable, it will only perpetuate the high costs that now make health care unaffordable. A real solution to high prices is eliminating insurance companies from the doctor-patient relationship. Health care can be made affordable through patients’ direct management of their health care expenditures and direct payment for health care services.

Health care plus insurance is more expensive than health care on its own. The price of a health insurance policy is the price of health care, plus the cost of the health insurance industry itself: underwriting, facilities, legal fees, and the salaries of over 469,000 insurance company employees and 881,000 insurance-related employees. Americans pay for these costs, plus the cost of their health care, every time they pay for their health insurance policy. Health insurance cannot make health care cheaper- it inherently adds to the cost.

A classic study published in the New England Journal of Medicine illustrates this point. It shows an average overhead for American health insurance companies of 11.7%, as of 1999. Add to this a very reasonable industry average profit margin of 3.4% and we see that about 15% of money paid to insurers never reaches health care providers. Americans paying for health care with comprehensive health insurance are only using their money at 85% of its potential.

However, this is not the end of money wasted through the use of health insurance. Those involved in health care are acutely aware of how much time and money is spent billing Medicare, Medicaid, and insurance to receive reimbursement for services provided. Many clinics hire as many employees for the billing department as they have doctors and nurses, who also spend significant time in billing. This raises overhead costs, which are passed on to patients.

Doctors offices have an average overhead of 26.9%, according to the NEJM article. Of course, not all of this overhead is due to billing. But the study indicates that a minimum of 10.8% is due to insurance billing. So between 11 and 27 cents of every dollar paid by insurance companies to doctors offices is consumed by the billing process.

A little multiplication (not addition) to combine these losses with the 15% insurance company losses reveals that for every dollar the insured patient spends on health care, only 62 to 76 cents will be applied to true health care costs. The rest is lost in the handoffs between the patient and the insurance company and between the insurance company and the doctor.

This is why President Obama’s plan will perpetuate the status quo. It ensures that all Americans will continue to pay into a health care pot that will leak 24 to 38% of the water put into it. His proposed regulations on the industry will not help the situation, either. Profit margins are not high enough to sustain the losses the stick-it-to-the-industry regulations will inflict. The most likely outcome of his health care plan will be the sinking of the insurance industry, with every single American chained to the deck.

What then, is the solution to the status quo? Instead of moving toward a universally insured society, we should be moving to a sparsely insured society. Instead of mandating health insurance for all Americans, we should be liberating Americans to make their own health care decisions. We should allow them to decide whether or not they can afford the additional 24 to 38% they must pay to have health insurance services added to their health care.

Part of the solution requires a cultural shift. America must see health insurance for what it really is. Health insurance does not guarantee health, just as life insurance does not guarantee life. Health insurance is meant to protect finances against health expenditures that would cause a financial wipe out. Most consumers are looking for a plan to protect their finances from a major emergency. A catastrophic (high deductible) plan is what they need and can purchase for well under $100 a month.

Unfortunately, what most consumers purchase is comprehensive health insurance. This insurance costs hundreds of dollars a month. Instead of serving as a rainy-day account for emergencies, it becomes the account through which all health expenditures are paid. The insurance company determines a monthly payment that on average should cover all health expenses, plus operating costs. These plans are too expensive for most Americans. Instead of protecting finances from an emergency, comprehensive plans turn out to be a catastrophe all on their own.

Another part of the cultural shift involves health care providers. They too have fallen into the health insurance net. Involvement with insurance companies proves expensive and painful for them, just as it is for the patients. Not only must they participate in the costly and aggravating billing process, but insurance policies interfere with their treatment plans. Medication and treatment decisions are made not on the basis of patient need, but on the basis of insurance coverage.

The solution to patient problems was catastrophic insurance plans. The solution to doctors’ headaches and additional expenses (which they must pass on to the patients) is fee-for-service, cash-only clinics. By eliminating third-party payers these clinics have incredible potential to save patients money. They bill patients directly at the time of service for services received. They restore the patient-doctor relationship. Doctors are able to prescribe and treat based on patients desires and ability to pay, not on insurance companies’ payment plans.

Coupling catastrophic insurance plans with fee-for-service clinics can have profound financial effects for patients. Imagine if instead of paying into a comprehensive insurance plan every month, patients paid for catastrophic plans and then deposited the remainder of what would have gone into the comprehensive plan into a savings account. This account could be used to cover routine medical needs and cover the deductible should a true catastrophe occur. The money stays in patients’ bank accounts instead of becoming part of the operating budget of the insurance company. Patients earn interest on the account and are actually able to maintain the assets in their accounts from year to year.

Not only are Americans free to grow richer by managing their own medical expenses, but they empower themselves in their relationships with health care providers. They now have bargaining leverage as individuals or groups because they, not insurance companies, are the payers. In addition, instead of getting every possible procedure after a deductible has been met, they become conservative spenders. They analyze whether a service has value to them and spend accordingly. They ration their own health care based on their needs instead of allowing insurance or government to do it for them.

In short, we turn patients into consumers. They are not beggars or government dependents to be seen at the leisure and pity of physicians, politicians and third-party payers. They are empowered American consumers. They are free men and women, masters of their own lives and their own property. Such liberty is not status quo. It is an American phenomenon and America’s legacy. Let’s not forfeit that legacy for President Obama’s status quo government-controlled health insurance.

Rusty Scalpel

Taken from http://freemarketphysician.blogspot.com/2009/10/president-obamas-health-care-failure.html

Have you taken one of the recent Cash for Clunker rebates? If so, then you are a thief. For that matter, if you are taking any of the many “stimulus” package or other government handout programs, then you are also a thief.

You say that is a strong accusation? Well, look at it this way, every dime that the government spends or gives away has to come from somewhere, and the only place government can get that money is by taking it from someone else, by force or threat of force. That makes you a thief by proxy. Instead of doing your own dirty work, you have the government do it for you. With the national debt where it is, to a large degree it is your and my children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren from whom you and everyone else taking these “handouts” are stealing.

Think about it!

Utah Land Use Statistics

The federal government controls nearly 65 percent of the land in the state of Utah, as opposed to states like Pennsylvania, Illinois, New York or Virginia where the federal government controls less than 2% of the total land mass of those states.

* New York State has 30,216,320 acres only 234,000 acres of federal land. One percent of the land mass is federal.

* Pennsylvania has 29,475,200 acres of land and only 677,000 acres of federal land. That amounts to 2.3% of the land mass.

* Illinois has 36,058,700 acres of land and only 490,300 acres of federal land or 1.4%.

On the other hand …

Utah has 52,696,960 acres of land, and a staggering 33,258,253 acres of federal land 63%. Nevada has 70,264,320 acres of land, and (are you ready?) 54,159,458 acres of federal land. That is 77%. Idaho 60%, California, 44.7% Colorado, 36% Oregon 52% Wyoming 54%.

Not only do they control the land, with the anti-development, preservationist philosophy which is currently in vogue, there is great pressure to restrict multiple uses of public land even though “multiple use” is the theoretical underpinning of the concept of “public land”.

Take Back Utah is dedicated to reversing this trend and securing local rights as defined by federal law. Federal land agencies must honor and obey the intent of Congress in the Federal Land Management Policy Act (FLPMA) legislation that repealed the RS2477 statute, but preserved existing rights of way created prior to this act. To date, federal land agencies have yet to recognize one of those right of ways.

They have pushed cattlemen out of historical grazing rights, cut off access to mineral and other resource extraction, all at a cost to the well being of the nation, and to the very existence of local rural communities.

This imbalance must end. To do it you will have to become an activist. Take Back Utah urges your support.

Please lend your support, your name to the cause and your presence at our rally on August 8th. It will be a vehicle parade from the Salt Lake City office building (Washington Square) at 500 S. and State St. and travel north up State St. to the Utah capitol building. It is not the message you will hear that is important. It is the message you will deliver by being there in person. We urge your support.

For more information visit http://www.takebackutah.org

This man has it right!!

There are a couple of points in this that I disagree with, but overall it is the right message. Rather than eliminating the Electoral College, we need to restore it to its original purpose and operation. Mandatory Universal Service amounts to slavery, voluntary service builds character.

The object of the game is to destroy American capitalism by having the government take over everything!

Tokens include a bus, a teleprompter, a sprig of arugula and a waffle iron.

Wanna play? No??? Too bad, you’re already playing… And quite frankly, in this game, nobody wins!

I had forgotten all of this… Do you remember when the senators were giving Ollie North such a bad time? This brings it all into perspective doesn’t it? Have a great day.

Do you remember 1987…

Thought you might be interested in this forgotten bit of  information…

It was 1987! At a lecture the other day they were playing an old news video of Lt.Col. Oliver North testifying at the Iran-Contra hearings during the Reagan Administration.

There was Ollie in front of God and country getting the third degree, but what he said was stunning!

He was being drilled by a senator; ‘Did you not recently spend close to $60,000 for a home security system?’

Ollie replied, ‘Yes, I did, Sir.’

The senator continued, trying to get a laugh out of the audience, ‘Isn’t that just a little excessive?’

‘No, sir,’ continued Ollie.

‘No? And why not?’ the senator asked.

‘Because the lives of my family and I were threatened, sir.’

‘Threatened? By whom?’ the senator questioned.

‘By a terrorist, sir’ Ollie answered.

‘Terrorist? What terrorist could possibly scare you that much?’

‘His name is Osama bin Laden, sir’ Ollie replied.

At this point the senator tried to repeat the name, but couldn’t pronounce it, which most people back then probably couldn’t. A couple of people laughed at the attempt… Then the senator continued. Why are you so afraid of this man?’ the senator asked.

‘Because, sir, he is the most evil person alive that I know of’, Ollie answered.

‘And what do you recommend we do about him?’ asked the senator.

‘Well, sir, if it was up to me, I would recommend that an assassin team be formed to eliminate him and his men from the face of the earth.’

The senator disagreed with this approach, and that was all that was shown of the clip.

By the way, that senator was Al Gore! (Thank you Al, you are such an embarrassment to Tennessee !!)

Also:

Terrorist pilot Mohammad Atta blew up a bus in Israel in 1986. The Israelis captured, tried and imprisoned him… As part of the Oslo agreement with the Palestinians in 1993, Israel had to agree to release so-called ‘political prisoners.’

However, the Israelis would not release any with blood on their hands, The American President at the time, Bill Clinton, and his Secretary of State, Warren Christopher, ‘insisted’ that all prisoners be released.

Thus Mohammad Atta was freed and eventually thanked us by flying an airplane into Tower One of the WorldTrade Center… This was reported by many of the American TV networks at the time that the terrorists were first identified. It was censored in the US from all later reports.