Here's Your New Health Care Plan in Action

Photo: Emergency Dentist 24/7

I gave birth naturally. Not a single drug, at all.  I felt the pain. I remember the pain. It hurt like hell, but I had my reasons for wanting to go that route back then and I'm glad that I did.

Tooth pain, however, is probably the worse pain that there is. It hurts from your jaw, up through your eyeballs and into your brain. Yes, I say the pain is worse than even childbirth and considering I have experienced both, I would say that is a qualified statement. 

How would you like to live with excruciating tooth pain, while you wait nearly two months, to have a tooth requiring a root canal, worked on? 

First, let me back up and say that I do believe that everybody is entitled to receive care when they are ill, and clearly there needs to be a program in place that is better than the current one to help the uninsured and under-insured, and to provide preventative care. I have had periods of my life where I was uninsured, and certainly periods where I was under-insured, and there's always a possibility that I will find myself in that position again in my life. That possibility exists for all of us really.

My mother, who died from lung cancer was uninsured. My father who died from another rare form of cancer, was uninsured. In both cases their illnesses, once diagnosed, were terminal. Would it have made a difference if they had been able to have preventative care through a national health care program? Maybe. But, in both cases they received treatment under Medicaid, and in my mother's case, she was able to receive benefits for hospice care under Medicaid. 

The far left liberals in this country who like to label more conservative people as evil because they oppose this Obama health care bill, have it all wrong... as they usually do. The opposition doesn't come because conservatives don't want all people to have health care. Nobody should be denied health care because they are poor. Nobody should be denied health care because they are young college students. Or single parents who can't afford private health care. Nobody.

But completely turning the current private health care system - the best health care system in the world - upside down to achieve that seems excessively costly, and unnecessary in my opinion.

The things that are most disturbing to me about the politics of today - and I don't care whether you are left, right, somewhere in the middle, Republican, Democrat, Independent, whatever - is that the people who are sent to Washington to act as our representatives, ignore We The People and push through their own agenda that The People clearly do not want. As was the case with this nationalized insurance plan, our representatives forgot that they were our representatives, but acted in their own political interests. The other thing that disturbs me about this is that we already have a health care plan in place for uninsured and under-insured people that could clearly have been improved and expanded upon to cover the poor, without affecting the entire private insurance industry for those who work full time and have a private health care plan.

And, if you've ever read any of my Katrina rants, you already know that I am not a fan of the insurance industry as a whole. But that's a whole 'nother story.

My husband is a veteran. He served in the military and he gets his health care through the VA.  Fortunately, he and I are healthy people overall, with no health issues to speak of. But... nearly two months ago, he went to the dental clinic at the VA with tooth pain. Tooth pain that was likely created by the very VA dentist he visited when that tooth was drilled for other dental work. My husband was told that he needed a root canal. He was also told that he would have to get on the "waiting list" at the local military base, since the VA is not equipped to perform root canals.

That was almost 2 months ago.  Imagine, living with that kind of pain for 2 months.  Oh wait. I almost forgot. The VA dentist did offer to pull the tooth. You know... to provide immediate relief. But that was all he could offer. Wait two months. Or pull out the tooth.

This, my friends, is what your health care is going to look like when the government takes over.

Oh yes, they did pump my husband up with antibiotics, so that the infection would be kept under control in the meantime, because in case you don't know... you can DIE from a tooth infection.  And they also prescribed him some heavy duty narcotics for the pain. So he could spend the next two months in a fog while he waited for an appointment.

Despite that, he still went through horrible pain the past two months - pain that interfered with him being able to enjoy both Thanksgiving and Christmas - because for one, it was difficult for him to eat with the tooth, and also, because he had to rush home to take the pain medication.

I am not saying it is because the VA or the military base are negligent in caring for our military or our veterans. It is because they are a government run health care that is overtaxed.

I tried my best to convince my husband to go to a private dentist to have this taken care of. If it had been me, I certainly would have. But my husband is stubborn, and a very proud military veteran who feels that he has paid his dues to the military and should be cared for thorough the health care he earned from his service. He is sadly misguided, but stubborn.

This, my friends, is your new health care plan in action. And YOUR health care hasn't even kicked in yet. Your wait will likely be even longer.

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God's Ways Are Not Our Ways

"My thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways."

Isaiah 55:8 (NIV)

I have discovered that God often seems unreasonable. What He chooses to do does not always make sense to us. It does not always fit into our balance of reason. We have a tendency to want things to make sense, but God wants us to learn to be led by our trust and not by our understanding. We should thank God that His ways are not our ways. My life would have turned out badly if God had given me my way in many situations. It is wise for us to pray, "Your will be done, Lord, not mine."

I often tell the Lord what I would like to have, but follow it up with "However, if You know it is not right for me, please don't give it to me." His thoughts are above our thoughts. He sees the end from the beginning. All His ways are right and sure. In the natural, we can think something makes sense, but it may not be what God wants at all.

Excerpted from Joyce Meyer's New Day, New You - 366 Devotions for Enjoying Everyday Life

I have been so perplexed about the results of this election because I just do not understand how God would allow a man like Obama to become the leader of our country. It just does not make sense!

It is not that I think Obama is an evil man. Maybe more misguided than anything. But I truly think that under the surface of what appears to be this quiet, stoic, and controlled temperament, is the true character of a man we have yet to see. As soon as Obama came out of nowhere to skyrocket into a rock star, I instantaneously felt in my gut a level of distrust that this man has a hidden agenda.

I know there are some who believe that God does not belong in our country or government. That He is someone or something that we should only keep in a Sunday morning box. Those who do think this way have forgotten that we began as a Christian nation, our nation's roots are and always have been Christian, and we have been a blessed nation because of that. Yes, we are diverse and tolerant of other's beliefs and spiritual issues, but that does not mean that their ideals override those of our country's, only that they can live here and feel free to express themselves without intimidation or fear of persecution. It does not change the fact that we are a Christian nation, first and foremost.

These same people also do not understand the differences between religion and relationship, because frankly, while I will never be a perfect Christian, far from it in fact, still, God, the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit are an inherent part of my life day to day, minute to minute. He is my Abba Father - my Papa - better than any earthly father could be or has been.

As we as a nation fall further and further away from God, we are really only beginning to suffer the consequences of our actions. Our country is in a major crisis - a crisis that is, if you truly examine it, greed centered, as our morals increasingly erode because of the absence of God in our everyday decisions, in the treatment of others, in our basic makeup of who and what we really are. It will get worse before it gets better. Perhaps this election was a calling from God upon all Christians to draw back to core beliefs, repent and unite together once again to bring us back to where we started. There were a lot of "Christians" who voted for Obama even though his principles do not align with Christianity. With this election, many of us got complacent, gave up hope, or just simply got drawn in to the illusion. These things will make us reach for earthly salvation, but we must get back to God.

And there are many who seem to have been blinded that yes, while Obama claims to be a Christian, he does not support many of the basic tenets of the Bible. If you look back at interviews he has given you will hear that his core beliefs are more new age thinking than based on Christianity.

And yes, despite the play-down by media - many of who do not even believe in God - a media who instantly fell in love with Obama and helped to elevate him to this messiah image with the people because they failed to give a balanced view of the man, yes he does have numerous radical associations, beliefs and thinking from his not so distant past. Much of it quite disturbing when you understand that these principles and this thinking is what has guided him as a young man and an adult and will continue to guide him as our leader.

And yes, I get that people are mesmerized and enthralled with him. He is charismatic, handsome, and he can give an eloquent speech that sort of soaks into your soul. But I see that glazed over look in everyone’s eyes when they listen to him. I see that the people view him as some miraculous agent of hope and change. Yes, I do see that. But frankly, these are the very things that disturb me the most. Shouldn't we be seeking this from our Lord, not from a man?

Above all of this however, and even though his supporters have elevated him to a god-like idol, Obama is an ordinary man. Maybe he will accomplish some good things for our country, maybe he will bring about change to the many crises we are in now. Maybe he will look upon us all as one people, all Americans, regardless of our color and not try to elevate one of us over the other. I don’t know. But he is our president. If God did not put him in that position, if it was indeed man’s free will imposed upon God’s plan, then God knew we would do this, and it is all part of His bigger plan.

I don’t know why this happened the way it has. I don't understand it. It does not make sense. But it also does not matter because God sees the end. And we can only see the beginning. We must put our trust in Him.

"The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction. The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding."

Proverbs 1:7; 9:10 (NKJV)

Our New President Elect Barack Obama

While Barack Obama was not my candidate - for many, many reasons, none of which were the color of his skin - he still has much to prove to me and to at least 56 million other Americans (46% of the voters at last count) who did not vote for him. He owes me many answers about his moral fabric, his liberal background, his faith and his true beliefs, and the basis of the multitude of radical associations he has had in his life ... basically I need to know who he really is, before he will even begin to earn my trust.

But yet, I am an American and he is our president elect, soon to be our 44th president, and our first black president, and I do have to say that I am proud to see us as a nation finally cross this historical race threshold. I do not think that it was Barack Obama's time however, but that it was man's will imposed outside of God's timing that has made it so. Yet, never again should race be able to enter the picture in a presidential election. It is done. Even though my view is that this man was not the right one, we have finally elected our first African American president. He is not the African American candidate that I would have chosen, but I am glad that I was privileged to see this happen in my lifetime.

Obama was not effectively judged by his record, or his accomplishments, or his background, or his faith, but instead he was elevated by people who saw the possibility of putting the first black man in the White House. 95% of black voters who voted, voted for Obama. Even if nobody wants to say it out loud, it is clear that it was race that drove that. He was elected on a platform of hope and change. 90% of the voters seeking change, voted for Obama. Many of them threw their conservative values under the bus to do so. Helping his campaign to succeed was an unpopular Republican president, a war gone on far too long, and a tired population due to economic downturns, Wall Street greed, the housing and the credit crisis, and a desire not to select the best candidate for the job, but instead, to make history ... these were the things that defeated my candidate.

Yes, Obama has won a political victory, but now as our president, he must perform on his promises.

Many of those who put him in office will soon be holding out their hands seeking much from him. He will have no choice but to seek much from those who did not support him, in order to fill those hands. He so much as told us so last night when he said he would need our help - help from those who did not choose him as our president.

And finally, yes ... let the liberal media and mainstream press truly examine this man for the first time ever. I hope they will, because I know that God will. Barack Obama has spent his entire career campaigning for the next thing, and not really accomplishing much of anything in that office which he has achieved. This is no longer a fancy high dollar campaign bought with money and full of eloquent speeches and rock star celebrity, but it is now a great responsibility that this man must now bear, much greater I think than even he understands.

False Prophets

For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to here."

1 Timothy 4:3

On Being Conservative

"70 percent or more of Americans agree on the key issues, with views that are generally conservative. The red state/blue state balance, created by the media, is largely a myth."

Newt Gingrich
from Real
Change

Breaking for Politics

We interrupt the regular food talk and blabbering over life issues to publicly express our political opinions until election day. Examine your heart and vote the TRUE Christian ticket - McCain/Palin on Tuesday!

Father God, we cry out for you, who is rich in mercy and mighty to deliver His people from the oppression that has occurred in this presidential election. We pray together with the psalmist and with all of your people that the designs of the wicked be thwarted by your mighty hand. Father we ask that you rip the veil down and lift the blinders away from your people's eyes before they vote, so that they will see the Truth and know that they have been deceived.

Father break this hypnotic trance that has taken over your people and give us each the ability to discern and see the Truth clearly through the fog of the deceit. Father we ask that you accept our sincere and widespread repentance for failing you and falling away from the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Lord we ask that you allow only godly men and women be elected to lead this nation on November 4th, 2008, and that they would gather hold of your strength to fight against evil and false prophets, leading our nation back to you, to your truth and to your righteousness.

Lord we lift up our nation to your hands in full humility and repentance for our sins of idolatry. Father we cannot know what your will is for November 4, 2008, but we ask Lord that you grant mercy on those of us who stand strong with you and with the tenets of your Word. Deliver us Lord from suffering at the hand of false prophets and this evil deceit that has taken captive so many and help us to defeat it. We have been a foolish people Father, led by our flesh and our earthly desires, not fully understanding what we have done or why. That is why Lord, we beg of you for your protection, your redemption and your forgiveness, asking these things in the mighty name and blood of Christ Jesus.

Amen

I Voted! (and voted... and voted... and voted... and voted...)

Rick McKee, The Augusta Chronicle

Spread the Wealth!!!!! Just not mine.

Rick McKee, The Augusta Chronicle

"Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them."

Matthew 7:15

Well, I see that "the media" has pretty much written off McCain and is practically handing the election to Obama already. Perhaps the media and the left (is there really any difference?) would prefer all of us conservatives just simply stay home and not vote. Well, personally I love an underdog and wouldn't it be exciting to see the election create a very, very long night for the media? I continue to pray constantly that the right candidate will be seated in that office but I am confident that whatever happens in the end will in reality serve to be a lesson from God for all of us in this great country to learn from. Whether it is a harsh and shocking lesson or not is yet to be seen. My heart hurts because I feel in my soul so many are caught up in a delusion, but God's plan will prevail and God is all that really matters.

Sunday Musings

"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit."

Romans 15:13

First, I have to say that Sarah Palin was pretty funny last night on SNL and I was glad to see that the audience applauded her and treated her kindly and with respect and that nothing really happened that would give fodder to the haters and the pundits. It's going to be a long hard road for the McCain/Palin ticket this year with all the Obama infatuation and idolizing that is going on, but I have no doubt that Gov. Palin has a great future regardless of what happens in the Presidential election. As I have said many times over with this election, God is in control and whoever it is that ends up in that office will be there by His choice and to serve His purposes, whether it is my candidate or not. I have and will continue to pray about it, but in the end, God is in control of the situation. As far as SNL, I haven't been a fan of that show for a long time, because with the exception of this recent resurrection from the '08 election, for a long time now SNL has been much more silly to me than it has been funny - still, I have to say that I thought Palin did a great job both in starting off and ending the show.

I spent the day today dusting off and re-organizing my cookbooks. I should have been studying, but it is amazing the things that I can find to do to avoid that task!

Anyway, I have cathedral ceilings in my family room that extend into my tiny kitchen - I think they call it a galley style kitchen, you know the type... where two people can't really turn around in it at the same time... and so that leaves a nice space above the kitchen cabinets on both sides of the kitchen where I keep all of my cookbooks. I have added a few cookbooks to my collection over the last couple of years and needed to move some of them around for a bit more accessibility to my favorites. Truth is, I probably could let go of more than a few of them, but books - books of any kind really - are very precious to me. My office is overrun with four bookshelves that are overflowing, and yet I still have some difficulty with letting go of any! But, back to the kitchen.

Of course that area where the cookbooks are is pretty dusty - so while I had the taller ladder out and was up there anyway, I dusted and cleaned it up a bit too. Thankfully I remembered to take my allergy medicine this time though, so hopefully I won't be suffering later. I have about 154 cookbooks, not counting the small booklets, magazines and appliance manuals, and some of those cookbooks date back into the 50s - some actually could even been older than that, but the covers and often front pages are missing on several of them.




I was glad that I took on this chore today afterall though because I happened to flip open an old Tupperware cookbook that used to belong to my Mom and saw a page in the back where in my mother's handwriting was written a recipe that I had tried to replicate and had never quite gotten right. This recipe is for cookies that she used to make every Christmas - a light, buttery cookie loaded with pecans that we in the South call "Finger Cookies" because of the way they are shaped, sort of like a finger. I thought I had seen a recipe for them written somewhere but never quite remembered where, so I am very pleased to have finally found her authentic recipe to have on hand for this Christmas. My mother died 11 years ago this coming Christmas and seeing this recipe written out in Mama's beautiful cursive handwriting really comforted my heart, made me smile and made the effort of all that cleaning worth every minute I spent at it today.



My sweet hubby Richard has just taken off after a disappointing Saints loss to the Panthers to spend a few hours watching the Nascar race with a friend of his who is going through a difficult time right now with his marriage. I separated him from a dozen of the chocolate chip cookies I made for him the other day and asked him to drop them off at my son and daughter in law's house on the way. I was there briefly on Friday to visit and see my grandson but my husband was off at a meeting and not able to be there.

I had brought them some freshly made yeast rolls that day, which I have since made another batch of. After being on a long mission searching the internet for the perfect yeast roll - a roll that would serve as equally well as a dinner roll as it would as a small sandwich roll - one that has a bit of a crusty exterior, but with a fluffy soft inside ... much like french bread, or more appropriately I suppose what would be called a french roll. I finally found two of them, and both were right in my own cookbooks! Both are good, but one turned out just perfect - well, perfect for my needs - as I do find that other's recipes that I have tried which they deemed to be "perfect" rolls weren't quite my kind of perfect! Anyway, I can't do much for the kids these days as far as financially since I've been out of work for so long now, but I can and do bring them home baked goodies occasionally. Last week I brought frosted banana bars, and the time before that, chocolate peanut butter bars. All of these are my favorites and I'll get around to posting the recipes here soon.

So now, I am going to sit and catch up on some TiVo instead of studying. There are quite a few movies saved on there and begging to be watched to make room for new stuff! I am just about finished watching Transformers, which is an interesting movie that I'll bet the kids loved. Transformers were very big when my son was a little boy - I recall that he had a few of the toys. Not sure what is next, but I'll be flipping through some of my cookbooks in the midst of it looking for something to drum up for dinner here shortly. For once I haven't a clue what it will be.

Saturday Thoughts

"Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land."

2 Chronicles 7:14

Saturday Thoughts

I have been so disappointed in the attitude that I have seen across the board with this political campaign - but I'm not talking about the candidates. In all honesty that's an expected though unfortunate part of the process, because well, apparently we voters prefer to have a bit of drama. But between the local elections and the presidential campaign, it sure gets old fast doesn't it?

I am an unapologetic Bible believing Christian. A conservative thinker. And a proud Republican. And I simply cannot believe the vile attitude that I have been seeing here lately from many of the folks who lean more to the left in this election. I hate to generalize, but for the most part I truly can say that I cannot recall seeing one liberal online or on television who has been able to exert their thoughts without exhibiting pure anger, you could even call it hatred really, with a condescending, sarcastic attitude to the rest of us who are more conservative in our thinking. There is zero respect toward us.

The internet is especially pitiful, and maybe that's because the internet gives people more freedom to say ugly, mean and hateful things that they would generally (with a few exceptions) never dare to say to someone face to face, or if it just speaks to the pitiful state of our humanity, but folks sure are disrespectful to one another these days. I have seen more black hatred and black on white racist comments lately that I could have gone a lifetime without knowing. MLK would be shocked and ashamed. I thought as a society we had gotten way beyond this, but it's pretty clear that there's a lot of anger brewing in Black America and most all of it is directed toward White America. It seems like the majority of the support for Obama by blacks in this country is based more on this hatred toward whites than on who the man himself really is, what kind of history he has, what radical thinking or ties that he may have had and who he has associated with, what kind of record he has, whether he's qualified or not, or what he really represents. I don't quite understand this, but I think that before all is said and done there's gonna be a racial divide in this country that is going to set us back for years.

And while that is sad enough, I find it very sad, that over the years for the most part, the folks of any color that I have encountered who tend to lean more to the left are simply put, well generally obnoxious, rude and especially intolerant of anyone who fails to share their thinking! In fact anyone who thinks otherwise are called bigots, racists, stupid, idiots, or whatever derogatory term of the day can be spewed. Pitiful.

I have strong opinions myself, but I don't have to rudely assert them nor do I have to resort to name calling, degrading another person or just sheer ugliness in order to express myself. The things that liberals have said about Sarah Palin is just unbelieveable. I cannot help but to believe that it all has a bit to do with how far from God so many in our country have fallen. God help us.