Interesting Parable

Interesting parable (please read the entire thing to get the message):

"Once upon a time, I was invited to the White House for a private dinner with the President. I am a respected businessman, with a factory that produces memory chips for computers and portable electronics. There was some talk that my industry was being scrutinized by the administration, but I paid it no mind. I live in a free country. There’s nothing that the government can do to me if I’ve broken no laws. My wealth was earned honestly, and an invitation to dinner with an American President is an honor.
I checked my coat, was greeted by the Chief of Staff, and joined the President in a yellow dining room. We sat across from each other at a table draped in white linen. The Great Seal was embossed on the china. Uniformed staff served our dinner.
The meal was served, and I was startled when my waiter suddenly reached out, plucked a dinner roll off my plate, and began nibbling it as he walked back to the kitchen.
“Sorry about that,” said the President. “Andrew is very hungry.”
“I don’t appreciate…” I began, but as I looked into the calm brown eyes across from me, I felt immediately guilty and petty. It was just a dinner roll. “Of course,” I concluded, and reached for my glass. Before I could, however, another waiter reached forward, took the glass away and swallowed the wine in a single gulp.
“And his brother Eric is very thirsty.” said the President.
I didn’t say anything. The President is testing my compassion, I thought. I will play along. I don’t want to seem unkind.
My plate was whisked away before I had tasted a bite.
“Eric’s children are also quite hungry.”
With a lurch, I crashed to the floor. My chair had been pulled out from under me. I stood, brushing myself off angrily, and watched as it was carried from the room.
“And their grandmother can’t stand for long.”
I excused myself, smiling outwardly, but inside feeling like a fool. Obviously I had been invited to the White House to be sport for some game.. I reached for my coat, to find that it had been taken. I turned back to the President.
“Their grandfather doesn’t like the cold.”
I wanted to shout “that was my coat!” But again, I looked at the placid smiling face of my host and decided I was being a poor sport. I spread my hands helplessly and chuckled. Then I felt my hip pocket and realized my wallet was gone. I excused myself and walked to a phone on an elegant side table. I learned shortly that my credit cards had been maxed out, my bank accounts emptied, my retirement and equity portfolios had vanished, and my wife had been thrown out of our home. Apparently, the waiters and their families were moving in. The President hadn’t moved or spoken as I learned all this, but finally I lowered the phone into its cradle and turned to face him.
“Andrew’s whole family has made bad financial decisions. They haven’t planned for retirement, and they need a house. They recently defaulted on a subprime mortgage. I told them they could have your home. They need it more than you do.”
My hands were shaking. I felt faint. I stumbled back to the table and knelt on the floor. The President cheerfully cut his meat, ate his steak and drank his wine. I lowered my eyes and stared at the small gray circles on the tablecloth that were water drops.
“By the way,” He added, “I have just signed an Executive Order nationalizing your factories. I’m firing you as head of your business. I’ll be operating the firm now for the benefit of all mankind. There’s a whole bunch of Erics and Andrews out there and they can’t come to you for jobs groveling like beggars.”
I looked up. The President dropped his spoon into the empty ramekin which had been his creme brulee. He drained the last drops of his wine. As the table was cleared, he lit a cigarette and leaned back in his chair. He stared at me. I clung to the edge of the table as if were a ledge and I were a man hanging over an abyss. I thought of the years behind me, of the life I had lived. The life I had earned with a lifetime of work, risk and struggle. Why was I punished? How had I allowed it to be taken? What game had I played and lost? I looked across the table and noticed with some surprise that there was no game board between us.
What had I done wrong?
As if answering the unspoken thought, the President suddenly cocked his head, locked his empty eyes to mine, and bared a million teeth, chuckling wryly as he folded his hands.
“You should have stopped me at the dinner roll,” he said."

Stop Obama-Care Now!

A good friend sent this to me...I've updated the current health care plan link from the House Ways and Means Committee

http://waysandmeans.house.gov/media/pdf/111/AAHCA09001xml.pdf

and I have read through the bill (pages listed below are where the section of concern starts, so you'll have to do a little reading for your own verification) - love the "legalese" to make sure no one really understands it, though as Rep. Conyers (MIch) stated, "I don't have to read a bill, to pass it" (that's a You Tube sensation, look it up) - it might be easier just to send your wallet/purse, and maybe you'll get to keep the "Change"

"Little "gems" hidden within the new "Health" bill: Read this and if you have concerns, then write/call your President, U.S. Representative and U.S. Senators.

http://www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml * Page 22: Mandates audits of all employers that self-insure! * Page 29: Admission: your health care will be rationed! * Page 30: A government committee will decide what treatments and benefits you get (and, unlike an insurer, there will be no appeals process) * Page 42: The "Health Choices Commissioner" will decide h ealth benefits for you. You will have no choice. None. * Page 50: All non-US citizens, illegal or not, will be provided with free healthcare services. * Page 58: Every person will be issued a National ID Healthcard. * Page 59: The federal government will have direct, real-time access to all individual bank accounts for electronic funds transfer!! * Page 65: Taxpayers will subsidize all union retiree and community organizer health plans (read: SEIU, UAW and ACORN) * Page 72: All private healthcare plans must conform to government rules to participate in a Healthcare Exchange. * Page 84: All private healthcare plans must participate in the Healthcare Exchange (i.e., total government control of private plans) * Page 91: Government mandates linguistic infrastructure for services; translation: illegal aliens * Page 95: The Government will pay ACORN and Americorps to sign up individuals for Government-run Health Care plan. Page 102: Those eligible for Medicaid will be automatically enrolled: you have no choice in the matter. * Page 124: No company can sue the government for price-fixing. No "judicial review" is permitted against the government monopoly. Put simply, private insurers will be crushed. * Page 127: The AMA sold doctors out: the government will set wages. * Page 145: An employer MUST auto-enroll employees into the government-run public plan. No alternatives. * Page 126: Employers MUST pay healthcare bills for part-time employees AND their families. * Page 149: Any employer with a payroll of $400K or more, who does not offer the public option, pays an 8% tax on payroll * Page 150: Any employer with a payroll of $250K-400K or more, who does not offer the public option, pays a 2 to 6% tax on payroll * Page 167: Any individual who doesn't' have acceptable(?) healthcare (according to the government) will be taxed 2.5% of income. * Page 170: Any NON-RESIDENT alien is exempt from individual taxes (Americans will pay for them!). * Page 195: Officers and employees of Government Healthcare Bureaucracy will have access to ALL American financial and personal records! * Page 203: "The tax imposed under this section shall not be treated as tax." Yes, it really says that. * Page 239: Bill will reduce physician services for Medicaid. Seniors and the poor are the most affected." * Page 241: Doctors: no matter what specialty you have, you'll all be paid the same (thanks, AMA!) * Page 253: Government sets value of doctors' time, their professional judgment, etc. * Page 265: Government mandates and controls productivity for private healthcare industries. * Page 268: Government regulates rental and purchase of power-driven wheelchairs. * Page 272: Cancer patients: welcome to the wonderful world of rationing! * Page 280: Hospitals will be penalized for what the government deems preventable re-admissions. * Page 298: Doctors: if you treat a patient during an initial admission that results in a readmission, you will be penalized by the government. * Page 317: Doctors: you are now prohibited for owning and investing in healthcare companies! * Page 318: Prohibition on hospital expansion. Hospitals cannot expand without government approval. * Page 321: Hospital expansion hinges on "community" input: in other words, yet another payoff for ACORN.. * Page 335: Government mandates establishment of outcome-based measures: i.e., rationing. * Page 341: Government has authority to disqualify Medicare Advantage Plans, HMOs, etc. * Page 354: Government will restrict enrollment of SPECIAL NEEDS individuals. * Page 379: More bureaucracy: Telehealth Advisory Committee (healthcare by phone). * Page 425: More bureaucracy: Advance Care Planning Consult: Senior Citizens, assisted suicide, euthanasia? * Page 425: Government will instruct and consult regarding living wills, durable powers of attorney, etc. Mandatory. Appears to lock in estate taxes ahead of time. * Page 425: Government provides approved list of end-of-life resources, guiding you in death. * Page 427: Government mandates program that orders end-of-life treatment; government dictates how your life ends. * Page 429: Advance Care Planning Consult will be used to dictate treatment as patient's health deteriorates. This can include an ORDER for end-of-life plans......an ORDER from the GOVERNMENT to END YOUR LIFE!!! * Page 430: Government will decide what level of treatments you may have at end-of-life. * Page 469: Community-based Home Medical Services: more payoffs for ACORN. * Page 472: Payments to Community-based organizations: more payoffs for ACORN. * Page 489: Government will cover marriage and family therapy. Government intervenes in your marriage. * Page 494: Government will cover mental health services: defining, creating and rationing those services. Again, here's the link to the actual bill as it sits:
http://waysandmeans.house.gov/media/pdf/111/AAHCA09001xml.pdf"

And I almost missed another gem on page 114 of the health care bill (Affordable Health Choices Act) - Congress is exempt from this whole health care package (just like most of the other laws they've brought up):

From World Net Daily (July 23, 2009)

"If government-run health care is such a great idea, why won't members of Congress enroll their own families?
The question has been on the minds of many Americans, but Democrats aren't giving answers. Instead, they are exempting themselves from their own health care "reform."
The Affordable Health Choices Act drafted by Sen. Edward Kennedy's staff and the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee pushes "Americans into stingy insurance plans with tight, HMO-style controls," the Wall Street Journal reports.
At the same time, Page 114 of the act specifically exempts members of Congress from the public plan.
The bill mandates that all other Americans enroll in "qualified" health plans and submit proof of enrollment to the government.
Everyone must report "the name, address, and taxpayer identification number of each individual who is covered under health insurance that is qualifying coverage" and include the "number of months during the calendar year during which each such individual was covered under such health insurance," along with "such other information as the Secretary may prescribe."
Under his plan for health "reform," President Obama has promised Americans that citizens will have the same health care options members of Congress receive. During his presidential campaign, he told an audience in Canton, Ohio, in October 2008: "If you don't have health insurance, you'll be able to get the same kind of health insurance that members of Congress give themselves."
At a news conference June 23, Obama said people will be able to choose their insurance "the same way that federal employees do, same way that members of Congress do."
According to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, "Federal employees, retirees and their survivors enjoy the widest selection of health plans in the country. You can choose from among Consumer-Driven and High Deductible plans that offer catastrophic risk protection with higher deductibles, health savings/reimbursable accounts and lower premiums, or Fee-for-Service (FFS) plans, and their Preferred Provider Organizations (PPO), or Health Maintenance Organizations (HMO) if you live (or sometimes if you work) within the area serviced by the plan."

The Time is Now!

Welcome to the World as we know it - which may not be for much longer, as the politicians continue on this path of destruction in Washington, DC....excellent note sent to me by Pam Geller, who's view is very similar to mine - we need to stand up now, or kneel forever!

"Who is Pam Geller ....... http://lifeboat.com/ex/bios.pamela.atlas.geller.oshry

I am a student of history. Professionally, I have written 15 books in six languages, and have studied history all my life. I think there is something monumentally large afoot, and I do not believe it is just a banking crisis, or a mortgage crisis, or a credit crisis. Yes, these exist but they are merely single facets on a very large gemstone that is only now coming into a sharper focus. Something of historic proportions is happening. I can sense it because I know how it feels, smells, what it looks like, and how people react to it. Yes, a perfect storm may be brewing, but there is something happening within our country that has been evolving for about 10 - 15 years. The pace has dramatically quickened in the past two. We demanded and then codified into law the requirement that our banks make massive loans to people whom we knew could never pay back? Why? We learned recently that the Federal Reserve, which has little or no real oversight by anyone, has "loaned" two trillion dollars (that is $2,000,000,000,000) over the past few months, but will not tell us to whom or why or disclose the terms. That is our money. Yours and mine. And that is three times the $700B we all argued about so strenuously just this past September. Who has this money? Why do they have it? Why are the terms unavailable to us? Who asked for it? Who authorized it? I thought this was a government of "We the People," who loaned our powers to our elected leaders. Apparently not. We have spent two or more decades intentionally de-industrializing our economy. Why? We have intentionally dumbed down our schools, ignored our history, and no longer teach our founding documents, why we are exceptional, and why we are worth preserving. Students by and large cannot write, think critically, read, or articulate. Parents are not revolting, teachers are not picketing, school boards continue to back mediocrity. Why? We have now established the precedent of protesting every close election (now violently in California over a proposition that is so controversial that it wants marriage to remain between one man and one woman. Did you ever think such a thing possible just a decade ago?). We have corrupted our sacred political process by allowing unelected judges to write laws that radically change our way of life, and then mainstream Marxist groups like ACORN and others to turn our voting system into a banana republic. To what purpose? Now our mortgage industry is collapsing, housing prices are in free fall, major industries are failing, our banking system is on the verge of collapse, Social Security is nearly bankrupt, as is Medicare and our entire government. Our education system is worse than a joke (I teach college and know precisely what I am talking about.) The list is staggering in its length, breadth, and depth. It is potentially 1929 x 10. And we are at war with an enemy we cannot name for fear of offending people of the same religion who cannot wait to slit the throats of your children if they have the opportunity to do so. And now we have elected a man no one knows anything about, who has never run so much as a Dairy Queen, let alone a town as big as Wasilla , Alaska . All of his associations and alliances are with real radicals in their chosen fields of employment, and everything we learn about him, drip by drip, is unsettling if not downright scary (Surely you have heard him speak about his idea to create and fund a mandatory civilian defense force stronger than our military for use inside our borders? No? Oh, of course. The media would never play that for you over and over and then demand he answer it. Sarah Palin's pregnant daughter and $150,000 wardrobe is more important...) Mr. Obama's winning platform can be boiled down to one word: Change...radical change. Why? I have never been so afraid for my country and for my children as I am now. This man campaigned on bringing people together, something he has never, ever done in his professional life. In my assessment, Obama will divide us along philosophical lines, push us apart, and then try to realign the pieces into a new and different power structure. Change is indeed coming. And when it comes, you will never see the same nation again. And that is only the beginning. I thought I would never be able to experience what the ordinary, moral German felt in the mid-1930s. In those times, the savior was a former smooth-talking rabble-rouser from the streets, about whom the average German knew next to nothing. What they did know was that he was associated with groups that shouted, shoved, and pushed around people with whom they disagreed; he edged his way onto the political stage through great oratory and promises. Economic times were tough, people were losing jobs, and he was a great speaker. And he smiled and waved a lot. And people, even newspapers, were afraid to speak out for fear that his "brown shirts" would bully them into submission. And then he was duly elected to office, with a full-throttled economic crisis at hand [the Great Depression]. Slowly but surely he seized the controls of government power, department by department, person by person, bureaucracy by bureaucracy.

The kids joined a Youth Movement in his name, where they were taught what to think. How did he get the people on his side? He did it promising jobs to the jobless, money to the moneyless, and goodies for the military-industrial complex. He did it by indoctrinating the children, advocating gun control, health care for all, better wages, better jobs, and promising to re-instill pride once again in the country, across Europe , and across the world. He did it with a compliant media - Did you know that? And he did this all in the name of justice and...change. And the people surely got what they voted for. (Look it up if you think I am exaggerating.) Read your history books. Many people objected in 1933 and were shouted down, called names, laughed at, and made fun of. When Winston Churchill pointed out the obvious in the late 1930s while seated in the House of Lords in England (he was not yet Prime Minister), he was booed into his seat and called a crazy troublemaker. He was right, though. Don't forget that Germany was the most educated, cultured country in Europe . It was full of music, art, museums, hospitals, laboratories, and universities. And in less than six years - a shorter time span than just two terms of the U. S. presidency - it was rounding up its own citizens, killing others, abrogating its laws, turning children against parents, and neighbors against neighbors. All with the best of intentions, of course. The road to Hell is paved with them. As a practical thinker, one not overly prone to emotional decisions, I have a choice: I can either believe what the objective pieces of evidence tell me (even if they make me cringe with disgust); I can believe what history is shouting to me from across the chasm of seven decades; or I can hope I am wrong, close my eyes, have another latte and ignore what is transpiring around me. Some people scoff at me; others laugh or think I am foolish, naive, or both. Perhaps I am. But I have never been afraid to look people in the eye and tell them exactly what I believe - and why I believe it. I pray I am wrong. But, I do not think I am. About the author via Google... Pamela "Atlas" Geller began her publishing career at The New York Daily News and subsequently took over operation of The New York Observer as Associate Publisher. She left The Observer after the birth of her fourth child, but remained involved in various projects including American Associates, Ben Gurion University and being Senior Vice-President Strategic Planning and Performance Evaluation at The Brandeis School . After 9/11, Atlas had the veil of oblivion violently lifted from her consciousness and immersed herself in the education and understanding of geopolitics, Islam, terror, foreign affairs and imminent threats the mainstream media and the government wouldn't cover or discuss. *************************************************************** Since many of you enjoy senior citizen status or will sometime in the not too distant future, I thought you might be interested in this information. IN GOD WE TRUST Everybody that is on this mailing list is either a senior citizen, is getting close, or knows somebody that is. Most of you know by now that the Senate version (at least) of the "stimulus" bill includes provisions for extensive rationing of health care for senior citizens. The author of this part of the bill, former senator and tax evader, Tom Daschle, was credited today by Bloomberg with the following statement. Bloomberg: "Daschle says health-care reform will not be pain free. Seniors should be more accepting of the conditions that come with age instead of treating them." If this does not sufficiently raise your ire, just remember that Senators and Congressmen have their own healthcare plan that is first dollar or very low co-pay which they are guaranteed the remainder of their lives and are not subject to this new law if it passes. Please use the power of the Internet to get this message out. Talk it up at the grassroots level. We have an election coming up in one year and nine months. We have the ability to address and reverse the dangerous direction the Obama administration and its allies have begun and in the interim, we can make our voices heard! Let's do it! If you disagree, don't do anything."

Long live liberty - it's amazing how fast it can and is being taken from us - and we've learned nothing from history!