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California’s Senate Passes Financial Disaster Single-Payer Healthcare Bill

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Any form of government sponsored or mandated healthcare system is socialism and a financial disaster. Obamacare was America’s first real national socialist program that had more to do with socialism than with affordable healthcare. It was also Barack Obama’s way of trying to disguise tax hikes after promising to not raise taxes, as Obamacare contained 20 hidden taxes that hit the elderly and chronically ill the hardest and less able to afford it.

Canada has a national healthcare system and they are running into a great many financial problems. Great Britain has a national healthcare system that is in serious financial difficulty. Many British people have found that the government healthcare program is covering less while their taxes are costing more.

Venezuela is a socialist nation with a national healthcare system. Not only is their healthcare system in serious financial difficulty, but many Venezuelans have been crossing into neighboring Colombia to get medical treatment, especially pregnant women.

This is the paradox that congressional Republicans have found themselves in. How do they replace one failing socialist healthcare system with another that they hope doesn’t fail and won’t cost the American people an arm and a leg, physically and financially?

California Democrats believe they have the solution, but their solution is not only a step closer to socialism but is an absolute financial disaster for the state and the citizens of California. It’s called a single payer healthcare system. So, what is a single-payer healthcare system?

Here are two definitions that are based on a national level, but apply the same way to the state level:

“Single-payer national health insurance, also known as ‘Medicare for all,’ is a system in which a single public or quasi-public agency organizes health care financing, but the delivery of care remains largely in private hands. Under a single-payer system, all residents of the U.S. would be covered for all medically necessary services, including doctor, hospital, preventive, long-term care, mental health, reproductive health care, dental, vision, prescription drug and medical supply costs.”

Under the single-payer legislation in Congress (H.R. 676):

  • Everyone would receive comprehensive healthcare coverage under single-payer;
  • Care would be based on need, not on ability to pay;
  • Employers would no longer be responsible for health care costs and coverage decisions;
  • Single-payer would reduce costs by 24%, saving $829 billion in the first year by cutting administrative waste and allowing negotiation of prescription drugs; and
  • Single-payer would create savings for 95% of the population. Only the top 5% would pay slightly more

California’s single-payer healthcare bill is SB 562. Why is it a financial disaster? The sponsors and supporters of the bill estimate it will cost the state about $400 billion a year. Considering the entire state budget is only $180 billion a year, it’s easy to do the math and see that it’s not financially feasible.

That math has not escaped the Republican opponents of the bill such as State Sen. Tom Berryhill who stated:

“We don’t have the money to pay for it. If we cut every single program and expense from the state budget and redirected that money to this bill, SB 562, we wouldn’t even cover half of the $400-billion price tag.”

Guess how Democrats plan on paying for SB 562? They figure they will be able to gather $200 billion being used to pay for current healthcare expenses at the state and local levels. That still leaves them about $200 billion short. Guess where that money will come from You guessed it, increased taxes.

Taxes are already pretty high in California, but they will have to more than double them in order to raise $200 billion a year. How many people can afford to pay two and a half to three times the amount of taxes they are already paying?

Many Democrats want a national single-payer healthcare plan. If you extrapolate that to a national single-payer healthcare plan, it would cost at least $3.21 TRILLION a year. The current federal budget for 2017 is only $3.65 trillion, so for a national single-payer healthcare system, the government would have to increase federal taxes across the board by at least twofold.

SB 562 was just passed by the California State Senate by a 23-14 vote. The California senate is composed of 27 Democrats and 13 Republicans. The bill now moves to the House where Democrats hold a 55 to 25 majority. Governor Jerry Brown is as liberal and gullible as any Democrat in California and would likely sign the bill if it passed the House and makes it to his desk. If so, look for the entire economy of California to collapse.

Tattoos & Raw Oysters Can Kill You!

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How many of you have a tattoo? How many of you with tattoos were warned of the dangers and health risks getting a tattoo exposed you to? Were you told that you could die as a result of getting your tattoo?

Are you contemplating getting a tattoo? If you are, be warned as there is a serious risk involved that could result in your death. It may make you think twice before you use your skin as an art display.

Yeah, I know that millions of people have tattoos and have never had any ill effects from getting them, HOWEVER, not everyone falls in that category. Consider what happened to a 31-year-old man who got a tattoo on his leg and then died a few days later.

First of all, everyone getting a tattoo should be warned to not go swimming for a period of time, generally several weeks to allow the skin to heal and seal. This is because a tattoo is made by many small punctures through the skin. Those holes in the skin can allow harmful bacteria to enter the body and many bodies of water, from oceans, lakes, rivers, ponds, streams and even swimming pools can and often do harbor dangerous bacteria.

That’s what happen to the man. Five days after getting his tattoo, he went swimming in the Gulf of Mexico. Only a few days later, he got sick and started to chill and run a fever. The skin on his leg where the tattoo had just been applied became red and inflamed. The man went to the hospital and shortly thereafter, the area of the tattoo turned from red to purple and developed large fluid filled blisters. The speed at which his condition got worse concerned doctors and led them to believe that the man had contracted a bacteria known as Vibrio vulnificus.

The doctors started immediate treatment, giving the man strong anti-biotics from the time he was admitted and they diagnosed the cause. However, despite the aggressive treatment he was given, the man developed septic shock and died. His condition was complicated by his having a chronic liver disease.

Vibrio vulnificus is a form of deadly flesh-eating bacteria. It multiplies rapidly and literally eats a person’s flesh and ultimately killing them. This particular bacteria is halophilic, meaning it requires salt water, which is why it is found in ocean water. It also requires warmer temperatures which is why it is more common in the summer than other times of the year. Not only can a person contract this deadly virus by swimming in the ocean after getting a tattoo, but it can also enter the body via any wound on the skin and by eating infected raw oysters.

In 2016, a 67-year-old man from Maryland had recently suffered a cut on his leg but decided to go swimming near his home in Ocean City. He contracted Vibrio vulnificus through the cut on his leg. In an attempt to save the man’s life, doctors amputate his leg, but the bacteria had already entered his bloodstream. He died within four days.

In June 2015, it was reported that there were already over 10 cases of Vibrio vulnificus in Florida in the early part of summer. Two of the 10 cases died. One 26-year-old man died within 2 days of swimming in the ocean. This report also stated that some of the 10 cases so far had contracted the deadly flesh-eating bacteria from eating raw oysters. It’s also possible to contract the bacteria from eating other infected raw seafood, but seems most prevalent in oysters.

Now let me ask how many of you enjoy eating raw oysters? Do you think you’ll continue to do so after reading this? Are they worth the risk?

Bottom line, avoid swimming in the ocean with any open wound or even one with a scab that is healing. Also, avoid eating raw oysters and other raw seafood.

Which of the More Common Cancers Will You Have?

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‘You have cancer’ is the phrase we all dread hearing from our doctor. Cancer is something that happens to other people, not you. However, do you know that the vast majority of Americans will hear that frightening statement from their doctor.

Knowing that, do have any idea of what the more common forms of cancer are?

To begin with there are over 200 different forms of cancer. Some are fairly rare and others are so common that you may not sleep well tonight after reading this.

In 2009, over 2 million Americans were diagnosed with just the 10 most common forms of cancer. The twelve most common types of cancer listed at the time and the number of cases diagnosed just that year per one source for 2009 were:

1- non-melanoma skin cancer – 1,000,000 cases

2- lung cancer – 219,440 cases

3- breast cancer – 194,280 cases

4- prostate cancer – 192,200 cases

5- colorectal cancer – 146,970 cases

6- bladder cancer – 71,000 cases

7- melanoma – 68,720 cases

8- non-Hodgkin lymphoma – 65,980 cases

9- kidney cancer – 49,000 cases

10- leukemia – 44,790 cases

Those were 2009 figures which tally up to 2,052,380 NEW cases of just these 10 types of cancer. In 2009, the US population was around 306,8 million people. While 2 million NEW cases of cancer may not sound that high compared to the entire nations population, consider the fact that each year there were about 2 million NEW cases, so combined with the 9 years prior to 2009, it’s safe to say that there were at least 20 million new cases of cancer diagnosed. To give you an idea of what the percentage is, put 100 people in a room and then realize that 6-7 of them will most likely be diagnosed with cancer or have already been diagnosed.

Since then, some cancers have been easier to detect and diagnose and others are just becoming more abundant. Part of the increases in some cancer rates are due to diets, lack of proper exercise, poor sleep habits, genetics and reasons unknown. Combining estimated figures from Cancer.net and the National Cancer Institute for 2017, for the same 10 common forms of cancer has risen to 4,138,970, more than double the number of cases diagnosed in just 2009. The same two sources estimate that at least 361,570 people will die this year JUST from these 10 forms of cancer. In that same room of 100 people, at least 12-14 will have been diagnosed with cancer in the past 10 years and at least 1 or 2 of them will die this year. Could it be you or someone you know?

These two sources also list four additional common types of cancer which will yield about 212,630 new cases this year and around 85,000 deaths.  Here are the 2017 estimates of new cases and death of 14 of the most common forms of cancer.

1- non-melanoma skin cancer – 3,000,000 cases – 2,000 deaths

2- lung cancer – 222,500 cases – 155,870 deaths

3- breast cancer (women) – 252,710 cases – 40,610 deaths – (male) – 2,470 cases – 460 deaths

4- prostate cancer – 161360 cases – 26,730 deaths

5- colorectal cancer – 135,430 cases – 50.260 deaths

6- bladder cancer – 79,030 cases – 16,870 deaths

7- melanoma – 87110 cases – 9,730 deaths

8- non-Hodgkin lymphoma – 72,240 cases – 20,140 deaths

9- kidney cancer – 63,990 cases – 14,400 deaths

10- leukemia – 62,130 cases – 24,500 deaths

11 – endometrial cancer – 61,380 cases – 10.920 deaths

12- liver cancer – 40,710 cases – 28,920 deaths

13- pancreatic cancer – 53,670 cases – 43,090 deaths *lowest % survival rate

14 – thyroid cancer – 57,870 cases – 2,010 deaths

Every great military leader says it’s best to know one’s enemy. The more you know about an enemy the better prepared you can be to defend against that enemy. Cancer is definitely an enemy to all of us. Not only is it a horrible and painful way to die, but it can cost tens of thousands of dollars in medical fees to try to fight and hopefully recover from.

Knowing which are the most common types of cancers and whether or not they tend to run in your family can be a huge advantage in helping you and your doctor to protect you from that enemy. Additionally, knowing more about each type of cancer and how things like diet, stress, lack of sleep and exercise can place you at more risk may also help you find a way to defend against it. In the near future, we hope to address some of these cancer forms more specifically to help you mount a strong defense.

FDA Approved Drugs May Not Be As Safe As You Think

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Most of us have experienced sticker shock when we’ve gone to a pharmacy to pick up a prescribed drug. Most people have no clue how much some of their prescriptions really cost because they have them covered by their healthcare plans. They go to the pharmacy, pay their co-pay and go on their merry way. Those that do not have healthcare coverage for prescriptions are the ones that are shocked at how much a prescription can cost. Then you have those with conditions or illnesses that require prescriptions that are not covered by their healthcare plan.

Some years ago, I worked with a man who was battling leukemia. Most of the standard treatments did not work and his doctors convinced him to try a new drug which was not covered by our healthcare plan. When he went to pick up the prescription, it cost him over $3,000 for a two week supply. Sadly, that new drug didn’t help either and he died a couple months, but not after spending tens of thousands of dollars just on prescriptions.

We’ve heard a lot on the news over the past year or two about the high cost of some important drugs and in many cases, the pharmaceutical companies justify the high cost by saying that it took millions of dollars to develop, test and get the drug approved. Not to necessarily defend the pharmaceutical companies, but it does take a lot of time and money to develop, test and then get approval from the FDA before a company can ever market their drug and try to recoup the costs. If you want to know what it takes to get FDA approval, I suggest you go the FDA website and see for yourself. It’s quite a process.

Once a drug has been tested and finally achieves FDA approval, most of us believe the drug is now safe to take for the prescribed medical condition it’s designed to treat. But that may be a dangerous misconception.

Researchers at Yale University led a research study to determine just how safe FDA approved drugs are and their findings may shock you and make you hesitate the next time your doctor writes you a prescription.

According to a report issued by Yale:

“To assess new drugs for safety and effectiveness, the FDA relies on premarket drug testing and clinical trials. Most of the trials involve fewer than 1,000 patients studied over a period of six months or less, making it difficult to detect safety issues that might be identified once more patients use the drug over a longer time period. To identify factors that might enhance patient safety and regulatory surveillance efforts, the Yale-led team analyzed data on new drugs approved between 2001 and 2010, with follow up through 2017.”

“The research team, led by associate professor of medicine and public health Dr. Joseph Ross, found that 32% of new drugs were flagged for a safety issue after approval. ‘That is very rarely a drug withdrawal, but more commonly a black box warning, or drug safety communication issued by the FDA to let physicians and patients know that new safety information has been determined,’ said Ross.”

“The researchers also identified characteristics of drugs that were more likely to be associated with a safety concern, including biologic therapies and drugs that were approved through the FDA’s accelerated approval pathway.”

The Yale study revealed that 1 in every 3 new drugs approved by the FDA had safety concerns. In addition, they found that more drugs also warranted safety concerns. The really concerning issue is that it’s rare for a drug, once approved to be un-approved and removed from the list.

Whenever my wife or I receive a new prescription, we do a little research on the drug first before we ever start taking it. It has paid off on occasion because my wife does have a reaction to some classes of drugs and have found that she could have a negative reaction to the drug. We notified the doctor who then prescribed something more tolerable to her. Don’t blindly rely on your doctor to know everything. Ultimately, you need to take some responsibility for your health and do a little research when necessary.

Are You Cursed with a Night Owl Gene Mutation?

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Are you one of those people that seem to just naturally stay up late and consequently get up late? Have you ever wondered why you may be that way?

For years, we were told that it was the way you were raised. I know with me it was. I grew up having to do chores before school, so I had to get up early in order to do chores, have breakfast, fix my lunch and get to school on time. My chores usually consisted of taking care of animals – feeding and watering them and making sure they have everything they need. As I made it to college, I preferred early classes over later classes, so again, I was up early. I spent 12 years working for a utility. During the winter, we started work at 7am and in the summer, since Arizona does not observe Daylight Savings Time, we started work at 5am and were able to head home at the peak heat of the day.

These days, I’m 65 years old and I still habitually get up early, even if I don’t have to. I always thought that since I got up early most of my life that it’s a habit that I still have.

Our two daughters, born 16 months apart are as different as night and day. As a child, our oldest daughter would disappear between 8pm and 9pm. When we went looking for her, we always found her in bed, sound asleep. Rarely did we ever have to tell her to go to bed.

On the flip side, our youngest daughter always fought going to bed and when we put her to bed, she would be awake for hours. During her school days, we often found her with a light on at midnight reading a book and we would have to tell her to turn the light off and go to bed. In the morning, she never wanted to get up. She is 39-years-old now and still cannot go to sleep early or at normal times but stays up late and doesn’t like to get up early.

As parents, we could never figure out why such a difference between the two girls. A new study may finally give us the answer we’ve sought all these years.

Researchers at the Laboratory of Genetics at The Rockefeller University just authored a study on a sleep disorder called ‘delayed sleep phase disorder’ (DSPD). People with this sleep disorder tend to do some of the best work late at night and struggle to wake up and get going in the morning.

Researchers studied 70 people from six families and found that those individuals with DSPD had a mutation on a gene known as CRY1. Members of the same families that did not exhibit the DSPD sleep disorder did not have the mutation on the CRY1 gene.

The researchers reported that this is the first time a gene mutation has been identified as a cause of DSPD. The mutation disrupts the body’s natural circadian rhythm, also known by some people as their internal clock. Our natural circadian rhythm is hardwired into our genetics and it is programmed to operate in 24-hour cycles. However at least 10% of people with DSPD operate on an internal clock that operates in a longer than a 24-hour loop.

Alina Patke, lead author of the study, commented, saying:

“Carriers of the mutation have longer days than the planet gives them, so they are essentially playing catch-up for their entire lives.”

“A person like a bartender, for example, might not experience any problem with the delayed sleep cycle. but someone like a surgeon who has to be in the OR in the early morning – that’s not compatible.”

Their discovery was first made when a 46-year-old woman came to a sleep clinic for help after years of struggling with her late sleep cycle. They placed her in an apartment for two-weeks. The apartment had no windows or connections to the outside world. No television, internet; nothing that might hint as to the time of day.

Under the study conditions, they discovered the woman’s sleep cycle operated on about a 25-hour clock instead of 24-hour. Consequently, her sleep was often fragmented, leaving her constantly feeling tired. It was after this two-week testing that the researcher sequenced her genes and discovered the CRY1 genetic mutation.

To test their theory, they then contacted the 70 family members in the 6 families in Turkey and were able to conduct genetic sequencing on them and interviewed all of them concerning their sleep habits. Of the 70 test subjects, 39 contained the CRY1 mutation and 31 did not. Those that had the mutation had a later sleep cycle than those without the mutation.

If you are one of those night owl people who seem to naturally be wide awake late at night and struggle to get up in the morning for work or school, it may be that you are cursed with the CRY1 mutation. I wonder how many employers or teachers will buy that excuse for being late when you drop it on them?

Solar Powered Synthetic Skin for Prosthetics

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One of the tragic signs of today’s decadent and perverse world is an increase in the number of people who have lost a hand, arm, foot or leg. They lose them in various industrial accidents, auto accidents, diseases, during warfare and as a result of terrorism. Roadside bombs blow off legs and arms. Terrorist bombs often accomplish the same thing. A growing number of terrorists are now using vehicles as their weapons of choice, running into crowds of people and blowing up outside crowded buildings.

Many years ago, only a fraction of these amputees would survive and those that did, went through life with their missing limb or limbs. One of my dad’s uncles was born and raised on a farm in central Illinois in the early 1900’s. In his teen years, his left arm became entangled in a piece of farm equipment, severing it just above his elbow. In those days, there really wasn’t any prosthetic arms and Uncle Rollie had to learn how to work and run a farm with only one hand and arm. It was hard but he had no choice. He even learned to hunt using only one arm to fire his shotgun. I went hunting with him several times when I was a kid and I never saw him miss a rabbit or pheasant. I always wondered what he could have accomplish had he had both arms.

After high school, one of the guys I knew in school, Bob, was drafted into the Marine Corps, sent to Vietnam and lost his right leg in a mortar attack by the enemy. The last I knew, he was still getting around on crutches and by hopping on his one leg.

A friend of ours at our home church, Ray, had injured a knee and had to have it replaced. After several unsuccessful knee replacements, he ended up having his leg amputated above the knee. After it healed, he was fitted with a prosthetic leg. While he was able to walk, play basketball, ride a bicycle and more, his prosthetic leg still had limitations.

Amputees like Uncle Rollie, Bob and Ray and the thousands of others may have a new hope in better prosthetics in the near future. Imagine an amputee today getting a prosthetic that externally feels and looks like real skin, that can feel and even power itself.

According to a new report on the work of Ravinder Dahiya, that may soon be a reality:

“For years Ravinder Dahiya has been developing thin and flexible electronics, the kind that could be used for synthetic skin, and for years the material scientist has wrestled with various obstacles. These include making sensors that are small enough and electronics that can bend enough, not to mention how such things could be powered. His team is now reporting a breakthrough in which it has integrated solar cells into a graphene-based electronic skin, raising the possibility of prosthetic limbs that are both sensitive to touch and entirely self-powered.”

‘Electrically conductive, just a single atom thick and stronger than steel, graphene has all sorts of advantages. But it hasn’t always been so cheap. Back in 2015 Dahiya, who works at the University of Glasgow’s School of Engineering, discovered a method of production that made graphene around 100 times cheaper than before. This was good news for any scientist working with graphene and its myriad applications, whether flexible displays for phones or medical patches for drug delivery. But for Dahiya, it made using the material as the basis for synthetic skin a whole lot more feasible…”

“For years, scientists have been trying to recreate the complex neural systems that enable human skin to sense touch by building pressure sensors into various materials. We have seen piezoelectric transistors incorporated into synthetic skins making them sensitive enough to read fingerprints, other approaches that use multipurpose sensors to detect temperature and humidity in addition to pressure, and others that use pressure-sensitive materials made from inorganic semiconductors to only use a small amount of power. The issue with them all is that they need to be powered.”

“For their latest project, Dahiya and his team used single-layer graphene with a transparent polymeric protective layer on top, which is also pressure sensitive and enables the skin to detect minimum pressures of 0.11 kPa. Conveniently, graphene itself happens to be highly transparent and allows 98 percent of the light that hits its surface to pass through. Dahiya’s team took advantage of this by placing a power-generating photovoltaic cell underneath, which provides it with the 20 nanowatts of power per square centimeter that the tactile skin needs to operate.”

Dahiya’s invention holds out a lot of new hope for the many wounded military returning from the Middle East, as well as victims of traffic accidents and more. It’s possible, his innovation could offer new hope for people born without an arm or leg. Imagine giving a child born without an arm or hand, the ability to not only use a prosthetic hand, but to feel what it touches.

Home Healthcare Providers Shanghaied into Socialist Run Union Without Consent

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Many decades ago, unions played an important role in getting thousands of Americans better work conditions, hours and pay. However, in the last few decades, they have helped drive the overall cost of living higher, forced thousands to join unions and pay dues even though they didn’t want to join, and they have become strong political entities pushing socialist agendas.

If you live in a state that is NOT a right-to-work state, you are forced to join a union and pay monthly dues, even if you don’t want to join. Our state is that way and if you want to get a job at local grocery store like Kroger, who only pays minimum wages and offers part time hours to start, you also have to pay union dues out of the meager earnings. For years, some of have referred to this as legal extortion and compared unions to illegal protection rackets – pay or suffer the consequences.

During the 2012 presidential campaigns, one very socialist union, the SEIU, paid protesters $11 an hour to be bussed to Mitt Romney campaign events to disrupt the event.

In 2014, the Wisconsin Education Association Council (the state’s teachers; union) spent $1.6 million of union dues money to campaign against Gov. Scott Walker during a recall election which he won.

In 2014, Adam Neuman was one of many teachers in Michigan who decided to opt out of the union after the passage of a law in 2012. He felt the union was too politically active in all the wrong areas and didn’t want his dues used for those purposes. After opting out of the union, he was shocked when he got paycheck and saw an $80 deduction from the school district. He inquired into the matter knowing that he should no longer be paying union dues and was shocked to learn that the deduction is not considered dues, but part of a program known as ‘release time’ which is a politically correct way of saying that the deduction is earmarked to pay the salary of the union officials.

In 2015, it was revealed that the National Education Association (NEA), one of the most liberal, socialist and powerful unions in America, was hosting the Read Across America initiative and guess who is taking a key role in the initiative? Yep! The GLSEN is an active participant with the goal of pushing their theme of acceptance of the LGBT perverted lifestyle and they want to reach all grade levels, even down to kindergarteners.

In 2015, the NEA again made news when it was learned that they were spending millions of dollars of union dues to help keep illegal aliens in the United States.

Now we are learning that the SEIU (Service Employees International Union) has shanghaied thousands of home healthcare providers into joining the union and paying union dues without their consent according to Forbes:

“In 2013, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) got one of its favored politicians, Minnesota governor Mark Dayton, to sign an order declaring that home healthcare providers who receive Medicaid money to care for disabled family members were government employees. But they were “employees” only because that made them eligible for unionization. The SEIU figured that it had a good shot at finagling a victory in an election, which would then lead to a nice infusion of new dues money.”

“The election, conducted under the auspices of the friendly state bureaucracy, was done entirely through mail-in ballots and under its rules, a victory required only a majority of the votes cast. When the votes were counted in 2014, 3,543 were in favor of the union and 2,306 against. There were about 27,000 home healthcare providers, so with just 13 percent of the total number, the SEIU was declared the representative of all 27,000.”

“Nearly 24,000 home caregivers had become union members without their consent or even over their dissent.”

Further investigation has discovered that some of the ballots on the union vote were mailed to vacant houses and business, leading many to believe the election results were a fraudulent attempt to enslave the thousands of healthcare workers and make them part of the SEIU.

Although it only took 3,543 questionable votes to pass the union bill, opposition has gathered over 6,000 signatures in a call for another vote, but so far that call is being denied.

America needs a national law that makes the entire country a right work nation, meaning that NO ONE will be forced to join a union and pay union dues if they don’t want to. Should not we all have that freedom?

TX Bill Will Allow Doctors to Lie, Keep Info Hidden from Pregnant Women

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For many families, learning that there will be a new addition to the family is generally an exciting time. The realization that a new human being is forming in the womb is an awesome concept and miracle of life.

In today’s world of modern medicine, most women look forward to going to their doctor to find out how their pregnancy is coming along. Is the new mom to be healthy? Is the baby healthy? Is there anything that the new mom needs to be doing or not doing? What about vitamins and supplements? Dozens of questions to ask and one would expect their medical physician to answer.

So how would you feel if you knew that your doctor doesn’t have to tell you the truth of how your unborn baby is doing? Or how would feel if you knew that your doctor could be lying to you about the miracle forming in your womb? Could you trust anything the doctor tells you?

If you live in Texas, that may soon be a concern.

The Texas Senate recently passed a bill, Senate Bill 25, that would allow your doctor to lie to you about your unborn child and prevent you from suing that doctor for not telling you the truth.

According to a recent report:

“Senate Bill 25, which will now be sent to the Texas House, prevents parents from suing their medical provider if their baby is born with disabilities, even if that doctor discovered the condition during routine prenatal testing and failed to inform the parents.”

“The architects of the so-called ‘wrongful-birth’ bill have argued it would protect children with disabilities and prevent doctors from facing unnecessary lawsuits. ‘It is unacceptable that doctors can be penalized for embracing the sanctity of life,’ Senator Brandon Creighton (R-TX) said in a press release when he introduced the legislation last fall.”

While the bill is intended to protect children with disabilities, it also raises ethical questions on being able to trust one’s doctor to tell the truth. Many doctors are pro-life and do not believe in abortion and have hidden the truth of problems from expecting parents. This bill is intended to legally protect those doctors who practice according to their beliefs. However, the bill does not protect doctors from being sued for negligent behavior and they can still face malpractice suits for that negligence.

Abortion advocates, of which I am not, argue that the bill is nothing more than a ploy to prevent a parent from having the option to abort – murder – their unborn child if he or she is discovered to have some form of disability.

Heather Busby, Executive Director at NARAL Pro-Choice Texas, told the media:

“SB 25 would allow doctors to lie to their patients.”

“[It] is another thinly veiled attempt to prevent Texans from accessing their constitutional right to abortion.”

Whether you believe in the sanctity of life or not, this bill is still unnerving as it will allow doctors to lie to patients. Even though their intentions are good and ethical, the underlying question is whether or not expectant parents, moms especially, can trust their doctors to tell them the truth?

As much as I condemn abortion because it is murdering an innocent child, I also condemn lying, for whatever reason. If you cannot trust your doctor to tell you the truth about the condition or health of your child, how can you trust he or she on any other health related matters?

Even if you did not believe in abortion, wouldn’t you want to know the truth if there was anything wrong with your developing baby? Wouldn’t you want to know so you could be prepared for any special needs a disabled child may require?

Regardless if one is pro-life or pro-choice, Texas Senate Bill 25 is a bad bill and should never be passed. It will only serve to undermine confidence in one’s doctor.

Obvious & Elusive Key to Real Healthcare Reform

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What are the principles that made America the great, powerful and prosperous nation it once was?

How prosperous are nations who have embraced the various forms of socialism? Generally, these nations have a few wealthy individuals who control and dictate all of life to the majority of the citizens and what has happened to most of them? Why did the former Soviet Union collapse from within and why did the Berlin Wall come down, leading to a unified Germany?

Why has the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, been such an utter failure?

Would you believe that all of these things are tied together? It’s called socialism and socialistic economy.

The Soviet Union collapsed because their socialist economy collapsed from within. The Berlin Wall was torn down when the socialistic economy of East Germany collapsed, leading to a unified Germany.

Obamacare failed because it’s a socialistic program to force government control over the people and health industry. Think about it, Great Britain launched their socialist national healthcare system, known as the National Health Service in 1948. For over a decade, it has been plagued with financial woes.

I have close friends in England who have shared their struggles with the National Health Service. One friend had to wait 7 months to have her extremely inflamed and painful gall bladder removed because of the NHS red tape, She and others I know in the UK have told me that as the NHS runs into more financial difficulty, the taxes to pay for it have gone up and their coverage has gone down. A growing number of common medical procedures that were once covered are no longer covered, meaning that the British people are having to pay more and more out of pocket for their medical needs.

Now, the Republicans in Congress are trying to come up with a workable replacement for Obamacare, but they have been trapped by the socialist Democrats to replace one failed socialist national healthcare system with another national socialist healthcare system that will also be destined to fail.

The simple and best solution is to look at what made America the great, powerful and prosperous nation it once was.

America was built on a free market system with healthy business competition. Generally, when a number of companies compete for the same business, it keeps the prices lower.

Once source points out:

“Health care reform is an enormous challenge because when it comes to economic policy, Republicans always have an uphill battle. Their free market solutions are harder to sell in a nation that has long had one foot in the socialism door.”

“Republicans express their belief in the free market, especially when they’re out of power and running against liberals and their failed policies, but they have a tougher time governing on conservative principles once in office. They often operate on flawed assumptions, seeking to accomplish contradictory goals and operating in an environment with two-year election cycles, which discourage making correct decisions for the long term.”

“But the GOP must recapture its belief in free market principles and muster the patience and political courage to promote them. Competition and free markets are the best avenues to economic prosperity, liberty and, in the case of health care, accessibility, affordability and quality. Yes, we must support some kind of safety net, but it ought to be designed to be short-term in as many cases as possible and should create incentives to encourage people to help themselves.”

So, what is the obvious and seemingly elusive key to real healthcare reform? The Promotion of a free market system with healthy competition between healthcare providers. If only Republicans in Congress would take the lessons of American history and use them to reform healthcare from what the socialistic Democrats forced upon on us to something that will be economically more feasible for the American people and the insurance companies.

Key Points to GOP Healthcare Plan

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The news is full of all kinds of reports on what’s in and not in the proposed GOP healthcare plan which Republicans hope will replace Obamacare. Realize that most of the reports the public are hearing or reading are coming from ultra-liberal mainstream media outlets who are bent on destroying everything done by conservatives, Republicans and the Trump administration.

The relationship between liberals (mainstream media and Democrats) and conservatives (Republicans and Christians) has been described in terms generally used in divorce cases – IRRECONCILABLE DIFFERENCES.

The American Culture & Faith Institute conducted a survey which clearly displays the deep divide between the two warring political factions in our nation. One interesting facet of the survey is that the single most important issue causing the irreconcilable differences between the two political worldviews has to do with one’s worldview of God.

In the survey, WORLDVIEW SURVEY REVEALS “IRRECONCILABLE” DIFFERENCES BETWEEN CONSERVATIVES AND LIBERALS, they asked 20 key questions. Their report states:

Drawing from a nationwide survey of adults that measured how many people have a biblical worldview, the research discovered that people who are politically conservative are more than twice as likely as those who are politically liberal to have biblical positions on the twenty belief indicators tested by ACFI. In addition, the survey found that political conservatives are about 60% more likely to hold biblical positions on those indicators than are those who qualify as politically moderate.

There were 15 belief statements among the 20 included in the survey for which conservatives were substantially more likely than liberals to hold a biblical point of view – that is, a difference between the two groups of at least 25 percentage points. Those included the following differences:

  • Saying that God is the all-powerful, all-knowing, perfect creator of the universe who still rules it today (a 43 percentage point difference between the two segments)
  • Strongly agreeing that the main purpose of life is to know, love, and serve God (40-point gap)
  • Asserting that everyone is a sinner in need of a savior, repentance and forgiveness (39-point difference)
  • Believing that the Bible is the word of God, with no errors (38-point gap)
  • Strongly disagreeing that Satan does not exist but is just a symbol of evil (36-point gap)
  • Saying that God created human beings in what is pretty much their present form, just as the Bible says (34-point difference)
  • Strongly agreeing that the Bible is totally accurate in the life principles it conveys (33-point gap)
  • Believing that God is aware of everything happening and remains actively involved in peoples’ lives (33-point difference)
  • Believing that the Bible is the most reliable source of absolute moral truth (32-point gap)
  • Believing that the most important indicator of personal success in life is one’s commitment and obedience to God (31-point difference)
  • Believing that success is best indicated by commitment and obedience to God (31-point difference)
  • Firmly asserting that their religious faith is very important to them (31-point gap)
  • Contending that there are moral absolutes that are unchanging (30-point difference)
  • Saying it is very important to be engaged in developing a deeper relationship with God (27-point difference)
  • Saying it is very important to increase their personal understanding of God’s ways, as described in the Bible (27-point gap)

As the report stated:

“The ACFI survey revealed that the link between ideology and beliefs helps explain the recent election results. ‘Election surveys have pointed out how significant people’s candidate preference in the presidential race was to their hopes for the future,’ said Barna. ‘In that light, the Worldview Measurement Project surveys demonstrate the power of worldview, even in elections. Among all adults, those with a biblical worldview were more likely to vote than were those who did not. That is because a biblical worldview informs people that participating in the direction and leadership of society is a personal duty. Further, among voters who have a biblical worldview, 68% voted for Donald Trump and 27% voted for Hillary Clinton. Their primary motivation had to do with restoring traditional moral values. Among voters who do not have a biblical worldview, Mrs. Clinton held a 47% to 44% edge. She was the preference of those without a biblical worldview primarily in the hope of adopting more postmodern values’.”

It also explains why so many liberals are up in arms over everything President Donald Trump says and does. It often has nothing to do with what he actually does or says, but has everything to do with the irreconcilable differences between the two political factions, and until something breaks this deeply divided feud, nothing will ever be accomplished without major turmoil, bickering and lawsuits.

Knowing this, then realize that at this point, many of the details of the GOP healthcare plan are known, many are not and most could be in a state of flux and subject to change. However, here are several key points to report at this early stage:

1) The insurance mandate that penalized taxpayers from not having healthcare insurance goes away.

2) Instead of federal subsidies, individuals may qualify for ‘advanceable’ tax credits to help in the purchase of healthcare insurance. The tax credit amounts will generally range from $2,000 to $4,000 a year for lower and middle income families, depending on income, family size and age. Many critics say that the replacement of subsidies with the tax credits will leave millions of lower class and elderly people without healthcare due to the costs.

3) Pre-existing medical conditions will still coverable, but like Obamacare, nothing in the new plan says the coverage for pre-existing conditions will be affordable.

4) A broader selection of different types of policies will be available, including catastrophic policies.

5) Children up to the age of 26 will be allowed to remain under their parent’s healthcare policy.

6) Although Medicaid may first expand, it will eventually be reduced.

7) Most of the hidden and not-hidden taxes invoked by the Affordable Healthcare Act will be repealed. Some of those taxes involved prescriptions, over the counter medications, medical devices, etc.

8) The coverage for the ten essential healthcare benefits outlined in Obamacare will still be required. However, after December 31, 2019, those essential benefits will no longer be required in all policies, but will still be available depending on the needs of the policy holder. How this may help is an older couple will no longer have to pay for maternity or contraceptive coverages they no longer need, now will individuals be forced to pay for state Medicaid coverage they don’t need.

9) Under Obamacare, tax-exempt health savings accounts were capped at a maximum of $3,400 for individuals and $6,750 for families. The new limits would be raised to $6,550 for individuals and $13,100 for families.

One thing to consider with all the hype thrown at Obamacare and the GOP replacement healthcare is that it really only effects less than 10% of the entire US population. One report says that only 7% of the American population purchases their own healthcare insurance. Based on the population clock kept by the US Census, the current population is approximately 324.67 million meaning that only around 22.7 million are actually affected by the biggest story in the media. If you’re one of those, then it is a big deal and you’ll want to follow along and learn as much as possible of what kind of coverage you’ll get and how much it will cost you.

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