Free Health Care ? Boiling it down.

With all the debate of late I have heard statements like why shouldn't we have free health care like Canada or England etc. Now these comments come from supposedly educated people who should be able to think for themselves. Do the doctors in these countries work for free? do they get medicine donated by the drug companies ? do they build hospitals for free ? do workers

donate their time to keep these medical facilities operating? The obvious answer is no, somebody has to pay for it so the short answer is there is no such thing as 'free healthcare' anywhere in the world. The next reasonable question should be then where does the money come from? In the case of public health care (AKA socialized medicine) the money comes from the government. So where does the government get the money from? They get it from us, the taxpayers and in the case of England (and other countries as well) the top effective tax rate (if you total them up) is over 50% now I know some of this goes to other government functions but that is double what we currently pay here in the United States which begs the question how good an insurance policy could you have if you were willing to spend 25% of your income on it. But (some of you are saying) I don't make a lot of money so the rich people will pay for my insurance. Now aside from the fact I don't believe anyone should owe you health care no more than they should owe you a car or food or anything else lets just supposed that is fine with me, lets boil that down.

If Walmart (I pick on them because a lot of low income people shop there) has to pay more taxes in the form of payroll and corporate taxes and shipping costs (due to higher tax rates of their employees) do you really think they are going to eat it, no if their operating costs go up 25% then the price of goods in the store goes up 25% Walmart can't, or won't borrow money to cover the difference if they did they would be hopelessly in debt and eventually go bankrupt (also see our government)  so there goes your theory of the rich paying for your health care, I call it trickle down poverty.

I will also let you in on a dirty little secret nobody in this country, I repeat NOBODY is without health care, there may be millions who have no insurance but by law everyone who shows up at an emergency room has to be treated. Now I admit the system we had prior to zero-bama was not perfect but in my opinion it was one of the best in the world, why else did people with means travel from all over the world to come here for life saving treatment? So in closing don't insult my good friends in Canada or any other country by telling me, or them, they have free health care, they pay good money for it.

Missing the point

A lot of people seem to be missing the point with this so called government shutdown especially in regard to National Parks and National Monuments.
Who is the government? It is not 0bama or the Senate or the Congress or the cops or the FBI or military it is 'we the people' all these others are our employees, they work (or don't work) for us.
Blocking off a wide open park is grandstanding pure and simple, maybe next they can block off all federal interstate highways, which they won't do but it proves my point exactly. The white house is picking and choosing which things to fund and stay 'open' to further a political agenda. Disabled vets are low on the totem pole.  I wonder if our enemies overseas are still getting their foreign aid ?

Real hero's of the week

Miriam Carey

Amidst all the hype over the government shutdown we have some poor woman (Miriam Carey) suffering from postpartum depression driving in DC and apparently being confused over the new barricades which by the way I don't know how they afforded to erect if there was no funds (but that is beside the point) anyway she drives around in circles before she runs over a police car, the cops are chasing her around in circles and waving their arms trying to get her attention. Meantime the police are struggling to draw their weapons which takes them over 30 seconds to do so and shoot her dead but at least they spared the life of her 3 year old in the back seat. In the hours that passed we had politicians and the police chief praising them for being hero's and saving the city.
At least we have one less dangerous terrorist running the streets. I just hope the cop that killed her was not white as I would hate to see a replay of the Trayvon Martin trial.
Anyway if you missed the coverage here is a new 16 second video which just surfaced which sheds some light on the whole event.

 

Good Advice

When I was a young person my grandfather used to tell me, "If you believe nothing you hear and only half of what you see you will get along just fine" I have thought about that many times over the years and especially the last few days with all the government shutdown coverage,  DC woman gunned down with toddler in back seat, Navy yard shooting, 0bama blaming everything on the Republicans and the Tea Party, The news media having no clue or just regurgitating the White House views. It is enough to make your head spin. As I was flipping

around the stations last night trying to get some information and getting more and more frustrated with the whole situation I ran across a Pro Wrestling show, talk about refreshing, FINALLY something to watch that is more believable than anything else on TV
I never thought I would see the day that pro wrestling would have more credibility than most of the so called news services. It without a doubt has more credibility than anyone in the current White house.

How stupid people think.

I was watching the local news for a few minuets the other night and they were interviewing a woman
who had tried to visit some federal building only to find it closed due to the shutdown. This woman who was without a doubt a democrat was crying, tears in her eyes and she said "I had heard about it on the news but I didn't actually think people would not be at work, how can we
live our lives if the government is shut down ?"
This mentality is so wrong on so many levels I don't know where to start but that my good friends is how stupid people think and why we are in the mess we are.
Don't be fooled though, the government is not totally shut down, the enforcement departments are operating in full force because they don't want you to taste real freedom in case it becomes addicting.

You know what I really want to see ?

Yesterday (for a short while) the federal government shut down the national parks because of the federal budget. Now I don't really understand why the park service would barricade off national memorials and monuments which are normally wide open parks with no fences except to make a political statement however they did so yesterday.
WWII vets from around the country had traveled to DC to visit the WWII memorial and consequently found it barricaded off.
Which lead me to think, I would dearly have loved to seen those hundreds of WWII vets tear down the barricades and storm the monument much like they did the beaches on D-Day  and defy the park police. I would love to see one of the vets on a bull horn announcing to the police and the media that this monument does not belong to the government but to them and they have no authority to block it off. I would have loved to have seen jack-booted thug riot police arresting hundreds of vets on crutches and wheelchairs in front of the news media and then some government official on TV explaining why these vets who bled and sacrificed so much for their country were being treated this way. I would loved to see the PR nightmare this would be for the 0bama tribe.
This also begs the question, why have we let the government come to control us so much, why do we think we need permission from government to access a public park which belongs to 'we the people'
Is it strange to anybody else that if the national park department was unfunded and shut down then who barricaded them off.  Did employees come in on their own and volunteer their time to do it ? or did 0bama order police (if you look closely at the tape on the barricades it says "police line, do not cross") to block them off to show the public he was the supreme ruler ?
Oh well what you gonna do, this is what everyone wants, a nanny state.

New FY, 0bama Care

This is a new fiscal year and part of the issue is the implementation of obama care.
I always try and look on the bright side and I think this will actually save me a lot of money.

I get all my medical care through the VA however my wife has a very high health insurance bill, but the deal now is insurance companies can't deny coverage on preexisting  conditions so I'm figuring just drop insurance till she gets sick, I am sure rates will double or triple overnight but if you go for years without having to pay premiums what a deal and even if you go to the doctor for the flu and pay out of pocket maybe $200 it's still cheaper than one month premium.
I am also sure it will wreak havoc on the whole health care industry if everyone did this but they have been wreaking havoc on my finances for a long time so turnabout is fair play.
And you know the bottom line, I'm not going to worry over it. The government has been screwing us over for a long time and not caring how we feel about it so it's about time we did what's best for us and not worrying how they feel about it.
Maybe we can get the government to drop preexisting requirements on car insurance companies, that would really save me a lot of money, I could just get insurance when I had a wreck........I like that idea.

Gun Dealing

I mentioned a few days ago I was long over due to go over and aggravate my good friend Stephen, as many of you know he is always wheeling and dealing in firearms he comes across, well yesterday was my turn.
As I walked in the door I noticed he was preoccupied with another customer and as I glanced around I noticed he had a note tacked on the wall for some guns he had for sale, 2 in particular caught my attention, one a British made 30-06 and a Remington 7mm 08 both of which were bolt action rifles.
I did some quick math in my head and the total price for both was just under $700 which on the surface is not a bad deal but a little high for me considering I know how he operates and I figured he had about $100 in each gun.
After some casual greetings I wandered in the back and drained the last cup of coffee from the pot and pulled up a chair and cooled my heels.
After the last remaining customer left we talked about the events of the last few weeks and finally I mentioned the rifles, "make me an offer" he said, I didn't answer but remained silent. When I did speak it was about the availability of ammo and other general gun related issues.

After a while Stephen walked around and pulled the two rifles out of a cabinet and leaned them against the wall next to me, "take 'em with you he said, make me an offer" I did not speak but instead picked up one and then the other inspecting them closely. The older gun was a BSA, imported from England in the 50's and is a fine made, smooth operating 30-06. The other is like new condition (I could not tell it had been fired) stainless Remington in 7mm 08
I mentioned I did not need any more guns but he seemed determined to make a sale.
As I stood up to leave I threw out a number " I'll give you $300 for both"..............He hesitated a second, "load 'em up" is all he said. (trust me folks, he still made money)

Review update, Grizzly Target.

A few months ago I did a review on a new target from Grizzly Targets,  I took the target to the range and let our band of misfits try it out. I performed as expected with no damage.
Things have been pretty hectic lately but I want to do a follow up on the target. We have had it to the range a couple more times.
These targets are made of AR500 steel and hold up extremely well against all we have thrown at them.





On the last trip to the range one of the guys was sighting in a 300 Win Mag rifle with hot hand loaded ammo. The target had been set out at 25 yards for pistol work and I invited the shooter it put a couple rounds into the target which he did. After close inspection it revealed a slight dimple but no real damage and due to the way the target hangs the bullets were deflected into the ground just a few feet behind the target.
On this same day I had also shot the target with a few rounds of 7.62 X 54R with absolutely no sign of damage



Shown here is the target after being hit with the 300 Win Mag, I see no reason for a person to want to shoot this target with this kind of fire power at this close range but it goes to prove it can handle it with no damage and even more importantly it does it safely meaning ricochets were not an issue.  
In the past I have spent a lot of time and money building targets only to have them destroyed under normal conditions so it is nice to have something that will last and the money I save can be used on better things like ahhh......more ammo for example.

No Rest

This week has been a bear, I spent all day roofing a carport and the heat has me all cramped up. I just wish we had some cooler weather.
If I had any free time I would go over and aggravate Stephen, he is well overdue a visit. Anyway hopefully things will settle down in a day or so and I can post more.

Shooting, why am I not supprised ?

I guess everyone has heard about the nut case that went postal at the Washington Navy Yard.

As details came out it appears this idiot was kicked out of the service for mental problems as well as having a gun violation in Texas so the obvious question is how did he get a security clearance to work at the Navy Yard.
At first this puzzled me but then I got to thinking, what can we expect when we have someone in the White House who could NEVER pass a security clearance, all the standards have to be relaxed.
I expected in a day or so 0bama will come out and say if he had a son he would be like the shooter.

Maybe there is hope

By all accounts the 2 million motorcycle ride did not reach the 2 million goal but it was still hundreds of thousands and the million monkey Muslim march had a total of 25 so maybe there is hope for the country. Another bright note is the motorcycle ride snarled traffic for hours in and around DC but it seems most of the people stuck in the traffic jambs were happy to get out of their cars and wave or toot their horn in support of the riders.




This picture tells a lot, notice the flag on the cranes on the overpass (you can bet they had no permit for that) Also notice all the people on the overpass and standing on the right side of the road. There are cars stopped on the opposite side at the ramp as well. Many police and troopers helped block traffic for the riders even though they had no permit.
This is a stark contrast to the 25 or so the MMM. You can also bet this scene was played out many time around the city yesterday.
One quote I read was classic it said it was fitting that the Muslims were surrounded by hundreds of thousands of Hogs (Hog being a slang for Harley Davidson Motorcycles)

9-11, Free men don't ask permission.

Two million bikers head toward DC. There was concern from the organizers about not getting a permit and that had me puzzled, when did free men start asking permission from government to protest or parade or picket ? Free men don't ask permission. 

Do you think the Patriots in 1773 asked for a permit for the Boston Tea Party ?
Thankfully the sponsors came to their senses and decided to ride anyway. I would also hope if they had received a permit they would have burned it on the capital steps to show they were free and did not need a permit to demonstrate.
This is what is wrong with our country, too many free people thinking they need government permission exercise their constitutional rights. 
Oh by the way, I concealed carried for years before the State said I could because it is a constitutional right to keep and bear arms.

Finally home

 I arrived back home this evening, had a good trip and got to visit family, maybe I will expand later.


On another note, I have made contact with some of the nicest people through this blog.  Lotta Joy, over at Witless Relocation Program,  made contact with me via Stephen and she has offered to send me this pencil sketch she did of John Wayne (The Duke) 
Having dabbled with drawing  in the past I can tell she has real talent as faces are the hardest to draw.
Thank you so much my friend.

Still on the road.

I am still on the road for a few more days, visiting family and taking a break.

I will write more when I get back.

A long ways from Florida.
Hope you all had a good weekend.