Diversity & Inclusion in Today's Organizations

From Merriam-Webster – Diversity (noun) di·ver·si·ty | \ də-ˈvər-sə-tē: the condition of having or being composed of differing elements; variety. A range of different things. 

There has been a lot of talk in the last few years about diversity and inclusion in organizations. The point is that organizations should hire or otherwise have to join different types of people, meaning from different races, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, religion, disability, etc. In many cases, progressives/liberals have been demanding that various organizations become more diverse or suffer the consequences. “Nice organization you have here. Sure would be a shame if something happened to it.” 

I have nothing against diversity or inclusion per se, but if you look at the details of what is going on, it has nothing to do with being inclusive or diverse. It is about criticism and division. It is about the Orwellian use of words to mean one thing when their actual meanings are opposite their use. 

To prove my point, take a look at the various diversity & inclusion employee groups at three organizations; Fannie Mae, Mr. Cooper (used to be Nationstar, a mortgage company), and EXXON. 

Fannie Mae Employee Resource Groups - African Ancestry Business Leaders for Excellence, Asian ERG, Christian Salt & Light, Hispanic ERG, In-Visible Inclusion (people with disabilities), Live Openly (LGBTQ), Muslim ERG, Progressive Organizational Programs (POP), Veterans ERG, Women’s ERG, Young Professionals, INDUS ERG. 

Mr. Cooper Diversity & Inclusion resource groups - AIM (Asians in Motion), Cooper Pride (LGBTQ), Cooper Veterans & Patriots, HOLA (Hispanic Organization of Leadership & Achievement), Interfaith Coopers, NAAC (Network of African American Coopers), The Women’s Network, Diversity Champions of Longview, Denver, Chandler, and Irvine. 

Exxon Employee Resource Groups - Asian Connection for Excellence (ACE), Black Employee Success Team (BEST), Global Organization for the Advancement of Latinos (GOAL), Organization for New Employees (ONE), People for Respect, Inclusion and Diversity of Employees (PRIDE) – LGBTQ, Veteran Advocacy and Support Team (VAST), Women’s Interest Network (WIN). 

Each one of these resource groups is differentiating people by their group identity – segregating them. Each of these organizations has effectively institutionalized segregation. 

When was the last time you filled out a government form that did not ask for your race/ethnicity, etc.? In fact, these forms have become ridiculous. They ask if you are Hispanic/Latin or non-Hispanic/Latin and they ask your race. This is government sanctioned segregation if ever there was. 

In the name of inclusion and diversity, they segregate you. That is Orwellian to the nth degree. 

And the virtual signaling that goes with this is also ridiculous. “Look at us! Aren’t we wonderful for being so virtuous and filling our organization with this so many diverse people? “ 

I used to work for Fannie Mae, and at one all-hands meeting, the CEO made the statement that the company’s diversity had a positive impact on the bottom line – the company’s diversity made it more profitable. I really wanted to call out this bullshit and ask him to justify this statement with facts, but as I wanted to keep my job, I took the coward’s way out and said nothing. I do know that, while the workforce was indeed diverse, you could not always depend on co-workers to be able to do their jobs. I am sure this had an impact on the bottom line, and not a positive one. 

I say that any group of people is diverse by definition. Every person is unique. Everyone has different intelligence, abilities, talents, to say nothing about height, weight, hair color, etc. Their membership in some identity group does not make them unique. In fact, just the opposite is true. They are just one of many in whatever group in which they belong. How is that diverse? 

I understand why businesses go to the effort to espouse a diverse culture, why they spend the money to train their people in inclusion and diversity, why they hire a Director or VP or SVP of Diversity. They are trying to avoid all the trouble that will come their way if they don’t do this. It costs less in the long run to bow to the winds of the latest progressive cause du jour. 

How about hiring people based on their capabilities to do the job? You will get a diverse workforce, maybe not by the definition of the race & sexual orientation hucksters, but diverse nonetheless. And you will get a capable workforce. You can certainly hire people and train them for a job if you choose. But hiring someone just because he is black, or she is gay, and not necessarily capable of doing the job, is not the way to run a profitable business and is not fair to the person being hired. They get a job they are not capable of doing and will most likely fail as a result. Just as admitting someone to a university just because she is a woman, or he is transgender, does not assure that these people will thrive and achieve in their education. In fact, just the opposite is true. Many affirmative action enrollees fail to complete their degrees or require remedial courses to compete effectively with others. How is that equitable? 

How about really celebrating and encouraging diversity and inclusion, and offering employee resource groups for people with common interests? Why not have a fly-fishing group, or a stained-glass making group, or any of thousands of hobbies and other interests that will pull a diverse membership? 

If you have a black employee’s group, who will join? Black people. 

If you have a group for people interested in woodworking or chess or whatever, who will join? People interested in those things. People from many different identity groups. These people, from all different walks of life, will have something in common, not something dividing them. I see this as the best way to build inclusion in an organization, to build comradery, build a team. Any sports team shows this. All the team members, wherever they come from or how they look, have a common interest and a common goal. 

Which group will be truly more diverse, the group for black employees, or the chess players group? 

The Orwellian Newspeak of calling for diversity and inclusion while actually endorsing segregation and discrimination has to stop. All it does is divide people.

The Immediate Future of the Housing & Mortgage Markets – One Man’s View

I am a Loan Officer for a national mortgage bank – yes, I am one of those horrible bankers who forced people to take out mortgages they did not understand on homes they could not afford. Actually, I have been a loan officer for 5 years, so I started after those OTHER horrible bankers had done all those bad things to poor unsuspecting people.
At any rate, I get asked often if now is a good time to buy a home.
My answer? There has probably never been a better time to buy a home. Home prices are low, and interest rates are about as low as they have ever been. It is a Buyer’s market, and you can get a great deal on a home.
That said, there is a caveat or two. You have to have decent credit (decent, not great), a job, and you have to have some money (unless you are an Armed Services veteran, there are no more 100% loans), and you cannot have too much other long term debt (long term debt is car loans, other consumer loans, student loans, mortgages and credit card debt).
There can be issues with getting approved if you are self-employed or if you are new to a job or career field, but for the most part, loans are available, and not just for the people with great credit and 20% to use as a down payment.
In addition, you should be relatively secure in your employment situation. I know there is no guarantee that anyone will keep their jobs, especially these days. Buying a home is a large commitment, so if you have an unusual amount of job or financial anxiety, wait to buy until things improve. Peace of mind is a hard thing to lose.
So, given the current good market for buying, what does the future hold for the housing and mortgage market? If I knew for sure, I would be on my yacht sipping umbrella drinks and wondering what to snack on next, but I can make some informed predictions. I call these types of predictions SWAG’s (scientific wild-ass guesses).
My view of the future is predicated on the following assumptions. Until something changes dramatically, these things are and will continue to be true.

• Government spending and the associated deficits will continue to be HUGE – even if the Republicans take over Congress in the next election, it will be many months or several years before anything changes with government spending – this is not want I want, this is reality. Nothing changes quickly in DC.
  
• Taxes will rise – a lot. This is a sure thing. The tax cuts that President Bush got passed on 2001-2002 expire at the end of 2010, so taxes will go up. Add to that the new healthcare bill and other “stimulus” measures coming out of Washington, and you can expect a BIG increase in your taxes.



• The economic doldrums will continue – the decisions and spending by our federal government are exactly opposite what was/is needed to get the economy pumped up. Think I’m wrong? Check out what happened in Japan in the 90’s and see what their government did to “fix” it. They did exactly what Washington is doing, and we are going to get the same result – a decade or more of no grow, at all.

All this means that the housing and mortgage markets will be adversely affected. I expect the following:

• Interest rates will remain low for the remainder of 2010 – then go up. There is currently no upward pressure on rates – Europe has its own debt/spending issues, and many people and institutions are holding their breaths until the election. Then, depending on what happens in the Nov. election, and what course the new Congress takes, rates will rise – maybe a lot. I would not be surprised if mortgage interest rates were at or near 10% in 12-18 months. Why will they rise? The Treasury department artificially “made the market” for mortgage interest rates by buying LOTS (over $1 trillion) of mortgage-backed securities, starting in Dec of ’08. This program stopped at the end of the 1st quarter this year. Also, right now, other countries are financing our deficit spending by buying Treasury bonds – at very low rates (near 0% returns). That will NOT continue. When the countries & investors stop buying our debt, the rate of return will have to rise to get them to buy again (good old supply & demand). So, the Federal Reserve will have to raise rates to sell the bonds, and that will make rates in all other things rise as well. In addition, I think we are headed for rapid inflation, and the Fed will fight that by raising interest rates. This could happen very quickly – in a matter of weeks. I watched rates go up 2+% in a few weeks in 2005, and down 2+% at the end of 2008.


• Home Values will NOT recover – not in the next couple of years. There is not enough demand for homes to warrant an increase – except in some very specific towns & neighborhoods. People are anxious about their livelihoods and the economy and government spending, and that is not going to change until several things change 180 degrees.

All this tells me that the next year or so are not going to be perceptively better than now – and could get worse.

I hope I am wrong. I hope (and am working personally to see it happens) that there are substantial changes in Washington as a result of the November election. I hope that the new Congress will see the light and go after government spending with a blow torch, especially that horrible health care “reform”, without more tax hikes than we will have anyway (those Bush tax cuts expiring). I hope that they make major changes to entitlement spending (Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid) that get those runaway programs under control. I hope all these things, and I am working in my small way to help make them happen, but until they do, no one can assume they will. The old saying applies – “Hope for the best, plan for the worst.”

OK, mortgage rates are low and probably going up soon. Home prices are down and probably not going up anytime soon. The federal government is filled with thieves, charlatans, mountebanks, and failed lawyers (basically the same thing, huh?) , and that will probably never change.
What are you going to do? Do like I did. I own a home and have refinanced to a rate in the mid-4%. If I had some money, I would buy rental properties and/or a vacation home, but alas I do not have the funds for that. Buy a home if you can and want to; refinance your mortgage if you have not done so yet. These things will help you and will help the economy. Then, go vote for conservatives in November and force them to do as they are told.
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Reflections of a Political Neophyte

I went to my first political convention the past two days. I attended the Texas State Republican Party Convention in Dallas as a first time delegate.

For a little background, I have never been politically involved. I have tried to stay informed, keeping abreast of issues, but I never felt the need to get involved. That all changed as a result of the recent economic difficulties, the 2008 election, and the efforts of the current President and Congress to remake the United States into a socialist country.

My wife, who has been neither politically informed nor involved, and I were angered and frightened by the horrible decisions and actions coming out of Washington – TARP; the stimulus; the nationalization of AIG, GM and Chrysler; the bank bailouts; etc. We attended the Dallas Tea party rally on April 15, 2009, joined the Tea Party, attended the March in Washington last 9/12, and ramped up our reading and study on all aspects of what is going on in the country politically, economically, and culturally.

All this led us to decide that the only way to make a difference and to make our voices heard as conservatives was to get involved with the Republican Party (we are not the only ones – more on this later). We do not want the Tea Party to split the conservative vote by putting up its own candidates (thankfully, the leadership of the Tea Party agrees with us).

So we voted in the Republican primary, and attended the Denton County Republican Party convention. While at the county convention, the call went out for people who wanted to be delegates at the state convention, so we decided to try. And, basically by showing up and letting people know we were interested, we were selected to be state delegates.

Neither of us had any idea what to expect, and less of an idea of how things work. Now, after the convention, we still are not sure how some things work, but we have a much better idea, and will continue to learn more.

So, here are some of my thoughts on what I saw, what I learned, and what I expect as regards the Republican Party of Texas.

Newcomers – there are LOTS of newcomers to the Republican Party. By my wholly unscientific estimate, between 40% & 50% of the people attending the Denton County convention were new and my guess is that newcomers made up 30% to 40% of the state convention attendees. The new people my wife and I talked with all said the same thing when asked why they were there – they all are worried by the direction the country is being pushed by Washington and want to take the country back. Oh, and I think a great many long-time Republican leaders are surprised by the influx of newcomers. I have no real proof of this – just a thought based on the looks on faces when newcomers were asked to identify themselves.

Social vs. Fiscal Conservatism – it struck me that the old-line Republicans are more concerned with the social conservative issues (abortion, homosexuality & its attendant issues of gay marriage and overall gay rights, and religion and government) than with fiscal issues. The social issues were the first ones brought up by the state leadership – not the candidates, but the party leadership. While I think the social issues are important (and anyway I disagree with some of the planks in the Party platform about these issues), they have to take a back seat to the fiscal issues. The battle with the left over the social issues has been ongoing for years, with much back and forth and little change. They are not going to be settled in the near future. We have an excellent chance on the 2010 elections to make huge changes to the power structure, especially in Washington, and as long as we make sure our elected officials do as they’re told, we can start ripping the Washington bureaucracy to pieces, stop and roll-back the overblown spending, repeal that awful health care bill, and start getting the country back to its constitutional roots.

What happens at the Convention – I don’t know why I was surprised, but the convention consisted mostly of listening to politicians blather on. We heard from every elected Republican official and candidate, and they all said the same things – as they should have. Some were much better speakers than others, but we heard from them all, ad nauseam. The only “meat” was the election of the State Republican Election Committee persons (done in the Senate District caucuses) and the Party Chairman and Vice Chairman (started in the caucuses and completed – this time – with a floor vote). All the other important stuff, like determining the party platform, the rules, etc., was done beforehand by the various committees. I was surprised to learn that if you want to have any input in anything the party does, you have to start at the precinct level, and try to get on a county committee. This has to be done long before the convention. In fact, if we want to have an effect on the state party for the 2012 election, we have to start now.

The Old Boy Network appears to be alive and well – It seems that party insiders have been playing fast and loose with the money and the rules. There was talk swirling around the delegates that the party money has not been handled well. The old party chairman, Cathie Adams, had refused to open the books. And one amazing revelation was that the only cities willing to host upcoming conventions are Fort Worth and Houston. Other large Texas cities have said NO! The explanation I got from a member of the Rules committee (and I could tell he really did not want to talk to me), was that the monies the cities (and the large hotels) had provided to past conventions had been misused. For example, the large hotels around the convention site are asked by the party to provide discounts for rooms for delegates. It seems these discounts were given to a third party by party leaders, and they were sold to delegates for a lesser discount – to the profit of the third party and whoever else has their hands in that particular pie. I would really like to know a lot more about this.
There is a new Party Chairman, Steve Munisteri, who is not part of the old leadership. Hopefully, he is an honest man and will not repeat the mistakes and shenanigans of the past – we will see.

The Party Platform means little – the head of the state Party platform committee presented his report to the party on the floor and made a remarkable statement – that the platform document is used as “trash can lining” by legislators. There seems to be a large disconnect between what the party wants its elected officials to do, and what they actually do. They tend to ignore the platform and do whatever they want – ad we keep electing them. If this is the case, why bother with a platform? This is another area where the new Party leadership has to make changes.

Immigration – although there was little to no talk about it at the convention, the party platform make a big deal of immigration. I cannot disagree. If the federal government will not get control of the border, and they have done very little in this regard, the states will have to. The left has and will continue to label any action a state makes to control illegal immigration on and within its borders as racist, and they will continue to use emotional race-baiting arguments to inflame the Hispanic population. So be it. We still have to do the right things, close the border, quit giving illegals free stuff, and deport every illegal immigrant as they are identified – a bus to the border each day would work well.

Final quick thoughts:

• The convention was a great experience – our system at work.


• The convention was pretty well organized – no major snafus of which I was aware


• The convention chairperson didn’t seem to know what she was doing – neither did the convention secretary. They both seemed confused and lost at times, and didn’t seem to understand parliamentary procedure.


• Floor votes need to be explained clearly, there were a couple of votes that were not well understood by the rank & file.


• The new Vice Chairman of the party has a really hard time uttering a coherent sentence.


• The first day of the convention, at least the general session, was a waste of time.


• The platform and the rules changes need to be communicated to the delegates much earlier than they were. We got them at the start of the second general session, and had to read and digest them while on the convention floor with music blaring, politicians speechifying, and delegates talking to each other, then vote to accept them with little time for debate.

Overall, it was an eye-opening and education experience. I encourage everyone to get involved, no matter the party. The only real way to make a difference in the political like of this country is to get involved. I intend to continue working in the Republican Party, and I intend to make my voice heard.

Obama Announces New Jobs Initiative

Washington, D.C. - In an unprecedented move, the Obama Administration today announced a unique initiative guaranteed to solve all the economic woes plaguing the country. Press Secretary Robert Gibbs stated: “Uh, uh, uh, this initiative will, uh, hmm, put people back to work across the uh, uh, country.”
In a press conference while on his third trip this week to sell his initiative du jour, President Obama outlined the plan, "I know that these are the toughest economic times I have ever seen.”
Details of the plan were made available to the media in a 53,214 page policy paper, which the President insists will be implemented this year "or sooner." He continued, “I will work with laser-like focus on this plan, as soon as I am done with immigration reform, an energy plan, and financial regulatory reform. But, first, I have to get this oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico contained by stopping all energy exploration in the U.S, and asking our allies to do the same." The plan includes:

• A provision making it mandatory that every person living in the US, citizen or not, to hold a garage sale in the summer months of 2010, with all proceeds going to the Treasury Department for disbursal to “whichever shovel-ready project really needs it.” The garage sales will be mandatory each year, or "when we determine that citizens have too much stuff."
• A provision making it mandatory for each citizen and organization, except for “exempted organizations and individuals,” to hold quarterly bake sales, with all proceeds again going directly to the Treasury. Spokesperson Gibbs said, "undocumented citizens, er, uh, immigrants, will be exempt from this new law." Each quadrant of the country will be assigned a type of baked good to be produced and sold. Gibbs continued, "Uh, hm, uh, we do not yet know what area will be uh, uh, baking which goodies, except for New England, which will bake only, hm, uh, fruit cakes."
• Changes to the tax laws letting the Obama administration determine the definition of "rich" to be anything they want it to be, and be able to change that definition at their discretion. Anyone defined as rich will have their taxes raised to 99% of all income. No deductions, and no exemptions except for members of the House and Senate, and members of the Obama Administration – who will be exempt from all taxes and all new laws passed in perpetuity. An additional change will define as poor all people not defined as rich, and require that they pay no taxes for anything – federal, state or local – ever.
• Changes to mortgage lending laws making all people defined as poor eligible for a mortgage not to exceed $1,000,000. These people will be required to each pick one person defined as rich to pay the mortgages for them. New debtor prisons will be created to house those rich people who fall more than 30 days behind on their assigned payments on mortgages for poor people.
• The creation of a new agency, the Housing, Banking, Baked Goods and Garage Sale Agency (HOBOSA). The secretary of this new agency will be added to the cabinet. Michelle Obama is rumored to be the pick. President Obama said, "Michelle is uniquely qualified for this new post, as she had a highly paid patronage job in Chicago, and she makes really good chocolate chip cookies."

More details will be available as soon as those in the media who can read complete the perusal of the new policy tome.
President Obama summed up his approach to solving the economic malaise, "This initiative is necessary because of all the problems caused by the last administration. We are basically going to take all the money there is and give it to those we define as terribly needy because they need it, they asked really, really nicely, and because it is the best way we can find to spread the wealth. Not only will we take all the money there is now, but all the money there ever will be." Several reporters in attendance swooned at his statement, and others reported feeling weak in the knees.
Ex-President Bush, who has been responsible for everything bad that has happened in the world since the beginning of time, when asked his feelings about Obama’s plan, stated, "Frankly, I am back in Texas and Texas is good to go."
In a related story, the US Mints around the country all reported overheating problems with their printing presses. Said one press operator, "We been runnin’ these things ‘round the clock lately, and they tend to heat up, especially when we print so many of these here hundred dollar bills."

Whatever happened to personal responsibility>

Whatever happened to personal responsibility?

I hear this refrain quite often. I see and hear too often people in this country who will not accept responsibility for anything – not their activities, not their jobs, not even their lives. They want everything given to them, grades in school, government hand-outs, pay for jobs NOT done, etc. And many people are willing to lie, cheat and steal to get these “free” things.

Many people take direction from those who lead them and surround them; children learn from their parents & siblings, students from their teachers and classmates, employees from their bosses and other employees, citizens from their neighbors and elected officials, so if their role models & peers do not take responsibility, why should they?

I read this week that 47% of US households will pay no taxes for 2009. Either their incomes were too low, or they qualified for enough credits, deductions and exemptions to eliminate their liability. In fact, the bottom 40 percent of households by income, on average, make a profit from the federal income tax, meaning they get more money in tax credits than they would otherwise owe in taxes. For those people, the government sends them a payment.

This is responsible behavior? You could make the argument that these people did nothing wrong, that they are just in a position to take advantage of a system that they did not create, but that everyone must live with. I can see the logic of this argument, but I disagree with the basic premise.

Our federal government set up this system, and the question is “Why?” I argue that they did it to buy votes – plain and simple. Politicians overriding objective is to keep their offices. It is better for them to do everything in their power to buy votes, and what better way to buy votes than give the citizens money?

Personal responsibility by elected officials to do the right thing for the country? Please. Personal responsibility by citizens to NOT take the money? Are you nuts? Its FREE!

Now, I don’t expect citizens to NOT file a tax return or NOT accept a lawful payment from the government. I realize this is asking too much. We do have to play by the rules, even when the game is fixed. Let’s fix the rules and un-fix the game.
I heard a definition of character that I really like: Character is what you do when no one is watching. Think about that for a minute. It comes down to morality and conscience.

I realize that in today’s liberal world, morality is relative, and judging others is wrong. Well, that type of thinking is wrong, and that is my judgement. There are things that are inherently wrong, and no amount of rationalization and dissembling will change that.

Now, I know from personal experience that not everyone is out just for themselves, and that people still do a “day’s work for a day’s pay,” that many if not most people do take responsibility for their own actions. But, the predominant message we get – especially younger people and people of lesser economic status – from the media and government - is that you should get something for nothing, and the government will take care you; that you will not have to accept personal responsibility for anything.

This is wrong, wrong, a thousand times wrong! If no one takes responsibility, then nothing gets done, and there will be nothing for the government to hand out.

Responsibility has a flip side – it’s called freedom.

One of my favorite web sites is www.pjtv.com. This site has conservative content, both written and video, and one of its best recurring videos is “Afterburner”, hosted by Bill Whittle. His latest edition of this series is about the death of freedom in the US. He speaks of a growing, dangerous phenomenon in the US – people wanting to “escape from freedom, escape from responsibilities.” Mr. Whittle is talking about people in the US who do not want to make their own decisions, who want someone else to be responsible, and who seem willing to allow the government to assume their responsibilities. What these people do not seem to realize is that by giving up responsibility, they are giving up freedom. They would never agree that this is the case, but by abdicating personal responsibility, you give up freedom – the freedom to decide for yourself how you will live your life.

Freedom is not a buffet where you can pick the things you like and ignore the rest. Freedom comes as a package deal – you either take it as it comes, or you are NOT FREE, you must answer to whoever you gave your freedoms. That is called tyranny.

There was a widespread saying in the Soviet Union towards the end if its time: “They pretend to pay us, so we pretend to work.” Is this the way YOU want to live?

If we keep up the direction we are going, you may be making that statement too soon. Be different, take responsibility for your own life, speak your mind, take stand, accept the consequences for your action or inaction, BE FREE!

Pay to Breathe?!

In addition to all the other egregious assaults on American freedoms in the recently passed health care “reform” legislation, the most egregious is the Health care mandate that will take effect in 2014.

This provision of this awful bill – forcing all Americans to buy health care insurance or be fined/jailed – is in effect a tax on breathing.

Think that could not possibly be true? Think again. As stated in Chapter 48, Section 5000A of HR Bill 3590:
“An applicable individual shall for each month beginning after 2013 ensure that the individual, and any dependent of the individual who is an applicable individual, is covered under minimum essential coverage for such month.”

The next several paragraphs, sections, etc., of the new law lay out the penalties for failing to get “minimum essential coverage” – a complicated description of fines based on your income and number of dependents, among other things.

By the way – this bill is incredibly difficult to read – you have to go back and forth between sections, and have other bills and IRS Codes, etc., available to really discern what is in the thing. You don’t suppose they do this on purpose to confuse and frustrate regular citizens trying to decipher the law, do you? Nah, they wouldn’t do that.

Cutting to the chase – this section of the law states that if you are breathing in America in 2014, you will have to pay – either buy health insurance or pay fines. In other words, a tax on breathing.

But Wait! There’s More!

You will not have to comply with this mandate to have health coverage if you are in a protected class as defined in the same section:

• Religious Exemptions -
  * “Religious Conscience Exemption” – if you are a member of a “recognized religious sect
  or division thereof described in section 1402(g)(1)”. In the copy of the bill I downloaded, there is NO section 1402(g)(1) – that section stops at (f) – very curious. I don’t know exactly which religious sects this includes, but I know Christian Scientists and the Amish do not make use of modern medical care. I am sure there are others.
  * "Health Care Ministries” – I understand this to be people in a common religious sect
  who share medical expenses.
• Individuals who are not lawfully present – so if you are not in this country legally, you are not required to have health insurance or be fined for not having it. Illegal immigrants can breathe and get their health care for free! Yea!
• Incarcerated Individuals – if you are in jail, you get your health care for free
• Individuals Who Cannot Afford Coverage - If your required contribution to your coverage
  exceeds 8% of your household income, you are exempt. Or, if your income puts you at or below the official poverty level. They use the phrase “Taxpayers with income under 100 percent of the poverty line” – which is ridiculous, because nobody at that level of income pays any taxes, so how can they be a tax payer? Or if you are a member of an “Indian Tribe.”

Oh, and member of the US Congress and their staffs will be exempt too. Of course, they know best for you and me, but they do not have to follow their own rules.

So, assuming the Law of Unintended Consequences (a corollary of Murphy’s Law) is working – and it ALWAYS is with ANYTHING Congress does – there will be plenty of loopholes for people to use, especially if you are a crony of a Democrat Congressman.

How is Congress justifying this infringement into our lives and health? The commerce clause of the US Constitution of course.

The clause; Article I, Section 8, Clause 3, of our Constitution states; (The Congress shall have Power) to regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes.

In the bill, there is this:
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress makes the following findings:
(1) IN GENERAL.—The individual responsibility requirement provided for in this section (in this subsection referred to as the ‘‘requirement’’) is commercial and economic in nature, and substantially affects interstate commerce, as a result of the effects described in paragraph (2).
(2) EFFECTS ON THE NATIONAL ECONOMY AND INTERSTATE COMMERCE.—The effects described in this paragraph are the following:
(A) The requirement regulates activity that is commercial and economic in nature: economic and financial decisions about how and when health care is paid for, and when health insurance is purchased.
So, Congress in its infinite wisdom, found that Americans NOT buying something – in this case health insurance – is “commercial and economic in nature and substantially affects interstate commerce”.

Huh? A non-existent “activity” is “commercial and economic in nature.” How can something that DOES NOT EXIST be commercial and economic? It is a non-event.

This is the same thing as saying that every time you decide NOT to buy something – say a new DVD or dinner out, or a new car, or ANYTHING, you are engaging in commercial and economic activity, and the Congress can REQUIRE you to buy it. Somehow, your decision to not buy health insurance is now defined as commerce “among the several states”.

Any third grader can tell you that not doing something is NOTHING – IT DOES NOT EXIST.

This is such a convoluted piece of logic that it defies explanation. The US government can now FORCE you to spend YOUR money on something you may decide you do NOT want, and justify it as “constitutional.”

The people who foisted this HUGE piece of crap on us HAVE TO LEARN that this will not stand. November is coming, and they will see then that the American people WILL be listened to and WILL be obeyed by their elected representatives – or we will get new representatives.

How I View the Tea Parties

I haven’t ranted on here in a while – there are other outlets for my anger.
But with all that is being written about the people who are part of the Tea Party movement, it is time to get a good rant on.
My wife and I are Tea Partiers. We went to the Dallas Tea Party rally last April 15th (2009), marched in Washington DC last 9/12, and have continued to be involved. We have also recently joined the Republican Party (we see this as the best way to see that what we want to happen in DC actually happens, and to work within the system to make changes.
Why have we gotten involved? We were never really political. I was reasonably well-informed about political matters through my reading and listening (several on-line newspapers everyday & the Dallas Morning News hardcopy, various news reports on the radio, etc.). I gave up on the network news several years ago after it became clear that they had a liberal agenda and colored their reporting to satisfy that agenda. My wife was not political and not that well informed. Her political awakening came with my comments over the years, and with what she witnessed during and since the last election.
In case you are not clear, we are conservative – fiscally conservative, not socially conservative. Neither of us sees an issue with same sex marriage –let the states decide. If a state wants to recognize a marriage, OK, but let the voters decide. And it is up to each church to decide if they will sanctify such unions. Abortion is also something that should be decided at the state level.
We think that the most important issue facing the U.S. today is the federal government and how it taking over as much of our lives as it can. This has to stop, the spending has to be reduced – a LOT - and the encroachment has to be rolled back greatly.
About my anger. I hear what is said about us Tea Partiers; angry right-wing white men with guns & Bibles; racists, and homophobes. I look at myself and my wife to see if any of that is true.
I am angry, make no doubt about that. I am very angry. I am angry at the undermining of the US Constitution by people who think they are better at deciding how I should live my life than I am. I am angry at the people who think a government handout is their right, and for whom personal responsibility is a joke. I am angry at the federal government overreach in just about every aspect of our lives today.
I am also white, and have guns and Bibles in my home. That makes four checkmarks against me so far. I am white by birth, I had nothing to do with it and no choice in how it happened. I like guns and like to shoot, and having a gun is actually my right under the Constitution, unlike some other things many people want a “rights.”
Right-wing? I am a fiscally conservative American who thinks our Government – local, state and federal, but mostly FEDERAL – should live within its means. That means a balanced budget. And that they stop encroaching on free enterprise and free markets. If that makes me a right-winger, then so be it, and that is a fifth checkmark against me.
Racist and homophobe? Nope, not me. These adjectives revolve around hate. I do not hate anyone – I just don’t like the direction this country is going and I want to get back to the basics on the US Constitution, have people take responsibility for their own lives and not look to government for answers – the answers they get are ruining this country
So, 5 out of 7 you can say are true. Does that make me some sort of domestic terrorist? Of course not. It makes me like millions of other Americans who have reached the limit of our patience and are now demanding that things change.
We will change things – at the ballot box. We will vote in conservatives and then we will make them cut the bloat in Washington, cut it to the bone. And if they are not willing to get this done, we will vote in more conservatives until we have people in place who will do the right thing.
We know this will not be a quick victory – it will take years and many elections, but this is the start.
Yes, the Tea Parties are loose groups of like-minded Americans. We will not create a third party – Perot showed that is a bad idea – and we will probably not all endorse or vote for the same candidates. But the candidates better listen to what we are saying and abide by our wishes.
We will not be marginalized by the media – they seem to be doing a good job of marginalizing themselves. They can ridicule us as much as they wish, all this accomplishes is to make us more determined to succeed.