Thank a Vet

This past weekend, I went to my family reunion and listened to a conversation my Uncle Bill and my father were having regarding waterboarding. I was going to write about how my views differ from theirs, but I'll save that for later. I want to tell you all about my dad and my Uncle Bill.

Now, my dad is one tough man. Frankly, I think John Wayne was a wuss when held up next to my old man. He's seventy-two and can still wipe the floor with mine and my brothers' butts. I've never tried taking on my Uncle Bill, but I'm pretty sure he could take me. These are the guys who fought in Vietnam and didn't come home with any problems and they didn't complain. They just did their duty and served their country proud. Uncle Bill served in the Air Force for at least twenty years and retired as an E8. My father served in the Navy for twenty years and retired as an E7 -- Pop doesn't take orders as nicely as Uncle Bill.

These are the guys who taught me to respect our servicemen and women, especially my dad. In fact, Pop taught me that if you see a man with a service hat on - you know the ones I mean, that mention they ship they served on or I'm a Veteran - you need to thank that man for your freedom and I always do. When I see men and women in uniform at the mall or in the airport or wherever I am, I try to shake their hand and thank them for their continuing service. I'm trying to teach Danny and Alex to do the samething, but they might be a little too young.

So, on this day, while most of us are off work because tomorrow is the Fourth of July, I just wanted to ask everyone of you who reads this to take the time to thank a vet. And, if you don't know one or don't see one, take a little time to think about America's Veterans. All over the world, there are men and women in the Navy, Air Force, Army, Marines and Coast Guard who won't be celebrating with barbecues and hot dogs, because they're standing watch and protecting our freedom. Please join with me and say a little prayer for them.

Lastly, I know this is a bumber sticker saying, but it doesn't mean it isn't right:

If you can read this, thank a teacher.
If you can read this in English, thank a Vet.

God Bless

Open Letter to President Obama

Dear President Obama;
I've sent comments to you on healthcare, but the box only takes 500 characters and I am much more long winded than that. Also, I haven't received any response. But, I'm not writing this to complain, but to help people take notice.
First and foremost, we shouldn't rush any of this. Theodore Roosevelt wanted national healthcare at the beginning of the last century and we've lived this long without it. Let's take our time. I know there's a feeling of urgency what with the economy trying to climb out of the toliet and the American public supporting you by 65%, but let's not make hasty decisions.
Second, any plan that adds yet another tax onto the backs of the middle class is not a plan worthy of mention. Those of us in the middle class pay enough taxes as it is. Right now, between Federal and State taxes, Social Security and Medicare, 1/3 of my paycheck is gone and I haven't even walked out of the building. Let's find the money some other way. (I'm for stopping farm substidies to large corporations and weekend farmers. The substidies weren't supposed to be paid out for more than five years when they started. It's just ridiculous that people like Sam Donaldson gets farm substidies, but I digress.) I'm pretty sure that at some point in the next few years, our taxes are going to have to go up, but let's not tax one of the few benefits we enjoy.
Now, having said # 2, let me mention #3: Let's give HUGE tax breaks to companies that cover at least 75% of an employee's healthcare and even bigger tax breaks to companies that cover 90%. Let's not make them pay taxes on any money spent on healthcare for employees' dependents. A lot of the uninsured are children and by giving employers the push to do the right thing, we might be able to knock more than half of the uninsured off the list.
Four, and this is big, let's not have national healthcare, but a national standard. And, here's why; we don't want to give companies a break on taxes and then have them use some shoddy fly by night insurance company that doesn't cover the basics. A pound of prevention is worth an ounce of cure, after all. We need wellness visits and mammograms, etc. to be covered. And, the standards set must be followed whether the company is self-insured or not. I spoke with a company representative where I work and she insisted that they didn't have to follow the minimums set by Illinois because they were self-insured. I couldn't find an answer on whether or not she was lying, so let's just get that part out of the way. If you follow at least the minimums, you get the tax break, if not, you don't. He who pays the band gets to pick the music, so companies shouldn't expect breaks, if they don't want to have the minimums.
Finally, whatever healthcare plan we pick or whatever minimums we set; Congress should be set at the same standard. If they had to live with our healthcare, the healthcare system wouldn't be broken.
I hope you see this, President Obama.
God Bless
A Concerned Citizen

Freddy Fender

I love the song "Before the Next Teardrop Falls." Freddy Fender did it, along with many other Country hits. So, why isn't he in the Country Music Hall of Fame? Does anyone know how members are selected? I think us Freddy Fender fans should unite and do something about this.
God Bless

Taxing Healthcare Benefits

Okay, if you're a regular reader of my blog, you know that one of the three reasons I didn't vote for McCain was that he wanted to put a tax on my healthcare benefits. Yesterday, a co-worker of mine mentioned that he hoped I was happy now that Obama was going to start taxing healthcare benefits. I was more than a little stunned, especially since 1/3 of my reasons for voting for Obama was that he was against this idea. So, this morning, I have set out on a mission to see if I can find the justification for my co-worker's remark. I have found one article, but then my router went down and I discovered that my archives weren't working, so I haven't finished reading the article, but trust me, I will get to the bottom of this and I will be calling Feingold, Kohl and Ryan to let them know the taxing of healthcare benefits is wrong.
One quick thought before I'm off:
The article I'm reading states "The wealthy enjoy the biggest boon from the policy, with their better jobs and richer perks. Still, Obama and many lawmakers are reluctant to embrace a tax." Well, I don't think I would be considered among the wealthy of the country, so there might be hope. I wouldn't be opposed to paying taxes on the healthcare if, say, they had to earn a certain amount, like $100,000 for a single person and $200,000 for a married person -- that, my dear friends, would leave most of us out of it.
Anyway, I would like to formulate a better thought on this, but I want to do my research -- just like I did when McCain first proposed this idea.
Oh, I almost forgot, according to my co-worker, this taxing of healthcare is Hillary's idea and it was part of the "deal" she made with Obama last year. Where is that coming from? Anyone know?
God Bless

Video for Dad

I made this video for Dad and I posted it on Facebook, but if you're not on Facebook you can't see it. But, Dad sent out the link to his friends and our family members, so I'm posting it here so they can see it too.

God Bless

Inbox fatigue

Did you get the email for Robin Williams's supposed plan for peace? It is full of rantings on how America should stop defending other countries and we should give illegals 90 days to get out. I received this email and it pissed me off and not just because it is an unintelligent, uninformed rant attributed to someone who didn't write it, but because the person who forwarded didn't check the facts. And, they didn't clean up the email, by removing all the other forwarded message headers.
As my friends can attest, I rarely forward emails. On those rare occasions when I do, I remove headers, I check the facts and most of the time, I remove those forward to 100 people messages. I received an email yesterday where the writer referred to me as the queen of information and I don't think he meant it in a nice way, but I wear it as a badge of honor.
So, here's my rule: if you don't have the time to make the message look neat and you don'T have time to check the facts, the rest of us don't have time to read it.
God Bless

Happy Birthday, Pop!

Today is my father's 72nd birthday. I made him this video.

Happy Birthday, Pop!

Love,

Julie

Did you hear the one?

Sherri Goforth should not lose her job for sending a racist email. Actually, no one should and here's why.
We live in a free society where all forms of speech are protected. Now, I happen to work in a zero tolerance environment where any non-work related email can get me fired. But, we're not talking about me. If we want to truly talk about tolerance, then people who send racist emails need to be shown compassion, not lose their jobs.
I realize this woman works for the state, but racists happen to be people, too. Sherri Goforth said that she sent the email by mistake. Who hasn't hit reply all when they shouldn't? Firing her isn't going to change his racist views. It'll only make them worse. Trust me on that. Racists hate being treated nice -- especially by the race they hate the most, so if I was Sherri's African-American co-worker, I'd be as nice as all get out to her. It'll piss her off.
But, that's just me.
God Bless