Personal opinion

Since I am not on Facebook, I can freely express what I want to say here. I have always been an independent thinker. Its no surprise or shock that I vote primarily Democratic, but I praise some Republicans if they vote along with educators and things that I hold dear. I am not for abortion, so before you throw that in my face- I just want to make that clear.

I just find it funny that people do not research things on their own. They trust Fox News, MSNBC, CNN or whatever it may be to tell them the facts. The problem with this is that they are in the business of opinionated journalism. I do admit, I watch MSNBC because it matches my progressive world view, as you watching Fox News supports your Conservative world view. But, I do not stop at their word, I like to look at things.

I did not support the Affordable Health Care Act at first. I thought it was complicated, I didn't understand it, and I just didn't understand why Obama focused on this, when he could have focused on the economy. And although, I still agree with the latter- I do understand something needs to be done about our health care. In this state, 25% of the people do not have Health Insurance that's the highest in the nation. Yet, Rick Perry and all the Conservative blow hards do not accept this at all. They act, like everything is okay. Texas will benefit the most from Obamacare, and just wait and see in 2014, if it works people will love it. But exhausting all the scenarios of health care it doesn't matter if it was a Republican idea first, it doesn't matter if it isn't socialism- people in this area, will believe what they want. The fact of the matter is, there is no other way to control Health Care costs without doing an individual mandate. You have to put everyone in the pool, to cover the high risk individuals. The only other way to do this, is to have a public option.

I was against the individual mandate, but I think I found a common thread that will bridge the gap between Conservative and Liberal ideals. Conservatives believe that purchasing and health care in a whole is a personal responsibility. And Liberals believe that Health Care is a fundamental right for all people. The Individual mandate marries these two ideals, in a way that makes sense to me. We as the American people have a collective responsibility to drive health care costs down. We have the responsibility to cover ourselves, and if you don't why should the rest of the people cover you? If we did that, we might as well have a public option. I firmly believe that the exchange will help Insurance companies rates competitive and that most Americans will find a way to purchase affordable health care. Those that can't afford it, can get a credit or may even qualify for Medicaid. I believe that Health Care is a right and a collective responsibility and this health care law does both.

I am no expert on how all of this will work. But even I understand, that the health care system cannot be sustainable unless everyone is covered under it. I understand that everyone has to purchase it, without everyone purchasing it, it doesn't do any good.

How is this socialism? How is extending health care to millions a bad thing? And furthermore, if the current system is so great... then why are we even having this debate?

I recommend you go visit the William Kaiser Foundation yourself, and watch the videos and read the information. You can also read the law and abridged parts of the law, for yourself and see what it is all about. My greatest advice is to question everything you hear, be it a Progressive voice or Conservative voice. They are being paid to spin news and opinion.

I wish I was making this up...

From the 2012 Texas Republican Party Platform-


Knowledge-Based Education – We oppose the teaching of Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS) (values clarification), critical thinking skills and similar programs that are simply a relabeling of Outcome-Based Education (OBE) (mastery learning) which focus on behavior modification and have the purpose of challenging the student’s fixed beliefs and undermining parental authority. 



American Identity Patriotism and Loyalty – We believe the current teaching of a multicultural curriculum is divisive. We favor strengthening our common American identity and loyalty instead of political correctness that nurtures alienation among racial and ethnic groups. Students should pledge allegiance to the American and Texas flags daily to instill patriotism. 



Traditional Principles in Education – We support school subjects with emphasis on the Judeo-Christian principles upon which America was founded and which form the basis of America’s legal, political and economic systems. We support curricula that are heavily weighted on original founding documents, including the Declaration of Independence, the US Constitution, and Founders’ writings.