Conservative With A Heart

The Founding Fathers expected people to leave their homes and serve their country for a season. The leaders were then to return to those homes and live under the rules and regulations they had established while leading.

At some point, we decided that to be a leader in this nation you had to be a Politian. The media has shouted that requirement from the roof tops since Sarah Palin stepped on to the political stage and the media has only gotten louder as the mid-term election draws near.

“She does not have enough experience.”
“He will not be willing to negotiate.”
“They are not use to how things work in the government.”

Carl Rove said that he thought people did not understand because this election was about taking back congress for the conservatives and we needed to elect people in the primaries that could win in the November elections.

I also heard it said that you have to stand for something or you will fall for anything – and we the people have fallen for that line before.

Never again! Everyone – no matter which side of the “aisle” you might reside – should be looking for candidates that say what they mean and will do what they say. We need candidates that are looking to go in and do the job and then come back home to their lives.

When did “politician” become a job? People that are in it for a job will always be concerned about keeping that job. We must put people into office that want to work – for just a season – and are more concerned about convictions than re-elections!

Good, positive and uplifting thoughts and actions carry me through my day. Last year I discovered Glenn Beck, and his words encouraged me. I started taping his shows and signed up for his newsletter. My family also began to attend Tea Party events. The words about doing and changing were exciting.

The climate changed somewhere along the way. Turning on the news, even Glenn Beck, became a hate fest. All of the negative thoughts and words began to drag me down. So I turned it all off. I even stopped opening the emails sent to me regularly and just trashed them when they popped up.

A few days ago, I posted and article about Obama bashing. The negative talk had reached my breaking point. Enough was enough.

To my surprise, I was not the only one that felt the negative had gotten out of hand. Glenn Beck announced yesterday that he was changing his tune.

See, I can want something different from you and that does not make either of us bad people. My words can counter your idea – or even prove it wrong – and that does nothing to lessen you the person.

People are fundamentally good. That may be the optimist in me, but it is a statement that I hold true. Ideas may be wrong, because of misdirection, misinformation, or misguidance, but people are at their core good, positive and uplifting.

I vote in elections. Sometimes I will even openly support a candidate. But when the dust settles, I have to choose to get behind the PERSON that is elected even if I do not agree with the ideas. That means I can push against the ideas and even offer up my own ideas, but I should never attack the person.

The political season has just begun. America will only survive the chaos if we quit fighting and look for the good, the positive and the uplifting that we can all agree makes this country such an amazing place.

1. We have the freedom to have different views.
2. We have the freedom (and opportunity) to express our views.

There are so many more things that make this country great! What are the good, positive and uplifting ideas that you see?

My whole life centers around the positive. My kids hear the phrase “if you cannot say anything nice then do not say anything at all” so often that they will say it before I get a chance to say it. The family motto comes from Philippians 4:8.

I am also a conservative – deep down, hard core conservative. It may surprise you when I say that I am tired of people talking negative about President Obama. It shocks me a little that I am even writing the words because I agree with very little of what President Obama has done, has said or wants to do.

I do not know President Obama, nor have I ever even seen him in person. But I believe that he is sincere in his convictions. I still think he is wrong, but I do feel like he believes that he is correct in his ideals. Bash his ideas all you want, but quit talking about him.

President Obama has pushed for the health care plan – now known as Obamacare. He thinks that it will benefit the country. Trash the plan, not the President.

President Obama wants to placate the terrorists and the countries that support terrorists. Trash the idea that these people can BE placated, but skip the negative talk about the President.

I do not agree with the things that I see coming out of the White House, but I refuse to judge the man that puts those ideas out. Even if I had the privilege of meeting and getting to know President Obama, I could never truly know his heart.

My family falls at the low end of the income bracket. We have had insurance through work, been self-employed with no insurance and back around again. This time we are paying for our own insurance as a self-employed family.

My unique perspective of the health care issue does not stop at paying for insurance. I have worked in an office handling medical bills – which means I have dealt with all levels of insurance and seen how and what some of them pay. I also have a family of medical professionals – from x-ray equipment salespersons to nurses to surgeons to dentists.

From all of the angles that I have experienced, I can tell you whole heartedly that things are NOT perfect. I can also tell you that Medicare and Medicaid type programs (with the government in charge) are not the answer.

There are only two medical fields where the prices have gone down but the quality of care and technology has continued to go up – laser eye surgery and cosmetic surgery. Here the insurance does not pay so the clients/patients look for the best surgeons and the best deal.

In other words, when people have to pay for themselves or their family then they search out for the best options and the best deals. Doctors and businesses have to work to draw people to their offices. Everyone begins to do their part and the system begins to fix itself without the need for government intervention!

The last several months I have talked to friends and family members about what is going on with the government. Before the election in 2008, I had even started this blog to talk about all things political.

The actions of the government or the tales that have been told about blogs and internet in general pulled me back. The what ifs put a hold on my speech. I had enough on my plate without causing more stress through my opinions (and I have LOTS of them).

It has only been in the last few days that I have decided to not hold back any more. I can not tell my kids to do all that they can do and refuse to do that myself. It is time for me to stand up and speak my heart and mind and let the chips fall where they may.

3 Rants on Government that I have Held Back

1. President Obama thinks that children are not learning because they are not spending enough days in school. The truth is that teachers are being forced to teach for tests and not for education. Home school and private school children learn more in less time and for less money.

2. The government is getting too involved with my personal life. A mother, just helping out the neighbors, got in trouble for watching the neighborhood children until the school bus arrived to pick them up. This rant also includes neighbors who are too nosey for their own good because one of the neighbors had to have called and made a complaint.

3. There are so many issues when it comes to the government “fixing” the health care system that I’m not sure where to start. The truth is that most people have health care that they want and those who do not can find health care if they make choices to get that health care.

This is only the beginning. There are so many things that we need to talk about when it comes to our daily life. The government needs to hear what we have to say. I am still a bit nervous – I must confess – but I am stepping out.

This country needs you. You are a vital part of the success of what this country is and what this country is becoming. The time has come for each person to stand up and become more – not just for self but for posterity.

Tips for Stepping Up

1. Become more involved. No matter where you are in your walk, your taxes pay for the schools, the running of the city and other items. Attend the public meetings so that you can be aware of what is going on around you. Make your voice heard. Then come out of those meetings and share your knowledge with all the people that you know.

2. Become more concerned. It may not seem like the issues coming up involve you but if you let them pass with out a blink then there will be no one standing with you when the issues do affect you. Take issues to heart and be willing to help your neighbor and not just self.

3. Become more responsible. Ultimately every issue does have something to do with your life because YOU are the government. Complaints have no room because the government is the people. When I am involved – intimately, personally and consistently – then I become responsible and aware.

It is easier to turn away from the issues than face them head on. The only thing that is accomplished by avoiding what is going on is that you give away your power. It is time to take back the power and stand up for the country. It is time to become a link in the chain that holds this country high.

It was easy to sleep last night and I even went to bed early. My normal routine for elections is to stay up until the wee hours of morning to see what will be facing me for the next four years. This year I didn’t need to do that. My peace about the whole process is so perfect that I STILL don’t know who won the election.

I have a plaque that hung at my desk (where ever my desk might be) for many years. It was a little swallow on a branch: “I may not know what tomorrow holds, but I know who holds tomorrow.” It is with that knowledge that I went to sleep last night.

The outcome of the election was something that was not easy to miss this morning. I knew it would be there when any of my electronics turned on. Although it was not the results that I voted for, there is still hope for tomorrow. There is always hope.

It is time for me to make a change – not so much in the way THINGS are but in the way my heart is. I need to pour my positive thoughts and prayers over this country. One person can make a difference and I intend to be that person. Join me in this new direction and together we can heal this nation.

My Prayer for the Barack Obama and the Congress:

Lord, thank you so much for all that you have blessed me with. This is an amazing country with some of the greatest opportunities in the world. I thank you for the people of this country that come together to build what others only dare to dream.

Lord, thank you for the wisdom and strength that you have poured over Barack Obama. Continue to give him Your Peace in ways that he has never before experienced. Let the full blessings of your Grace come to him and his family and all that are around him.

Lord, thank you for the men and women that are willing to walk away from their ordinary lives to serve in congress. Continue to give them the knowledge and understanding that they need to make the decisions to push these United States into a glorious future.

Paul warned repeatedly through out scripture that the time is now. The time is now for me to get serious about the prayers for my country and my leaders. It’s not those people that have messed up, but I am the one that has dropped the ball. There has to be time in each and every day for me to hold up the government in prayer and thanksgiving.

Lord, please forgive me and my lack of support for the people that you have placed in these offices. The ways of the Lord confound the wise and I have thought myself wise for far too long. Forgive my arrogance and give me the words and consistency to humbly pray for Your servants.

Heath care is important to most families, but very few practice it in their lives. Most of us wait until there is a problem before we visit the doctor’s office (or worse – go to the hospital). Men are probably some of the worst culprits out there. If it was a car, I bet things would be different. Universal health care is NOT the answer. Personal responsibility is the only way to make health care work.

See, with our cars, the everyday wear and tear isn’t covered by insurance. If we don’t want to spend big money on new brakes, a new transmission, new tires, or a new automobile altogether, we take care of the car daily. We take it to have the oil changed. The tires get rotated and balanced. The water level is checked and maintained.

Our bodies aren’t nearly as lucky. We push them and abuse them until they call for a time out with colds or hurt muscles and joints or something worse. If we treated our cars this way, no one would expect the government to come in and make it better.

On the flip side of this issue are the medical care professionals. Many of the doctors in the system today are there because someone told them they were smart and this profession was a way to use that intelligence to make money. It’s not all about caring for their patients.

Some of them have even adjusted their care to what the insurance will and will not pay. If the insurance won’t pay extra for a follow up visit (and the doctor will have to “eat” the cost) then he just doesn’t schedule a follow up visit. It doesn’t matter what is best for the patient – it is all about the bottom line.

Keeping with the earlier analogy, if I take my car to the mechanic up the road, he will fiddle with the car until he gets it right (and he doesn’t charge me extra for the privilege of getting my car fixed). I had to search long and hard for this mechanic because they don’t all work to the same standard. But he gets all of my business, plus as much business and I can send his way.

I also looked long and hard for a doctor that would take time to talk with me about my concerns or needs instead of herding me through the office like a herd of cattle. If my insurance didn’t cover his practice then I would pay the extra to still go there. I want a doctor that is as concerned with preventing issues in my body as he is with getting my insurance money.

So what is the answer? Hilary Clinton recently released a health plan that requires everyone to have health insurance. This isn’t the answer. The answer is to take health insurance BACK to what it was intended to be (insurance against catastrophic costs) and pay for the rest ourselves. If people had to pay for emergency room visits, there would be less people in the waiting room with simple colds.

More government involvement will not help. Personal responsibility will be the only way we can fix the health care system in America.