THYME Magazine: Escape from Obamacare

Citizen Journalism with a Better Flavor


Volume IX, Issue XI

Escape from Obamacare

The promise was clear: "If you like your plan, you can KEEP your plan." The harsh reality was that many of our friends simply LOST their non-Obamacare compliant coverage. Being self-employed, we had played the individual policy game for years. We had gone through the arduous process of re-qualification just to get a plan with a higher deductable. A $6000 deductable allowed us an affordable policy. We had re-qualified just early enough that our plan was "grandfathered." Even though it did not meet the standards of the so-called: "Affordable Care Act," it was old enough that it did not fall into the group of plans that were simply disallowed.

But the last premium increase notice was a jaw-dropping increase in a premium that was already beyond our means to pay. As our business fell off, our actual earnings often wouldn't even cover it. Our agent simply shrugged: "Go on the exchanges and get Coventry." Friends advised us that that company was horrible to work with. We were no longer sought after customers. Years of faithfully struggling to pay the premiums does not guarantee any loyalty on the part of your insurance company. Their lack of pushback to government intervention is telling. Follow the money. But that, dear reader is a subject for another day.

Some very dear friends of ours had left the system a long time ago. They introduced us to Samaritan Ministries, an ALTERNATIVE to traditional health insurance. Going back to the original concept of underwriting and neighbor helping neighbor, Samaritan Ministries members pay a monthly 'share' to cover each others' healthcare burdens. This 'share' is not sent to the central office of the organization but rather sent directly to the member who needs it. Cards and prayers accompany the 'share.' Bearing one anothers' burdens now has a name and a face.

Though the coverage is pretty basic (well visits are not covered), uncovered items are presented as matters for prayer. My wife is about to send an extra $20.00 to help someone with dental surgery that is not covered by the basic plan. Neighbors helping neighbors. It is a beautiful concept!

How does Samaritan Ministries avoid the dreaded Individual Mandate? The so-called "Affordable Care Act" includes an exemption for Faith-based healthcare organizations in accordance with our country's long-standing tradition of respect for conscience. [1.]


Amish barn raising. File Photo

The Amish and Social Security

In 1935, congress passed The Social Security Act. Included in this legislation was "Old Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance," provided for those in industry and commerce, and extended to include farm operators in 1955. The  Amish Country News writes:

While the Amish have no objection "paying unto Caesar what is Caesar’s," they do have problems with commercial insurance. In a sense, insurance was seen as not trusting in G-d. Insurance plans were a worldly operation. Plus, the Amish view of separation of church and state normally meant not accepting money from government programs, especially something viewed as welfare. No one could deny that this program was one of paying money to the government and then receiving a benefit in return.

Perhaps most importantly, the care of the elderly is seen as the responsibility of the family and community, not the government. Whether it be additions built onto the main house where grandparents "retire," benefit sales to pay large medical bills, or the community effort of a barn-raising, the Amish truly try to "take care of their own."

The complete story of how legislation was enacted eventually to exempt the Amish from Social Security Tax is told in this article: The Amish and Social Security [click to read].

The Social Security Tax  was administered by the Internal Revenue Service, beginning in earnest during the 1950's Though Old Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance was clearly in the description, it was collected as a tax. The issue came to a head when the IRS seized the horses of one Valentine Byler for non-payment of the tax. Public sentiment was stirred as Byler depended on these horses for his livelihood as a farmer.

He received letters of support such as this one from Texas: "May I congratulate you on having the intestinal fortitude to stand up for your beliefs. While I am aware that your action stemmed from a love of your religion rather than from defiance, I hope that your example may serve to point out to some of us just how far our benevolent Government will go to reach its goal of making dependents of us all. There seems to be no place for a person who asks merely to be left alone, and to provide for himself and his family."

In 1961, Amish bishops sent the following petition to the IRS: 

We, as representatives of the Old Order Amish Mennonite Church, do herein express our deep appreciation, and with grateful hearts do we recount the favors and consideration accorded our forefathers in the past...

We believe in a supreme being and also the constitution of the USA, and we feel the Social Security Act and Old Age Survivors Insurance [OASI] is abridging and infringing to our religious freedom. We believe in giving alms in the church according to Christ’s teaching.

It has been our Christian concern from birth of our church group to supply those of our group who have a need, financial or otherwise... Our faith has always been sufficient to meet the needs as they come about, and we feel the present OASI is an infringement on our responsibilities; as a church we feel grieved that this OASI has come upon us...

We Bishops, representatives of the Old Order Churches of the USA are appealing to you to prayerfully consider and reconsider this favor. In G-d we trust."

Ironically, relief was finally forthcoming to the Amish in a provision that was tacked on to the 1965 legislation that established Medicare. Wayne Fisher writes: "Tucked into the 138 page bill was a clause exempting the Old Order Amish, and any other religious sect who conscientiously objected to insurance, from paying Social Security payments, providing that sect had been in existence since December 31, 1950. After Senate approval in July, the signing of the bill by President Lyndon B. Johnson on August 13, 1965, made it official and canceled tax accounts of some 15,000 Amish people amounting to nearly $250,000." [2.]

John Jay on Right of Conscience

Consciences of men are not the objects of human legislation…How beautiful appears our expansive constitution in disclaiming all jurisdiction over the souls of men, and securing (by a never-to-be-repealed section) the voluntary, unchecked, moral suasion of every individual.”

— John Jay, the original Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court on the right of conscience in the Constitution

In the Garden
Charles A. Miles, 1913, Public Domain


In the Garden. Photo by Bob Kirchman

I come to the garden alone,
While the dew is still on the roses,
And the voice I hear falling on my ear
The Son of God discloses.

Refrain:
And He walks with me, and He talks with me,
And He tells me I am His own;
And the joy we share as we tarry there,
None other has ever known.

He speaks, and the sound of His voice
Is so sweet the birds hush their singing,
And the melody that He gave to me
Within my heart is ringing.

Refrain:
And He walks with me, and He talks with me,
And He tells me I am His own;
And the joy we share as we tarry there,
None other has ever known.

I’d stay in the garden with Him,
Though the night around me be falling,
But He bids me go; through the voice of woe
His voice to me is calling.

Refrain:
And He walks with me, and He talks with me,
And He tells me I am His own;
And the joy we share as we tarry there,
None other has ever known.


Oak branches in snow. Photo by Bob Kirchman

A Restful Walk on a Ridge
Shenandoah Mountain Trail


Shenandoah Mountain Trail begins at this overlook on U. S. 250 at the Western border of Augusta County where Confederate troops from Georgia once manned Fort Edward Johnson,... 
Photo by Bob Kirchman


...shivering in a late Spring snow in 1862.
Photo by Bob Kirchman


Snowy trail. Photo by Bob Kirchman


Mountain Laurel. Photo by Bob Kirchman


Restful Ridgetop. Photo by Bob Kirchman

Please Note: THYME Magazine will return to its once-weekly format, publishing midweek. There will be no Saturday edition for the time being.

THYME Magazine Special Shutdown Edition IV

Citizen Journalism with a Better Flavor


Volume VI, Issue XX

America's Obama Problem

The 'other' weekly news magazine last week featured an interesting cover on their Overseas Editions [click to read]. Michael Bloomberg may aspire to be "Mayor of the World," but Barack Hussein Obama seems to be more intent on conquering his own country's Tea Party than asserting the cause of stability, peace and freedom around the world.

Edward Klein, in his book The Amateur [click to read]  has some harsh criticism for the President, presenting us with: "a withering portrayal of a radical adrift, in over his head, drowning in his own incompetency -- while being weighed down by a small circle of "advisers" who are compounding the problem of the Amateur in the White House."

"On issue after issue, President Obama remains his insular self, refusing to seek counsel or input from others with more experience. Critics believe he has made a mess of foreign policy precisely because not only does he have a dearth of experience in this area, but because, under our system, foreign policy is one of the few areas where a president enjoys almost unlimited power. Thus, he is free to formulate his own agenda regardless of the views of others and the damage these policies cause."-- Ed Lasky

Indeed it is Obama's inability to deliver the sort of openness and constructive dialogue he promised in his campaigns that is dogging him now. Seeking to "fundamentally transform" this country, he and his fellow Progressives pushed their unpopular healthcare law through Congress in spite of strong and reasoned opposition. Rather than listen to less disruptive ways to deal with The Preexisting Condition Problem [click to read], Obama insisted that the ONLY solution was to create a massive government driven solution encompassed in a 2000+ page piece of legislation which was merely the outline of a structure to be designed later by bureaucrats. Indeed, the scope of the legislation seems driven by the desire of Progressives to eventually arrive at a Single Payer system, though that end is clearly unpopular.

As the Manhattan Institute's Roy Avok points out: "Obamacare’s approach to pre-existing conditions helps a small number of people gain coverage in the short term, but the law makes the fundamental problems worse by driving up the cost of health insurance and requiring employers to sponsor health coverage for their workers, even when workers would be better off owning their own policies."

So, Obama wrestles with a Congress essentially doing its job. "Legislation by Appropriation" is nothing new. Already scores of Obama friends in business have received waivers from the "employer mandate," the exchange website is beset with glitches and in spite of a fawning media there is no way to gloss over the fact that this legislation is wreaking havoc on the system. Costs are rising, employers are shifting thousands of employees to 'part time' status to control their budgets. When the dust settles it is estimated that there will still be thousands uninsured and projections do not show that there will be funds to care for them.

As Obama fiddles, the world burns. The President is missing the opportunity to speak forcefully into the Iranian nuclear crisis and his generally weak and ambiguious foreign policy leaves a gap that nations like China, who DO aspire to world leadership, are moving to fill. Thankfully there are leaders like Binyamin Netanyahu who are not afraid to assume the authority American Presidents once possessed in world affairs. It is THEIR leadership that will have to carry us through this present time of crisis.

THYME Magazine Special Shutdown Edition

Citizen Journalism with a Better Flavor


Volume VI, Issue XVII

Taking Washington Back

Bob Owens [click to read] writes: "We’re cursed with a President and Senate that seems determined to use the law (when it suits them), or ignore the law (when it suits them), or descend into outright criminality (when it suits them), in order to fundamentally pervert this nation’s core beliefs.

Barack Obama has proven useless except for one thing: he has been able to bring the proverbial frogs to a boil and has imposed blatant socialism without spurring a popular rebellion so far.

If the Republicans will stick to their guns—and Obama keeps showing his arrogance to a public that has willfully buried their heads in the sand until now—there is a chance that the rising tide of anger could sweep this administration away.

Keep doing what you’re doing, Barack, and may it spell the beginning of the end of all the crony socialism you hold dear."

As the government shutdown enters its second week, some things are becoming quite clear. We've seen what can only be called pettiness on the part of an administration that is determined to assert how essential it is to our collective well-being.

Flights of Honor bring WWII veterans to Washington to visit the monument, constructed with private donations, in their honor. Can you imagine their feelings when they arrived only to find an open air monument barricaded and patrolled by more park rangers than are seen there on a normal day? The troops, who had stormed places like Omaha Beach and fought heroically to liberate the European continent, broke down the barricades.

The image of elderly gentlemen in wheelchairs taking back THEIR monument [1.] is one of the first memories we take from the current struggle. The Vietnam memorial was barricaded too, along with the Marine's Memorial across the Potomac River. While veterans struggled to get into their monuments and PXs on military bases were closed, President Obama's favorite golf courses remained in operation [2.]... not a great lesson in 'shared sacrifice.'

Park Service personnel admitted to having been ordered to 'make things difficult' for visitors [3.], even going so far as to block private businesses [4.] that had to be accessed from roads like the Blue Ridge Parkway. They even tried to shut down Mount Vernon, which is run by a private foundation. They did so by closing a parking area they maintain for Washington's home. They tried to deny access to Mount Rushmore [5.], forgetting that the STATE owns the road from which one views it!

Terror at Talladega, Government Gone Wild [click to read]: Angie Creswell McGhee has her own tale of bureaucracy run amok. At Talladega, government officials endangered the safety of riders and horses and ignored reasonable pleas from riders in an event that, ironically, was a BENEFIT for a camp in the National Forest! The forced evacuation of their campground sounds like something from Germany in the 1940's! The exhausted riders were TERRIFIED!

Congress, mandated by Congress with control of the public purse, passed individual bills to fund government operations all would consider necessary. Harry Reid and the President refused to consider them. The National Institute of Health was shut down and Congress passed legislation to fund it specifically. Harry Reid found himself opposing clinical trials [6.] that would help children with cancer.

When asked why he wouldn't want to "help one child with cancer?" Reid snapped back: "Why would we want to do that?" Do we REALLY want these people in charge of our healthcare?

Thomas Sowell [click to read] writes: "If Senator Reid and President Obama refuse to accept the money required to run the government, because it leaves out the money they want to run ObamaCare, that is their right. But that is also their responsibility.

You cannot blame other people for not giving you everything you want. And it is a fraud to blame them when you refuse to use the money they did vote, even when it is ample to pay for everything else in the government."

Sowell continues: "When Barack Obama keeps claiming that it is some new outrage for those who control the money to try to change government policy by granting or withholding money, that is simply a bald-faced lie. You can check the history of other examples of "legislation by appropriation" as it used to be called."

Which brings us to the core of the struggle. President Obama and the liberal factions used every trick in the book to "pass" the "Affordable Care Act" over reasonable opposition [7.] The "Cornhusker Kickback" and the "Selling of Stupak" were just a few of the tactics employed to pass the bill that Nancy Pelosi said: "we had to pass... so that we could see what is in it!"

Turns out Ms. Pelosi was telling the truth. The 2000+ page legislation was nothing more than a framework for bureaucrats to flesh out into actual operations. It provided mandates and fines, but did far too little to address actual reforms that would help people with pre-existing conditions and cut medical costs.

Budget projections that exceeded promised limits, unpopular mandates and general confusion led to scores of companies seeking exemption. The administration's 'signature legislation' simply wasn't ready for 'prime time.' As the stalemate continues, Congress' move to delay 'Obamacare' seems far more reasonable than the hysteria the administration seems determined to display in protecting it.

Give us This Day Our Daily Scolding [click to read]
Chaplains "Non-Essential?" [click to read]
Amber Alert Website Closed while Mrs. Obama's Open [click to read]
Park Personnel Ordered to 'Make Life Difficult' [click to read]
Obama's Golf Course Spared in Shutdown [click to read]
Illegal Aliens Can Have Mall During Shutdown [click to read]
NPR and the Power of Narrative [click to read]
Even More from THYME [click to read]

Terror at Talladega, Government Gone Wild

'Government Shutdown' Creates Dangerous Scramble


After orders by federal officials to leave, a dangerous exodus ensues. Photo by Angie Creswell McGhee

Guest Commentary by Angie Creswell McGhee

Talladega: Insane day and night dealing with psycho government federals. Imagine doing a fast 50 in very hot, humid conditions over rugged trails. Some were still on trail finishing up the 75. You've all been up since 4 AM. At 10 PM the federals showed up and said "EVERYBODY OUT NOW!!" 100 big rigs backed in all around tricky pine tree parking areas, DARK, your stuff is scattered everywhere, horses are tired and need to rehydrate. We said, "FIRST thing as soon as it's light". NO NOW!! or you will be ticketed, prosecuted, towed." "TOWED WHERE WITH WHAT? What could even get IN these parking places at night?" More threats. Now there’s a traffic jam building up through camp with long trails of red tail lights at a standstill. "What about the people who came from Texas and Louisiana, came in off the trail and had a few drinks, this is insane! None of these people are really safe driving a big rig on the road at this time of night after a day like this!"

This is where I saw what government healthcare will be like. You have a local official who is probably a nice person who agrees with you, but he has this boss, who has a boss, who has a boss, and they don't get it...and if HE doesn't carry through with orders HE will get a huge fine. They would love to stand up for you but when it comes to your family or his well, sorry. This ride is actually a BENEFIT ride for the Talladega National Forest. They stood to make thousands. It has to be closed down because the person who empties the kiosk with the money in it was on forced furlough. Actually, that person came out to visit with us all day because these volunteers help him do his job every day of the year. The management from this ride literally is the maintenance crew for this trail system and donates hundreds of hours labor per year. Actually, this ride is the reason this camp is as large as it is since they got the grants, and did much of the work to build it. HERE'S THE KICKER...the officials say,"Ok, you can stay till morning...OVER THERE." WHERE??" The day parking area on the other end of camp that doesn't have a kiosk. "You are kidding, right?"

Nope, that was the sort of logic you get from a far removed government official (the kind that will be making your healthcare decisions). There is a day parking area just as you turn in off the road into camp. There is no gate between them, it’s just a different designation. An entire over crowded horse camp with over 100 rigs and exhausted horses and riders was supposed to hook up, load it all, back up around a bunch of pine trees on the sides of hills in the dark, and shift your rigs about 100 yards crammed into a tiny parking area for the next 5 hours or so, then try to get everyone turned around and back out in the morning. The insanity of it was so frustrating. I know that in Washington they all imagined us furious at those who shut down the government. They were WRONG. I really didn’t hear anyone talking about either party, we were talking about a federal government that is inept and out of control.

Personally, it made me see how much WASTE is involved with the federal government and that they are too far removed and cumbersome to be logical about anything. Think about it, because they needed to save the money to pay one person to empty a kiosk, thus would lose a couple of $100 in fees, they lost thousands of dollars that the riders who were already on site were going to donate to the forest. In order to ENFORCE the closure, though they couldn’t afford one man to empty the kiosk, they spent thousands in overtime to send a CREW from Montgomery to work all night with marshals to throw us out! The amount of money spent not to spend money was insane, but the federal government probably does it every day of every week. Rather than risk some psycho physically forcing us to leave our horses, or haul them with our rig off to what…a holding yard where nobody is allowed to touch them because they’re under forced furlough?

We loaded up and pulled out of camp headed for home near midnight. We had been up since 4. The horses were tired and dehydrated. It was NOT good for them and I worried until we unloaded them save at home at 3:30 AM. It was NOT safe for us to be driving. We had a car and a truck there, 3 drivers, so fortunately when Josie started nodding off at her wheel I was fortunately able to take over. Don’t know what anyone who was alone and no place to take a horse would do, maybe pull over but what do you do with horses? I talked to several people including quite a few who are furloughed and the mood was not “Oh well, they’ve made it so unpleasant for us, let’s give in.” The mood was, “These people are out of control and somebody’s got to stop them. Now is as good a time as any.” Having some faceless person several safe levels away from the action making life and death calls for you is an awful situation. I just hope that those naive people who have pushed for it will feel the consequences in time to turn this country around.

Government's Constitutionally Defined Function

National Security Should Be the Overriding Priority


The Hiroshima Prefecture Hall of Industry near the site of the world's first atomic bomb attack on a populated city...

The government shutdown, in my mind has created an overwhelming argument for keeping the government totally out of healthcare management. Consider this, if Harry Reid has no problem denying cancer patients access to possibly lifesaving trials in order to keep the bad old conservatives from scuttling the "Affordable Care Act" with it's religious liberty offending contraception mandate and it's generally liberty offending individual mandate; what is to keep future conservative administrations from shutting everything down in order to remove all abortion? Now personally, I would love to see abortion removed from our healthcare system as my view is that the procedure is killing an unborn person. I would also love to see people of faith free to exercise their conscience in choosing heathcare and insurance. Still, if you are pro-choice, I hope you can see the logic of my argument. In a pluralistic society government solutions are often cumbersome one-size-fits-all solutions that are at best is a poor fit. At their worst they violate basic liberties in a way that a free people should not be willing to accept. Whoever you see as to blame for the current shutdown, it makes sense to consider the weakness of mandatory public systems in that they never operate in a moral vacuum. They will always be potential political pawns. This argument alone begs the abandonment of the "Affordable Care Act."

Single-payer systems, which the "Affordable Care Act" obviously creates a structural framework for, work better in fairly homogenous small nations such as those in Europe. They are still quite controversial. Tourists rejoice that they get treatment for a few dollars while elderly residents of the country report waiting years for such things as artificial hips. The wealthy leave the country and purchase care where a "private option" exists. The poor simply wait. Government certainly may have a legitimate roll as the safety net of last resort and no one would argue against its underwriting the new technology in hospitals, but government has no role in a person's personal healthcare decisions. Whatever role you see for the state, it works better as a supporter of other institutions and worse as a direct agent in people's lives. This week's issue of THYME [click to read] has more thoughts on this controversial healthcare bill that many feel was pushed through to law in defiance of strong and well-reasoned opposition.

Congress does have a Constitutionally mandated duty to originate and authorize spending. They have exercised this responsibility by crafting legislation to fund essential spending on a case by case basis. A return to this level of budgeting might just do wonders in reducing waste and redundancy in government spending.  Hopefully the civics lesson sprung upon us will not be in vain. Scores of companies have already requested (and received) exemption from the corporate mandate. Others are switching large numbers of employees to part-time status to avoid it. The President's "Signature Piece of Legislation" still leaves thousands uninsured while driving up costs for people like myself who have to purchase individual policies. It is time to put this Constitutionally questionable boondoggle out to pasture and create real solutions at the point of actual need.

Our government has another clear function, and that is the defense of our nation. Earlier this week Israeli PM Binyamin Netanyahu [click to read] was doing our own President's job for him. In addressing the UN he clearly and concisely detailed the very real threat of Hassan Rouhani's soothing rhetoric diverting our attention from Iran's yellow-cake and heavy water production efforts. Mr. Netanyahu pointed out the fact that Iran is now developing long-range ICBMs similar to the ones the US and the Soviet Union possessed in the 1960's.

I respectfully suggest that the President show some firmness to our nation's real enemies outside our borders and embrace honest discussion from the citizens within. Allow the government to be funded, as Congress is empowered to do, and work with all Americans to create targeted and reasonable solutions to the problems that face us.


...The U. S. Capitol, soon within range of Iranian missiles?

What's Happened to America? [click to listen]. Here is a very interesting and informative podcast from Donna Lou Shickel. This is the first of a series broadcast on her program: A Place of Grace.

THYME Magazine

Citizen Journalism with a Better Flavor


Volume VI, Issue XVI

"A human law has the character of law to the extent that it accords with right reason, and thus derives from the eternal law. Insofar as it falls short of right reason it is said to be an unjust law, and thus has not so much the nature of law." -- St. Thomas Aquinas

The 'other' weekly news magazine this week presents a crossed-out Majority Rule [click to read]. Indeed, polls show that a majority of Americans do not want the intrusion of the "Affordable Care Act" [1.] into their healthcare decisions. Many citizens were there protesting the legislation from the beginning. These photos are from a rally at the Senate on April 15, 2009!

The administration pushed this 2000+ page legislation through in spite of the strong opposition [2.] "Elections have consequences," and the President made sure his signature piece of legislation, placing one third of the U.S. economy under government oversight was one of them.

"Cornhusker Kickbacks," Bart Stupak [3.] and a host of other shenanigans were employed in the passage of this bill. Virginia's two Senators turned a deaf ear to overwhelming opposition. We paid our own way to Washington to protest this bill, only to be lectured by Mark Warner staffers.

We were not surprised by the actual projections of the financial impact of the bill "we had to pass so that we can see what is in it," according to Nancy Pelosi. Mandates for contraception and abortion coverage [4.] overrode real concerns for religious liberty. Major corporations shifted scores of employees to "part time" status [5.] in order to remain fiscally viable. Congress exempted itself from the program [6.] and the President has quietly created exemptions [7.][8.] for big corporations. If the program is so good, why do they not want in?

The Constitution clearly places revenue decisions in the hand of the House [9.] and it is not unreasonable for the representatives to exercise this authority. Congress has sent legislation to the Senate that would fund government functions that all would agree on. Obama and Harry Reid resist negotiation. To hear them talk, the "Tea Party" is a greater threat to this nation than 17 Trillion dollars in debt [10.] and a nuclear-armed Iran!

If an unpopular piece of legislation was steamrollered into passage, and is now beset by delays because it "wasn't ready for prime time," [11.][12.][13.] can you really cry "foul" if the "People's House" votes to delay it?


This little girl only owes $39,339...


...Please Senators, don't make it worse!


The 'Freedom Czar...'


...and the 'Freedom Czar.'


This D.C. Resident had already had his fill of Marion Berry way before the Obama administration.


Capturing the moment.


Yes, I am!


I question Obama's 'self grading' myself. I give him an 'incomplete' at best.

Update: Could Republicans be Winning? [click to read], thoughts from the WSJ

"Obama and [Senate Majority Leader Harry] Reid have taken tough stands against the two most villainous groups: WWII veterans and kids with cancer." -- James Taranto

A Time When America Faced Her Real Enemies

The Debt We Owe to the Defenders of Liberty


The World War II Memorial.

There was a time, in our recent past Century, where the world faced the ugly fact that there was a great evil set to overtake it. The Greatest Generation stormed Omaha Beach and fought long and hard to turn the tide. America's survival was NOT inevitable. Indeed, the Axis powers stood ready to dominate the planet.

After Pearl Harbor our fleet had been battered, and our resolve would be well-tested by the years to come, but our fathers pressed on to take the high ground. Does such resolve still exist in our time? Indeed the news that WWII Veterans [click to read] refused to allow their Memorial to be shut off from them proves that great men still walk our land.

Israel's Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.

As America's President  talks tough about honest opposition to his unpopular healthcare legislation and refuses to allow Congress to fund government operations all would agree on, compare and contrast his rhetoric with the straightforward message of Binyamin Netanyahu. The world has seen the likes of Hassan Rouhani before. Netanyahu, an astute historian, knows how to address them.

America's leadership needs to take a lesson from that of Israel. With Rouhani, "Distrust and verify" is a wise option, but Americans who have pointed out real flaws in the President's "Affordable Care Act" are reasonable and should be negotiated with. The American people have real concerns about this legislation. Holding government services hostage is the worst sort of grandstanding.

Indeed many Americans long for leadership that will take Rouhani to task while opening real constructive dialogue about the problems we face at home.

THYME Magazine

Citizen Journalism with a Better Flavor


Volume V, Issue X

This week the 'other' weekly news magazine focuses on Medical Bills [click to read]. No doubt, healthcare costs are rising. Insurance is becoming less affordable (in the wake of the 'Affordable Care Act's' mandates). The 'answers' being legislated are not solving the problem. Maybe it is time we restated the problem. Listen to Dr. Benjamin Carson's Remarks [click to read] at the National Prayer Breakfast. Often our falling short in the solution comes from a lack of vision in correctly envisioning the challenge.

The Power of Our Words

Today THYME is breaking from parody of the 'other' weekly news magazine to look at the power in rephrasing the situation. Here is a moving video presentation that illustrates the power of our words. 


The power of our words.

Speaking into the troubled world of the Roman Empire, the Church in the First Century was accused of being "these that have turned the world upside down." Acts 17:6. Indeed, the promise of a new and better Kingdom changed how people saw their situation -- and how they looked at one another! 

Audio Adrenaline - "Kings and Queens"


A beautiful capture of Imago Dei!  

No longer limited in vision to an empire of many slaves and few citizens, the Church now saw themselves as joint heirs of Christ's Kingdom, and began to treat each other accordingly.

Romans 12 entreated the new believers: "Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another; Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord; Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer; Distributing to the necessity of saints; given to hospitality. Bless them which persecute you: bless, and curse not. Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep. Be of the same mind one toward another. Mind not high things, but condescend to men of low estate. Be not wise in your own conceits. Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men. If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men." 

Today's world is in no less need of radical revisioning. How will Scripture inspire us to see differently? Real Transformation must begin with Faith and Vision...


Rice Paper Butterfly, or Paper Kite Butterfly, Idea leuconoe, Illustration © 2013, by Kristina Elaine Riley for HOPE Publications, Pvt. ltd.

THYME Magazine

Citizen Journalism with a Better Flavor


Volume IV, Issue XXVII

"Robert's Rules" or Roger's Rule

The "other" Weekly News Magazine [click to read] reports this week on the recent Supreme Court decision and the role of Chief Justice John Roberts. For fifteen pages they lavish praise for this "brilliant" decision.

Brilliant Decision? Consider the case of Dred Scott, now cited as the ultimate example of a bad decision. When it comes to precedent cases, the court's record is less than stellar:

"Dred Scott v. Sandford, 60 U.S. 393 (1857), also known as the Dred Scott Decision, was a ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court that people of African descent brought into the United States and held as slaves (or their descendants, whether or not they were slaves) were not protected by the Constitution and were not U.S. citizens. Since passage of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, the decision has not been a precedent case, but retains historical significance as perhaps the worst decision ever made by the Supreme Court."

In March of 1857, the United States Supreme Court, led by Chief Justice Roger B. Taney, (pronounced TAW-NEE), declared that all blacks -- slaves as well as free -- were not and could never become citizens of the United States. The court also declared the 1820 Missouri Compromise unconstitutional, thus permiting slavery in all of the country's territories.

The case before the court was that of Dred Scott v. Sanford. Dred Scott, a slave who had lived in the free state of Illinois and the free territory of Wisconsin before moving back to the slave state of Missouri, had appealed to the Supreme Court in hopes of being granted his freedom.

Taney -- a staunch supporter of slavery and intent on protecting southerners from northern aggression -- wrote in the Court's majority opinion that, because Scott was black, he was not a citizen and therefore had no right to sue. The framers of the Constitution, he wrote, believed that blacks "had no rights which the white man was bound to respect; and that the negro might justly and lawfully be reduced to slavery for his benefit. He was bought and sold and treated as an ordinary article of merchandise and traffic, whenever profit could be made by it."

Referring to the language in the Declaration of Independence that includes the phrase, "all men are created equal," Taney reasoned that "it is too clear for dispute, that the enslaved African race were not intended to be included, and formed no part of the people who framed and adopted this declaration. . . ."

Abolitionists were incensed. Although disappointed, Frederick Douglass, found a bright side to the decision and announced, "my hopes were never brighter than now." For Douglass, the decision would bring slavery to the attention of the nation and was a step toward slavery's ultimate destruction. -- PBS [1.] 

The framers of our founding documents though, had wisely changed the definition of G-d given rights from John Locke's "Life, Liberty and Property" to "Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness," thus sowing the seeds for invoking a higher principle in the eventual overturning of slavery.

The 'Right' of Privacy

More recently, in the case of Roe vs. Wade, the court overturned state laws protecting unborn children from abortion, citing a 'right of privacy.' The decision is generally considered poor law, though Pro-choice advocates still stand by it. One has to wonder though, since anyone rushing to aid an endangered child behind a sea of "No Tresspassing" signs would in all likelihood be lauded as a hero rather than arrested for tresspassing.

If it Walks like a Mandate...

No doubt, the recent decision to recast the healthcare mandate as a tax creates vast powers for the Federal government. Using such logic, I can now be legally taxed for not buying a Prius, or not buying a salad at McDonalds. The distinct possibility of Nanny State gone wild exists in the tax code.

There is power in a name. Because the legislation has been dubbed "healthcare," a vote against it has been cast as a vote against healthcare! Nothing could be further from the truth!

I have read enough of the legislation to see that it is heavy on creating mechanisms to generate new revenue (16,500 new IRS agents), and lean on actual reform. [2.] It shuns market driven reforms and sets up the mechanisms for rationing care. In addition, there will be mandates for "Reproductive Health Services" (read Abortion), that will be an intrusion into the religious liberty of certain institutions. CBO Director Douglas W. Elmendorf says of the legislation:

"CBO has not completed an estimate of all of the discretionary costs that would be associated with H.R. 3590. … [S]uch costs would probably include an estimated $5 billion to $10 billion over 10 years for administrative costs of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS)."

The media coverage of this vote has continued to drown out the voices of those who would offer a more reasoned and specific package of reforms. Here are a series of articles by David Karaffa outlining real reforms requiring minimal legislation:

Real Health Care Reform Secrets (Part 1) [click to read]
Real Health Care Reform Secrets (Part 2) [click to read]
Real Health Care Reform Secrets (Part 3) [click to read]
Real Health Care Reform Secrets (Part 4) [click to read]

THYME Magazine

Citizen Journalism with a Better Flavor


Volume III, Issue XXIII

He's Mark Levin's 'Favorite' Congressman

Remember the old nitrates warnings. Weiners in particular were singled out as a source of unhealthy nitrates. This week the 'other' weekly news magazine offers a special health report.

THYME is issuing its own 'Weiner warning.' Obviously cell phone use can be hazardous to your political health. That is on top of the already issued radiation warning.

Dr. Mark Levin has already had much to say about Weiner's policies, including his support for Obamacare and subsequent seeking of waivers from Obamacare. If it is so good, why do you need a waiver anyway?

How to Repeal Obamacare in the Senate

Time to Get Serious about Killing this Bad Legislation


The bill 'we had to pass to see what's in it.' We've seen what is in it and it is time to get serious about repealing it.

"This week the House will pass a bill to repeal Obamacare. Congressional experts will argue that the Senate won’t pass a full repeal. They are correct to argue that full repeal will not be passed by both the House and Senate in the next few months, but they may be wrong that a full repeal bill will not pass in this Congress within the next two years. If Senators don’t take two procedural steps this week, they will make it virtually impossible to ever get a vote on the House-passed full repeal bill this Congress."

How to Repeal Obamacare in the Senate [click to read] by Brian Darling in The Foundry. ht/Redstate.

How to Really Fix the Healthcare System
Four Simple Steps from David Karaffa

Part One [click to read]
Part Two [click to read]
Part Three [click to read]
Part Four [click to read]

I believe there are reforms that can be achieved that would allow market solutions that work to stand and those that don't to be improved upon.

Tort reform should be part of the equation of making healthcare affordable as well. Malpractice insurance premiums are killing many medical practices. Reasonable awards for malpractice would cut costs for everyone. Also, higher deductables and MSA's [Medical Savings Accounts] would make people manage their own costs better. Here's an example, my children used to go to a pediatrician who simply billed "the maximum insurance will pay." -- his own words. I already had a high deductable and was paying out of pocket -- we found another doctor.

In short, I believe that a properly regulated system can find market efficiencies and provide better care than a government run system can. The monies that would be spent remaking the system would be better spent focusing on bringing in the uninsured and presently uninsurable.

THYME Magazine

Citizen Journalism with a Better Flavor


Volume II, Issue XLI

An Antidote to the MSM's Islamophilia

The 'other' Weekly News Magazine [click to read] focuses this week on 'anti-government militias.' Funny how they can't seem to see how the government is growing increasingly anti-citizen. Consider how the body of law has grown as thousands of pages are regularly added to the legal code. A kid eating french fries on a subway train suddenly finds herself arrested for a criminal offense! You probably broke some law today before you had your first cup of coffee!

But don't worry. The next attack on America won't be from some 'anti-government militia,' but more likely will come from Ameriphobic Jihadists.

I used to chuckle in airport security lines as I waited behind Grandma and some blonde woman... then 'Jihad Jane' appeared. This blonde Philadelphia housewife was indeed a member of a radical group intenton doing violence to the USA! Closer to home, just outside of Lynchburg, Virginia, is the home of 'Muslims of America.'

They maintain a compound in Red House, Virginia and have been reported on by Gates of Vienna [click to read].

They aren't exactly practicioners of a 'religion of peace.'

In fact, they are but one example of this type of compound in the US. Even as the MSM tries to mainstream the 'Ground Zero Imam,' who is radical enough, they ignore the really dangerous groups setting up shop in out of the way places.



Health News You Can Use

Never Mix PMS and Dr. Pepper [click to read]. Yankee Phil has the details. Here is conclusive proof that the results can be dangerous! Watch the video closely to see for yourself.

Say Again?
Congress Shreds the Constitution, but Sign Bothers MSM


No doubt you've seen these trailers along the interstate. A concerned citizen put them there as Congress continued to ignore the Constitution and the will of the people. Still, the local newspaper finds an odd reason for its own concern. The sign might be in violation of local zoning laws.

Augusta County and Freedom of Speech [click to read].

The media had no problem with This Sign [click to read]!

THYME Magazine

Citizen Journalism with a Better Flavor


Volume II, Issue XVII

The Bill We Had to Pass to 'See What's in it'

It passed, thanks to some good old fashioned bribery and arm twisting. Now some Dems are admitting their reservations about this legislation. WND Has More on Dem's 'Buyer's Remorse' [click to read].

Ken Cuccinelli [click to read] has a clearer perspective than most. Here he spells it out in the WSJ. ht/Phil & Augusta Conservative

Russia Studies 'Anti-Socialist' Healthcare

As America Rushes to State Control, Look Who's Not

This Article in the Moscow Times [click to read] explains. ht/Mike.

"But Isn't That the Way Our Country Works?"

Bart Stupak in a Town Hall Meeting Last Year


Why we need to take the 2010 elections seriously.

Public servants need to remember who they serve! [1.] Here the hidden camera catches Bart Stupak in an honest moment last year.

THYME Magazine

Citizen Jornalism with a Better Flavor


Volume II, Issue XII

An Essential Guide to the New Plan

2400 pages that create new bureaucracies and regulations, unconstitutional mandates and the destruction of private insurance are obvious. The design of the program that spends two trillion dollars and makes us even more a vassal state to China is even more ominous.

THYME Illustrates the New Plan [click to read] in an earlier issue.

The destruction of our self-sufficient nation as a lighthouse of freedom is cause enough. Stay in the fight. Pray! "Never give up, never give up, never never never... give up!" -- Sir Winston Churchill

Clueless in the Capitals

Lawmakers Should Understand the Anger of the People


Demonstration against healthcare bill, December 15, 2009.

These are troubled times. Lawmakers in Washington are reporting threats. Minority Whip Eric Cantor's Richmond office near the Jefferson Hotel was shot at on Monday. There are reports of vandalism at several Democrat's offices and Bart Stupak is being cursed out over the phone.

There seems to be a lot of anger going around. All this after the President promised a 'new tone' in American politics and a 'new spirit of bipartisanship!" Welcome to the world of 'Hope and Change.' Be careful what you wish for.

'Bipartisanship' it turned out was no more than a change in the ball possession arrow. With a controlling majority in the House and Senate, winning the White House meant 'Bipartisanship' was agreeing with the President. People saw the will of the people being ignored. The majority of the people, who are moderate to right on the issues, saw a socialist agenda being put into play and were powerless against it. They went to town hall meetings and tea parties, hoping to be heard. They were informed and passionate, but they were polite and orderly.

They saw votes being bought and their childrens' futures being mortgaged and tried to get their representative's attention and on Sunday night they saw one of the few men they thought operated by principle cave in. After the vote Bart Stupak was partying with the other Dems in a pub. Can you understand the feeling that you have been betrayed?

They tried to make the unrepresented people out to be an 'angry mob' and 'Nazis.' Then they tried to claim that they were the victims of these great unwashed racist masses. They demonized the Republican minority as 'obstructionists,' conveniently forgetting that most of the fight happened within their own party. The Republicans didn't have any answers, they said, forgetting a lot of good ideas that had been laid out in earlier discussion. With a willing lapdog media they painted their opponents as devils who wanted to let people die in the streets. That may help you understand the bullets through Eric Cantor's windows.

So, knowing that one group pretty much controlled the discussion and the mainstream media spin, who should we blame for this rancor?

Clearly the current administration promised a new tone, but failed to deliver.

Right now Democrat leaders are telling Americans: "Your attitude stinks." To quote a line from the movie Remember the Titans: "Attitude reflects leadership."

Stupak's Original Sin

Kathleen Parker and Phil on Pro-Life 'Paradise Lost'


Defender of Life? Not quite. "These Democrats chose a last minute fig leaf rather than standing up for the pro-life American majority." -- Marjorie Dannenfelser

Kathleen Parker [click to read] in Jewish World Review has some pretty clear thoughts on the fall of Stupak. Marjorie Dannenfelser, President of Susan B. Anthony List has announced that Stupak will not receive the 'Defender of Life' award. Many of us were feeling betrayed and confused by Stupak's changing his vote for the promise of an executive order. Indeed there is little an executive order does to guarantee government dollars don't fund abortion.

The rescinding of the award is deserved. Now Phil [click to read] discusses the 'Stupek Stipend.' Now it is becoming likely that Stupak was PAID for his vote.

"Stupak's clumsy fall from grace is a lesson in human frailty. In a matter of hours, he went from representing the majority of Americans who don't want public money spent on abortion to leading the army on the other side.

Something must have gone bump in the night."

"After the Sunday vote, a group of Democrats, including Stupak, gathered in a pub to celebrate. In a biblical moment, New York Rep. Anthony Weiner was spotted planting a big kiss on Stupak's cheek.

To a Catholic man well versed in the Gospel, this is not a comforting gesture." -- Kathleen Parker

Here is the 'Stand with Stupak' Video [click to watch] that Ms. Parker references.

Pro-Life American Majority Locked Out [click to read].

"Today's decision to sign the Executive Order behind closed doors reveals much about the seriousness of this President and Democrats' commitment to keep abortion funding out of the healthcare legislation. If the Executive Order solution were real, then the signing ceremony would have to be on the White House lawn--somewhere big enough to fit the massive, bipartisan consensus.

The abortion issue was the pivot point for the passage or failure of the entire bill. These Democrats chose a last minute fig leaf rather than standing up for the pro-life American majority. This pro-abortion president and his enablers who call themselves 'pro-life' want this issue to go away fast. But they will not keep the newly enlivened, vastly larger pro-life movement at bay, despite the President's promises that all will be forgotten by November. The Susan B. Anthony List is hard at work with daily reminders. Votes have consequences and for the pro-life betrayers, it will be a quick downhill slide to defeat in November. "Just four days ago, the Susan B. Anthony List was preparing to defend 'pro-life' Democrats, like Rep. Bart Stupak, in primary and general elections. In the coming weeks, instead, we will be examining the districts where we can elect a strong pro-life representative who will not crack under pressure." -- Marjorie Dannenfelser

How Government Healthcare Works

Costs Rise, More are Employed, and Less is Actually Done

Theodore Dalrymple [click to read] in City Journal has a dire picture of what awaits Americans if they allow the government to move to a single payer system. Dalrymple, a physician, has written on this issue before. He knows what he's talking about.

"Americans would do well to ponder a recent admission by a former British minister in the Blair government. On March 2, the Guardian reported that the ex-minister, now Lord Warner, said that while spending on Britain’s National Health Service had increased by 60 percent under the Labour government, its output had decreased by 4 percent. No doubt the spending of a Soviet-style organization like the NHS is more easily measurable than its output, but the former minister’s remark certainly accords with the experiences of many citizens, who see no dramatic improvement in the service as a result of such vastly increased outlays. On the contrary, while the service has taken on 400,000 new staff members—that is to say, one-fifth of all new jobs created in Britain during the period—continuity of medical care has been all but extinguished. Nobody now expects to see the same doctor on successive occasions, in the hospital or anywhere else."

Media Bias?

Here's Phil's Letter to the Editor [click to read]. Probably won't make it to print but you need to read it right here in the annals of 'Citizen Journalism.'

Stupak got Skunked [click to read] is even better with Phil's visual!

Pro Life or Anti Life [click to read]. He who controls the language controls the discussion.

THYME Magazine

Citizen Journalism with a Better Flavor


Volume I, Issue XII

The Largest Employer in Kansas City

Years ago I went to a convention of the National Institute of Restoration in Kansas City, Missouri. While I ws there I learned a few facts about the city. Who do you think the largest employer in Kansas City is? If you guessed the federal government give yourself a gold star!

The federal government!!! In the heartland of America? In the state that gave us Rush Hudson Limbaugh! Believe it! Our government workforce is HUGE and much of it is not even in Washington DC where you would expect to find it.

This was over seventeen years ago! Now if you think the federal bureaucracy has decreased in the years following my discovery think again. It is only going to get worse.

Tucked away in the 2000+ pages of 'healthcare' that was railroaded through the house last night is a provision for hiring 16,000 new IRS agents! What do more IRS agents have to do with making healtcare more affordable? They are essential if 'healtchare' involves collecting fines and increased compliance monitoring.

Here's a better idea: Reports from reliable sources say there are millions in unpaid taxes by FEDERAL EMPLOYEES! How about the existing agents leaving alone all but the most blatent private sector cases and concentrate on cleaning their own house for a year?

Statistics show that people doing the same job as someone in the private sector make 20% more working for the government. If we're intent on 'taxing the rich' here's an exellent place to start.

While I'm on the subject, if redistbution of wealth from the 'evil rich' is such a priority, how about some tort reform so those nasty old trial lawyers don't get rich off of our medical spending?

It's Time to 'Redisribute the Jobs'

Speaking of trial lawyers, with lawyers being so overrepresented in our Congress and the 2010 elections on the horizon, it's time to fire the representatives and senators who gave us no representation over the past eighteen months. Scott Brown is evidence that we can get better representation anywhere. We can look for Jefferson's ideal of citizen governance on all levels as we vote this November.

It goes without saying that Ronald Reagan's vision needs to be implemented again. Taxation and government will need to be cut in order to restore vitality to the market economy that creates real jobs and real growth... the private sector!

Ten Reasons to Fire Nancy Pelosi [click to read] from SWAC Girl.

Stupak's 'Defender of Life Award' Revoked! [click to read]. If they don't 'walk the walk' don't let them 'talk the talk!' Marjorie Dannenfelser makes a clear and needed statement about integrity here!

Supply and Demand, Congress Style [click to read] from Fishersville Mike.

A Visual Stand for Rebuilding America

Twin Tower Alliance [click to read] offers a simple but compelling vision. Visit their site and you can purchase these inspiring posters: