26 March

Friends and Family,

I regret not being able to entertain you weekly with ridiculous stories of Afghan incompetence, but I kind of enjoy not being in Afghanistan. I, as you probably imagined, have been following closely the political environment in our country. I have devoted many hours to researching different movements in our country that would like to see our way of life fundamentally changed…these people are not foreign terrorists, they are the leaders of our country. It was said just before Election Day, “We are 5 days away from fundamentally changing America.” With the awakening of independents and the rise of the Tea Party, many conservative Americans see several east coast political victories as a sign that things are changing and that victory is imminent in November. I, too, have had these thoughts of hope, but am questioning this rationale as of late. What does it take to win in November and in 2012? Some would offer a political awakening; many say this is in progress. Some would simply say there needs to be more conservative minded people than leftist, palm up, share the wealth Marxists/Socialists.

Almost everyone I know has a job and depends on himself and his family alone to get things done. That is my perspective. That is my view of the world, so in “my world,” it is safe to say that unemployment is not a problem, and the few people I know that don’t have secure employment do everything in their power to find such employment to provide for themselves and their families. Many would argue that my world is not representative of the population of America. True. But, if my world did represent the population of the U.S., it is safe to say that a conservative, anti-big government, pro-tax cut, pro-capitalism, pro-life, God Fearing, and American loving candidate would win any election by a landslide. This, of course, is based on the assumption that more conservatives than liberals in my world actually vote. So, we have established that in my world, a conservative candidate will win any election as long as the views of the voting population are representative of the actual population in my world.

Because I do, in fact, live in my world I watch and read the news and say to myself, “How did these people get elected?” (I rarely answer myself, but when I do, I listen). I have trouble conceiving how we got to where we are because that would never happen in “my world.”

But, how much different is “my world” than the real world. Are there more people that want the government out of their personal lives or more people that want to depend on the government? Are there more people that are upset with the way things are going politically in our wonderful country or more people that wish the federal government would do more to solve their personal problems? Regardless of the actual numbers, as I illustrated above, the people with the most votes win the elections. It doesn’t matter how you feel, it matters how you vote.

Below is a disheartening and almost laughable excerpt from a CNNiReport on how OBAMACARE will affect individual Americans.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/03/23/health.care.scenarios/index.html?hpt=C2

The situation: Ira Bennett, 47 and self-employed without insurance, is HIV-positive, and had a heart attack in his early 40s. He estimates his income is about $500 a month from doing yard work and watching a friend's house. Since he couldn't pay for the $70,000 bill for his heart attack treatment, the costs fell to the state and federal government. Paying for his AIDS medications, costing around $2,000 a month, also falls to federal funding through the Ryan White Care Act.

Bennett says: He hasn't sought health insurance for more than five years because of how disheartened he felt after being denied, and reading about others in a similar situation. Ironically, "I can get insurance for my dog, but I cannot get it for me," he said, pointing to his iReport. Now, with the new bill, "I can sleep better knowing that I'll be able to be taken care of, that I'm not a burden of the state, that I can actually pull my weight a little bit," he said.

Expert says: In 2014, Medicaid will cover individuals up to 133 percent of the poverty level, Davis said. The current poverty level for an individual in the 48 contiguous states and the District of Columbia is $10,830, according to the Department of Health and Human Services. Also in 2014, insurance companies will not be able to deny adults with a pre-existing condition coverage or charge them higher premiums. Someone like Bennett might be eligible for Medicaid, or could get insurance through an exchange, a state-based pool established by the reform measure.

Bryson says: The situation is pretty straight forward…the dude is sick and has a ton of bills that the government covers because he cannot. So, Bennet, in his infinite wisdom, rationalizes that once the government gives him free health care it will be a relief to him because he will no longer consider himself a burden on the government…he will then be pulling his weight. That’a boy Bennet, pick yourself up and dust off them shoulders. You’re a new man. Look in the mirror and breathe easy knowing that your no longer a burden on the state; nope, now you’re a burden on the American working man who now has to pay more taxes…Ira, my man, they made a law for you up in Washington, D.C. That’s awesome.

College student about to graduate

The situation: Sylvia Martinez of Torrance, California, was relieved that her 22-year-old daughter's health coverage will be extended. Her art-major daughter graduates in May and is looking into unpaid internships and jobs in the field; many of them don't provide health insurance.

Martinez says: "It's an amazing reprieve essentially," she said. "People like my daughter can become an artist and pursue her dreams" rather than taking a job for the sake of getting health insurance.

Expert says: "Young adults can stay on their parents' health plans up to their 26th birthday, and that starts [in six months], so this is a really important provision for this individual," she said.

Bryson says: You go Sylvia. Pursue those dreams girl…don’t take a job just because they will pay you and make you all independent and stuff and able to, like, care for yourself. That stuff is overrated. It is much more hip to continue to be a burden on your parents all the way through your twenties. Heck, I want to pursue my dreams! I took a break from writing this email, drafted my letter of resignation from active duty, and sent some of my stats to several professional baseball, football, soccer, and track programs. My real dream is to just be a dreamer, so I think I’ll start a union and just dream…wait, they don’t pay me to dream…I’ll write the government so I can get paid to pursue my dreaming dream and get heath care…dreaming makes me happy, and the declaration of independence says I have the right to pursue my happiness, so the government must pay me to dream…I think this is going to work!

Wherever you stand on this issue or many others, I know that most of the people in my world were given nothing except a chance and a choice. The Constitution of the United States declares that all people in the U.S. will have the opportunity to go to school…there’s your chance. The choice lies in the decision to attend, pay attention, and succeed. What you choose do in high school determines if you get the next opportunity. There are many programs out there, public and otherwise, for underprivileged qualified high school students to go to college on scholarships. Some people in my world took the opportunity to go to college, and some didn’t. A few of the more successful people I know didn’t bother with college and worked every day of their lives to get where they are today. Our government and the bottom feeders it provides hand-outs to want you to fund their welfare programs to keep a certain portion of the population dependent upon the government. A man that depends on the government for basic necessities like food and medical care is a slave. Moses and Aaron led the enslaved Israelites out of Egypt, the founders led the fight to free the unrepresented yet taxed in the early days of the American Revolution, a Republican president led the fight to free the enslaved in America in the 1800s and today we are faced with leaders who want nothing more than a population that relies upon them for the most basic of needs…they want slaves. I want freedom.

See the quote on Freedom from an unknown author:

I do not choose to be a common man. It is my right to be uncommon – if I can. I seek opportunity – not security. I do not wish to be a kept citizen, humbled and dulled by having the state look after me.

I want to take the calculated risk, to dream and to build, to fail and to succeed.

I refuse to barter incentive for a dole; I prefer the challenges of life to the guaranteed existence, the thrill of fulfillment to the stale calm of Utopia.

I will not trade my freedom for beneficence, nor my dignity for a handout. I will never cower before any master, not bend to any threat.

So, what next? What side of history are you going to stand on? Make sure you and yours are registered to vote. Make sure your kid's friends are registered to vote and make sure that people know that every time the folks in D.C. sign a bill that takes away one of your choices to do what you want with what is YOURS; we become a little LESS FREE. And as far as others’ right to pursue their happiness…they have all the room in the world as long as their pursuit doesn’t affect yours and mine…forcing me to pay for someone else’s happiness is an infringement on my inalienable right.