Politics

Chick-Fil-A spicy chicken biscuit

 

In case that you have lived under a rock for the last two weeks, you might have heard that the CEO, Dan Cathy,
made comments recently about the “support of the traditional family”, i.e. the marriage between a man and a woman.

Today I was asked by a friend what I thought of all this, because 1) I would have an opinion, 2) I watch the news on a daily basis and I keep up with going on and 3) I am a Christian.  So here is a summary of my response.

  • The CEO of a private of company made a public comment
  • What if McDonald’s or a company founded or run by an atheist, would they be the same standard?
  • Did they know realize that Chick-Fil-A was founded on Christian principles?
  • Aren’t we all humans and why can’t we enjoy some waffle fries?

So to expand on these a little more, here is what I was trying to get at.

The CEO of Chick-Fil-A, Dan Cathy, made a comment about his personal views about the company. His comment was in regards to the “support of the traditional family”.  At no time did he mention that Chick-Fil-A was refusing a gay person or their significant other a meal? Did he mention that Chick-Fil-A would not franchise out a new store to a gay couple? No.

But let’s take it a step further. What if McDonald’s had made the same statement? Would there be the same outcry?  And what if the owner of a private McDonald’s franchise was an atheist, would they receive the same negative press? I don’t have an answer to that question.

But who doesn’t know that Chick-Fil-A isn’t owned and for the most part, operated by Christians that own franchises? For goodness sake, they are closed on Sundays. Seriously? What more do you want to know? Do a few Google searches and you  will quickly realize where the founding principles of the company come from. But, take a step back and ask yourself again, if an atheist owned a company, would you have the same response? Would people/the public/the news be so quick to jump to the same conclusions and statements? Here is just 1 article that I found from Forbes.com.

So for my disclaimer, I do not know Dan Cathy or for that matter, anyone that works at Chick-Fil-A. However, I do love their food. The spicy chicken sandwich and waffles fries are off the hook. That being said, here are my personal views. I don’t care that Dan Cathy made these comments, because, he as a business owner, made a statement about his company. A statement, that should not have shocked anyone. I truly believe that if you were to poll 10 people, they would almost all agree that Chick-Fil-A is a Christian company.  But to go 1 final step, a private citizen, who made a comment, but did not discriminate against anyone entering into one of their stores. The Muppets have been dropped by Chick-Fil-A, the Mayor of Boston tells Chick-Fil-A to stay out of Boston, and now Governor Huckabee is launching a Chick-Fil-A Appreciation Day.

Where does it all end? I just want a Spicy Grilled Chicken and some waffle fries from Chick-Fil-A and call it a day.

 

 

 

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24 hours later after the Supreme Court ruling and I was asked this morning by a co-worker what my thoughts were about Obamacare and how does it play into the writing on the blog. So, here goes:

I will answer the question about the ruling in two parts. The first part is simple, I think that Chief Justice’s ruling that the mandate was constitutional was wrong. Let’s be honest, when one of the most liberal Justices, Justice Kennedy is against a ruling like this, you know that something isn’t right. But, let’s look at the mandate in a broad spectrum, the Justice’s ruled that the US government has the authority to make private citizens purchase a product or good. Has a new precedent been established by the courts?  Will they now make the government to require that everyone buy car insurance, whether they need it or want it or not? Whether they drive or not? Will the government now require that all citizens must own a cell phone? Do I think that those two things will ever happen, no, but I also didn’t think that they would make this ruling either.

The second answer that I have to this first question, is that Justice Robert did in fact give Mitt Romney a gift. He ruled that the mandate was in fact constitutional, but that it was a TAX. That is right, a tax. And not just any tax, the largest tax increase that has ever been handed down to the American public. Here are just a few articles that touch on this subject:

The polls were pretty clear that the majority of the American people did not want the mandate included. That being said, there were good merits to this bill. The elimination of pre-existing conditions, affordable health care, etc. But let’s look at it from another point of view, for all of the small businesses that are out there, is it cheaper to provide healthcare or pay the tax? If it is cheaper to pay the tax, guess what they are going to do? PAY THE TAX! Which means, that their employees have to go out on their own and pick up their own private insurance policy, which might be more than what they were paying before the bill took effect.

So, why do I write about politics in a blog about raising my boys, well, 1) It is my blog, 2) These bills that are being passed today, will have an affect on my boys, both now and in the future and 3) I just love politics.  The game of the election just changed. Obamacare became the new focus of the election, the question is, can Mitt Romney deliver the message to the American people in a way that it resonates with them?

So tonight, I type. I think ahead for the next several months, I wonder if Obamacare stays at the for front of everyone’s mind or do jobs float back to the top? I wonder how the elections will be? I wonder if the turnout will be like it was 4 years ago or two years ago ?I wonder if the Independents step up and vote for Romney instead of Obama. I wonder, would I feel the same way about this bill had Chief Justice Roberts ruled differently?

Regardless, for today, Obamacare stands and all American’s will be afforded the right to healthcare. However, I wonder what will happen in a few months, a few years? I wonder if this healthcare bill will be a good or bad thing? Will parts stand out that helped others, will the new taxes that will be asset destroy small businesses and individuals?

I wonder.

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To say that I am a political junkie would be a tremendous understatement. I love politics. I love talking about politics and if and I would run for local office and her words are that “she is a political liability”. I love talking politics with those that have similar views and love talking politics with those that don’t share my views. One of my co-workers will tell you that we have the best politics discussions (please note that I said discussions as we discuss our views) and we have completely opposite opinions.

We are only a few months away from the next Presidential election and as a life long Republican, I’m not really sure how I feel about our chances of regaining the White House. And I am also beginning to become concerned about losing the House as well. So here are my thoughts on the current field of Republican candidates:

Mitt Romney – A business leader. A former Governor.  Someone that knows how to lead a state, establish a budget, lead others. In saying that, Romney Care does have some similar points as Obama Care. My personal belief is that barring any major setbacks, Mitt Romney will be the Republican candidate to face President Obama. I think that Mitt Romney is the best candidate that can reach both Republicans and also Independent voters.  Is Mitt Romney the best candidate that is running, I believe so. And I believe that he can beat President Obama.

There is one other Republican candidate, Ron Paul, that is still left in the race.  I have intentionally skipped over this candidate, as in my opinion, as even though Ron Paul has been an effective leader, he is not the right candidate to take on President Obama.

I love politics. And right now, I have 1 fear: That Mitt Romney gets the nomination and Ron Paul decides to run as an Independent and takes votes away from Mitt Romney.

The next 6 months will be very interesting and depending on the polls, it is a very tight race. Leads will change. Digs will be made at each candidate. But one thing that I think is for sure, this election comes down to 3 things and 3 things only:

1) Economy – How the markets are doing? Has the housing market improved? Are people spending money again?
2) Jobs – Are people back to work? And please do not confuse my thinking here, I am not basing this off the reported jobless claims report. I am referring to the actually number of people that are out of work.
3) Independents – The Independents will decide this years election. The majority of the voters have a good idea of how they are going to vote if they had to make a decision today. But it is those that are on the fence and the Independents that are going to decide which party takes control, because I do not think that it is just the White House up for grabs. The Senate is definitely in play as well this year.

So how are the Republican candidates going to shape up this year? Your guess is as good as mine. I do think that Mitt Romney has a great chance to win, not because the Republicans want him in the White House, but because they want President Obama out. But I think that if Mitt can gain some traction and really focus on the 3 things that I pointed out:
1) Economy – Lay out a plan to reduce the deficit and balance our budgets (which has not been done under the current administration);
2) Jobs – Lay out a plan to get Americans back to work, give corporations a tax incentive to bring jobs back to the United States;
3) Independents – Reach out and take a moderate stance, instead of the normal far right approach

I think, if those 3 goals are achieved, Mitt Romney will in fact win the election.

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Today is Health Care Day 2 for the Supreme Court and their hearing of oral arguments on whether or not the Health Care plan that President Obama signed into law was constitutional or not?  And at the center of the arguments today is the highly contested and most often questions, Individual Mandate. I discussed yesterday my views on Health Care and what I thought that should be done, but I was asked by a friend, what does Health Care have to do with your sons?

Here it is in a nut shell.  If the law, as it is today, stands and goes into effect in 2014, there are a few things that could have an effect on the boys:

  1. If everyone is required to have medical insurance, getting an appointment if the boys are sick, will be that much harder with their Doctor.
  2. If small businesses are required to pay more for health care, then jobs could be slashed from employees.
  3. If jobs are slashed and cost of goods and services go up, that means, that as the parents of these boys, we have less money to spend on them.
  4. If we have less money to spend on the boys, that means less spending on family outings, meals out, baseball games, college savings, etc.

So, yes, this current Health Care bill does have an effect on my sons. It has an effect on all of us. I think that most agree that we have a health care issue, the difference is, I think that what is being proposed is going to do more long term harm than good. All American’s deserve the right to have Health Care, but it is the individuals right if they want it or not.  And I for one, would rather keep my discretionary income for my family, then see the cost of goods and gas go up higher due to the Health Care bill.

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Today marks a historic day in our country.  Today, the United States Supreme Court begins hearing oral arguments on whether or not the Health care that President Obama signed into law is constitutional or not. The Affordable Care Act is designed to help those that do not have insurance currently, the ability to obtain insurance at a reasonable cost regardless of pre-existing conditions. Now, I am really paraphrasing this, because this law is really a lot more than this. There are a lot of things within this bill that are great. There is a WHOLE  that I disagree with.

And for today’s purposes, I only want to address 1 portion of this bill pertaining to Individual Mandate, my suggestion for an alternative proposal to health care, and how I think that the Supreme Court might rule on this bill.

There is a lot of controversy over the topic of Individual Mandate. Curious to know what the Individual Mandate is? Here it is in it’s simplest form: By 2014, if you, a private citizen, does not have insurance, you will be forced to either purchase insurance or pay a penalty. So, what does this really mean? If you, an individual, does not have insurance by 2014, the United States government, if this bill passes, will require you to either purchase insurance from a private company or pay a penalty for not having insurance. I believe strongly that if you are an American citizen that you have certain rights that are guaranteed under the Constitution and no where does it say that you have to have insurance.

Now, do I think that American citizens should have insurance? Absolutely. However, this gets to be a tricky issue.  Currently, in many states, there is a shortage of Doctors, Nurses and Nurse Practitioners. Why is this a concern? Well, let’s say that 1 million new patients come into the insurance system and start going to the Doctor, because for the first time in 10 years, they have insurance. What happens? A serious backlog at Doctor offices, which means, longer waits to be seen and treated.  US News and World Report had a story that Three Quarters of Americans could not afford Health Care and that roughly 9 million Americans lost their health insurance over the last 3 years due to the economic conditions and job loss.

This only backs up my thought that by adding 9 million new patients, a new problem is created, an even greater shortage of Doctors. So, unlike most that disagree with legislation, I have an alternative solution and though, it is flawed, it does make sense:

  1. Strike down portions of this bill, especially as it pertains to the Individual Mandate. Allow private citizens to choose what they would like to do. Give them the option to opt in or not, with no penalty. But give them the option, that if they have a pre-existing condition, that they are not denied coverage or charged an astronomical amount for coverage.
  2. Let’s provide affordable options that are affordable for individuals and/or families, to ensure their medical care.
  3. Let’s address the shortage of Doctors in this country. I have often heard that Doctors have huge student loans after they graduate. Let’s help them, as they treat patients. Create a medical health care system, that allows those that do not have insurance a free or subsided clinic that provides 24 hour care.  But, just as residents do at hospitals, they work with patients under the supervision of a Doctor, let’s do the same thing. Give these residents that choose to work at these clinics a stipend salary and allow them to reduce their overall student loans.
  4. By creating this new system where uninsured patients are treated by residents (oversee by an attending Doctor), this frees up our ERs in our America that are often filled with uninsured patients (hospitals can not turn away people that need medical treatment if they are unable to pay or not), thus allowing ERs to treat those with insurance that need immediate help.

Again, I am not saying that my idea is the greatest, but it solves several needs and addresses our shortage of Doctors. But by going to a system like this, patients are treated, new residents are able to learn, and ultimately, citizens are not told or penalized if they do not have insurance.

As for what I think the Supreme Court will do? My best guess is that I don’t have the first clue. If you look at this down party lines, there is a 5-4 vote for more Conservative Justices. My guess is that the bill maybe sent back to Congress and certain parts of this bill will either be re-written or removed completely, i.e. the Individual Mandate. My thinking is that the Justices’ will view the Government forcing citizens to purchase insurance from a private company will be viewed as unconstitutional. But at the end of the day, I do believe that people have a right to be treated and they should. I just do not believe that the Government can force an individual to purchase health insurance or pay a penalty for not doing so.

More to come on this very controversial topic, but take a look at this Consumer report to read a little bit more on the health care law that will be heard tomorrow.

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Today, which is referred to as Super Tuesday, marks one of the largest primary days for the upcoming Presidential election and there are some key battleground states that could really determine who the Republican Presidential nominee is going to be.

Virginia – Only Mitt Romney and Ron Paul are on the ballets, and with 46 delegate votes at stack, Mitt Romney should be able to take this state pretty easily.

Ohio – According to many polls (Real Clear Politics) – Mitt Romney has a slight edge. And if you follow politics, Ohio is always a key state, because usually whichever way Ohio goes, so goes the party that gets the White House.  But, Rick Santorum, who had been leading Ohio in previous weeks, is still within the margin of area.

Tennessee – This state is always tricky, because this is one of the few southern states that Mitt Romney has a good shot at winning. According to Real Clear Politics, Rick Santorum has a slight 2.6 point favor over Mitt Romney.

The New York Times does a great job of breaking out the number of delegates that are in play and how close some of the races truly are, especially Tennessee.  Super Tuesday this year is taking on a new look, as it is truly showing the division between the Republican party and the uncertainty of who will be the nominee to run against President Obama.

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Have you seen the news lately? Analysts are predicting $4.15 – $5.00 a gallon gas prices. So how does this affect you? Well, it is a chain of events.

1) Gas Prices rise.
2) Businesses pass along the higher charges to the consumer because the are losing money on their higher gas prices.
3) Food prices will rise.
4) People will not travel as much, thus the number of people taking vacations will decrease.
5) Because less people travel, the need for seasonal jobs will decrease because the demand is not there. Or companies can not afford to pay as much because of the higher gas prices and lay people off.
6) And unemployment rises again.

To give real numbers, here is what it will cost my family based on the following early projected gas prices for a fill-up.  And my wife and I each fill-up at least one time a week, sometimes twice a week. Because of these projected numbers, we will have to sit down as a family and make decisions on future trips and really look at the cost benefit of traveling out of state and maybe even out of town.

Gallons
Gas Prices at $4.15
Gas Prices at $5.00
My SUV 16 gallons
$66.40
$80.00
My wife’s SUV 15 gallons
$62.25
$75.00

See the trend here? Gas prices rising will only hurt our economy, plain and simple. And normally, I wouldn’t get on a soap box about gas prices, except for 1 primary reason and that is, there isn’t a logical reason as to why the prices are that high. And no, I am not one of those that believe that we should cut off our oil dependency immediately and go to electric cars. And I don’t because the technology in my opinion is not refined to the point that the number of cars can be put out on the roads and maintained if there are problems.

Do we need to look at alternatives to oil, absolutely. But, we also need to drill and harvest the oil that we can control and not be so sufficient on overseas oil. Until then, our gas prices will continue to rise, as the demand is greater than the supply. Though I did hear that the demand for oil has sifted from the US to India and China, which I thought was pretty interesting.

From what I have read, the Keystone Pipeline would have increased jobs by 20,000,and  increased oil so that we never have to import another drop of oil and the current administration rejected the project.  Sometimes I wonder if politicians forget why they were elected and allow the political game to become the focal point and not the voters that elected them to office.

Here is a crazy idea, let’s do what is best for the residents of the US and not what is best politically.  $5.00 a gallon for gas, is not and will not help this struggling economy.

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Being a political junkie, this time of year is very exciting for me, because it is political time.  To say that I love politics, would be an understatement and to the readers of this blog that know me personally, they all know my political beliefs. But as a father, I think that my role changes, as do the way that I look at politics. I think that it goes from me having my own personal beliefs, to teaching my sons about both parties and the beliefs of each. If asked, I will offer my stance, but I want my boys to grow up and make the best decision for them as it pertains to their political beliefs.

Upcoming Elections:
With the new election on months away, the Republicans are currently trying to decide who will be their candidate to run against President Obama. The biggest problem that I see for the Republicans is who is the best candidate? And not just from the stand point of running the country, but who can actually win the election? As it stands right now, I believe that the best choice will be Gov. Mitt Romney , not because I believe in all of his positions, but because I believe that out of the Republican candidates, he is most electable.

But this election is not just about the White House, but also the Senate. Currently, Democrats hold a 51-47 hold on Congress, with 2 Independents. And there is a chance that the Republicans could take Congress and maintain control of the House as well. So regardless of winning the White House or not, if the Republicans are able to take Congress, that would be a victory in and of itself.

Our Current National Debt:

The Gross National Debt

As you can see, our Federal Spending is growing at an alarming rate and there doesn’t seem to be an end in sight. Unemployment rates have stayed at or around 9% and the approach that this current administration has taken of with or without Congress is scary politics. I just hope that by the time that my kids are older, that things will change for the better.

 

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According to the current CBO (Congressional Budget Office), as of January the current unemployment numbers are still in the 8.5% range and will more than likely remain in the 8% range for the remainder of this year and next.  The problem with this, as I see it, is that current number of people that are continuing on unemployment is about the same, if not more month over month. I will be curious to see what the revised numbers look like for January’s current unemployment numbers look like in the coming weeks.  I still think that at the end of the day:

  1. The numbers are wrong, as they only factor in those that are still looking for jobs that are eligible for unemployment.
  2. That the election is largely going to be decided by those that feel that the current Administration has done a good enough job and those that believe that another candidate could do a better job.

Every day that I drive to work, I think about several friends that aren’t as fortunate. They struggle to make it week to week. They are part of that number and they hate it, often times admitting how embarrassed that they are that they are out of work.  I am truly blessed.

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In thinking about the topics that I have been writing on the past, I thought that now would be a good time to expand and add new topics of discussion. That being said, the first two new topics will be Sports and the always controversial Politics.

Being both a father and also a guy, Sports has always been a huge part of my life and I am hoping that my boys will love playing and watching sports as much as I did and continue to do so. And as for politics, I want my boys to learn about history and politics and allow them to make decisions that best represent their views. I am sure that I will have a little influence, but I want to try to give them both sides of each argument.

Let the discussions begin!

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