2697 Deaths And Counting...

In Texas we have signs over the interstate highways that periodically show the number of traffic fatalities so far in the current year and remind drivers to wear seat belts and refrain from drinking and driving.  I saw one a little while ago that said "There have been 2697 traffic deaths so far this year.  Please don't drink and drive and always wear your seat belt."

2697 deaths this year from traffic accidents in the state of Texas.  That's over 9 per day and the highest number of total deaths in the country last year. Surprisingly, given the population of Texas, that's only about 11 deaths per 100,000 people in the state.  It ranks us #24 in total traffic deaths in the country by state.  Believe it or not, Wyoming has the most traffic deaths per population.

Having lost my son in a traffic accident (because he wasn't wearing a seat belt) it always strikes me to see these figures.  I don't drink and drive and, because of my son, I don't go anywhere without my seat belt. Some people will ask "What about those people who died because they couldn't get their seat belts off?" That question is pretty rare these days because statistics prove that number to be very minuscule.  Seat belts save infinitely far more lives than those lost because of them.

Today is November 13th.  There are 48 days left in the year.  At the rate of 9.4 deaths per day that means statistically there should be 451 more traffic deaths in Texas by year's end.  We ended last year with 2998 total.  The projected total for this year is 3148.  That's an increase of 150 people.  You would think that with the safety of vehicles these days traffic fatalities would decrease.  That doesn't seem to be the case.

On the news earlier today I heard about a guy in Dallas who was tailgating another driver.  The other driver put on his brakes in hope the guy in such a hurry would pass him.  It worked.  But the tailgating driver put a bullet through the other driver's window and into his arm as he went by.

I can't help but wonder if the speed limits in Texas are a factor in the number of traffic deaths.  Some of the highways, including two lane country roads, have posted speed limits of 75mph.  But in Texas, if you want to get anywhere in a reasonable time, you have to drive fast or it can take all day - literally.  From Orange, Texas, just inside the Eastern border from Louisiana on I-10, to El Paso on the Western border is 854 miles - a drive of 13 hours and 23 minutes not counting stops.  And believe me - you'll need to stop.  After San Antonio the drive is dull and boring and yes...  ugly.  There's nothing out in West Texas except open land, small towns and oil wells.  Try that drive at 55 and you'll be spending another night in Texas!

I don't know what the answer is.  I do know that people need to wake up and pay attention when they're driving.  3000 deaths in one state in one year is too many.  I don't have the answer but I think broadcasting it on the lighted sign is a pretty good start - except that it takes the driver's eyes away from the road. Hmmmm...

A Bad Plan Better Than No Plan?

With the recent roll out of Obamacare and the disastrous results that followed (millions losing their current plans, a failed website and repeated lies from the White House) Republicans and conservatives (and many disillusioned Democrats lately) are calling for Obamacare to be scrubbed, or at least delayed before the crisis worsens.  

Many die hard Obama fans, however, are still trying to pretend Obamacare is a good law that only needs to be further implemented by fixing the web site.  They ignore the fact that eventually more people will lose their current plans than the number of uninsured.  Somehow that's OK with them - particularly if it forces more people to enroll in Obamacare.

When Republicans cite all the problems with the law and its implementation Democrats and liberal pundits are quick to ask "Where is the Republican plan?" They seem to have this notion that a disastrous and failed plan is better than no plan at all.  I would have to differ with that notion.

Since March of 2010, when the bill was officially signed into law by the President, complete with the prop child next to the table and Obama's adoring fans behind him, there has been no real need for Republicans to propose a plan since it wasn't going to go anywhere.  Some have come up with their ideas but nothing formal, to my knowledge, has been proposed because it would be a waste of time at this point.

But the Affordable Care Act is going to force millions of people out of their current plans - the ones that the President said they could keep.  Period.  End of story. Oops.

The other day the President "apologized" for people being mislead because they believed what he said.  That's basically what he did.  He didn't say "I lied to you. You can't keep your plans."  He didn't say "The information I put out wasn't true or correct and I'm sorry for that."  He very slyly blamed it on the poor fools who listened to him for listening to him.  And many of them are still listening to him.

Obamacare is a disaster and will cost the country billions, also contrary to what the President said.  So maybe no plan at this point would be better than his.  The status quo has always been better than Obamacare.  And the last few weeks have proved that beyond a shadow of a doubt.

Did You Know?

Did you know your health insurance policy may not be good enough? Let's say you need health insurance because you recently received a letter from your insurance company saying your policy is being cancelled because of the new "Affordable" Care Act regulations.  Your policy doesn't cover maternity care, mammograms, or provide you with birth control so the government has labeled it a junk policy and you're now required to get all that coverage.

Let's say you're 63.  And just for fun - let's say you're a man.  The government still says your plan in no good because it doesn't meet their minimum standards.  It has been serving you well for 20 years but now the government has decided you aren't intelligent enough to know what insurance coverage you want and need so they will decide for you.

The other day the President went on TV to offer some type of apology for his lies about Obamacare and the fact that he deliberately mislead the American people. What he actually said was "I am sorry that they are finding themselves in this situation based on assurances they got from me."  Not exactly an apology for lying to the people.  But did anyone really expect him to admit his lies?

Last week, when the lies about keeping your insurance plan became so apparent they could no longer be hidden from the public, the President changed his statement into yet another lie.  “If you had one of these plans before the Affordable Care Act came into law and you really liked that plan, what we said was you can keep it if it hasn't changed since the law passed," he said on national television. But that's not what he said before.  For three years he has been saying "If you like the plan you have now you can keep it.  Period." And he accused anyone who said otherwise of lying.

President Obama may be the most dishonest President in this nation's history. He promised transparency and has done nothing but hide, mislead and outright lie to us from day one.  How he got re-elected in 2012 is still a mystery to me.

Did you know that part of the Obamacare law allows government insurance exchanges to share your personal information with the IRS and law enforcement agencies?  Think your medical records will be private?  The government has already mandated that everyone go to a computerized medical record system. With the NSA spying on practically everyone and the IRS being directly involved in your health care coverage how long do you think it will take for the government to begin accessing your medical records. They are already getting doctors to inquire whether or not you own a firearm.  How deep will they go?  It's anyone's guess.

Did you know that  Seedco, the Structured Employment Economic Development Corporation, is a national, nonprofit, community development organization that works with local organizations in low-income communities to promote economic advancement and help people move out of poverty. Seedco partners with local community-based organizations (CBOs) to provide assistance to job seekers, workers, and small business owners in disadvantaged communities. 

In December of 2012 Seedco agreed to pay $1.725 million dollars as a settlement of the civil fraud lawsuit brought by the Obama Justice Department.  Earlier this year President Obama gave this company a multi-million dollar contract to provide navigators for Obamacare enrollments.  Did you know?

Did you know that by the time it's over there will be more people in the United States who have had their insurance policies cancelled due to Obamacare than the number of people it was supposed to cover in the first place?  Estimates of the numbers that will be cancelled are now over 120 million people.  The people who didn't have insurance coverage, you know - before Obamacare, ranged somewhere between 20 and 40 million.  So 120 million are losing their coverage so 30 million can get it.  How could I not see how wonderful Obamacare is before?

Finally - did you know Tom Cruise just made a fool of himself again?  Sometime during the week Cruise said his location shoots are just like serving a tour in Afghanistan, "That's what it feels like. And certainly on this last movie, it was brutal. It was brutal."

Really, Tom?  Like serving in Afghanistan?  So tell me...  when, exactly, was it that you were filming and someone was shooting real bullets at you?  And when did one of your cast or crew step on an IED?  Maybe one of them was taken prisoner....?

Tom Cruise is a great actor but sometimes he says some really stupid things.

Obamacare By Morning....

Here we go again.  It seems you can't disagree with, or even make fun of Obamacare now lest ye be labeled a racist and a hater.

The other night on the Country Music Association Awards show, singers Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood performed a short skit in which they made fun of Obamacare and the exorbitant length of time it takes to sign up (because of the miserable performance of the web site.)  They weren't derogatory.  They didn't criticize or even mention the President in any way.  They didn't even say anything negative about the policies or the care itself or the cost of it.  They mocked the near impossibility of actually being successful getting insurance in any reasonable amount of time because of the web site failure using George Strait's old song "Amarillo By Morning."  And it was pretty funny.

The lyrics are hardly racist.  They are a humorous look at the length of time and the screw-ups in the website. They're posted below:

“Obamacare by morning.
Why’s this taking so long?
I’m going to wind up with hemorrhoids
If I sit here till dawn.
We’ll have cataracts and dementia.
Oh, this is gettin’ on my last nerve.
Obamacare by morning
Over six people served.”

Within minutes of Paisley and Underwood singing their little song the racist accusations began to fly.  Social websites lit up with comments not only about Paisley and Underwood but about the CMA in general.  "What do you expect from a bunch of rich, white racists!" was one of the comments.  I can't help but wonder what Darius Rucker thinks about that.  And Charley Pride is probably rolling over in his grave learning that he belonged to an organization of rich, white racists.

"I will never watch the CMA's again," was another comment.  And my favorite: "If George W. Bush had implemented the health care law they wouldn't be mocking him!"  And of course every other post was something about racism.  There were far too many to copy and post them all.

How quickly people forget their own mockery of George W. Bush - everything from calling him "Shrub" to portraying him as Alfred E. Neuman from "MAD" magazine.  (In all fairness, President Obama has been portrayed as Neuman as well.)  My point is that regardless of what people have said about other presidents in the past - in the Obamamania world any derogatory comment made about Obama by anyone other than a black person is automatically translated into racism.

The "R" word is just too easy for the left to invoke these days.  I can't help but wonder what the left would do if a white male Democrat had been elected and passed a terrible health care bill then implemented it with a disastrous, failed web site.  When people criticized it they couldn't scream "racism" or "sexism" (as they would if Hillary was President) so what would that leave them?  Imagine - a world in which Democrats had no derogatory response to criticism.  As John Lennon once said...  "It's easy if you try."

The Dumbing Down Of America...?

In September of 2010, Senate Republicans, led by Wyoming Senator Mike Enzi, introduced a bill that would have amended the grandfather clause that had recently been changed by the Department of Health and Human Services.  Having read the Federal Register, Senator Enzi knew that millions of people would have their insurance policies cancelled upon the implementation of Obamacare.  It was right there in black and white.  Senate Democrats voted the bill down and Senator Enzi was called crazy and was said to be a fear monger.

Today we know that Senator Enzi was not only correct but tried to do something about it, only to be shut down.  The Democrats and President Obama have full ownership of this fiasco but still refuse to take responsibility, or even tell the truth about it.

The other day President Obama went on TV and flat out lied to the American people about lies he had already told.  “If you have a plan that you like…  what we said was…  you can keep it unless there are changes to it after the bill is signed into law.”  Not only did he lie about the fact that people could keep their insurance plans but he lied about what he said.  There are over two dozen different video clips of President Obama promising people they could keep their insurance plans and keep their doctors.  In none of them did he say “if your plan doesn’t change.”  In fact – in several of them he said “You can keep your plan.  Period.  End of story.”

As of 4pm yesterday afternoon the whitehouse.gov website still had a statement that said people could keep their plans if they liked them.  And there was no disclaimer on the page that said anything like “if your plan hasn’t changed since the bill was signed into law.”  Apparently whoever runs the website forgot to go back and change that little detail.  Oops.

There are those, however, that will continue to defend Obama and Obamacare even at the expense of looking stupid.  Senator Dianne Feinstein, (D) California, on Monday said that the President didn’t lie.  She said the President told people they could keep their plans unless there were changes to those plans.  She then said “according to what I understand.”  She’s either not intelligent enough to research it herself or she was simply repeating what the President said in hope that her constituents would believe it.  And since they have re-elected her numerous times I’m guessing that’s a possibility.

Liberal radio talk show host Tamera Holder was on Sean Hannity last night as part of a large, bipartisan panel discussion, which Hannity does often.  Holder told Hannity (and all of the viewers) that “President Obama didn’t lie.  He told people they could keep their plans if there were no changes.”

When Hannity pointed out that in none of the clips did the President use the word “If” her response was “Well – he said he did,” meaning he said it on Monday.  How blind do you have to be to follow someone and defend them when there is such enormous evidence against them?

The fact the President had the gall to go on national television and lie about what he said, given the numerous videos that prove otherwise, indicate that he understands that his followers, his fan base, live by the motto “Let’s just believe whatever he said last and go with it.” 

In 2010, shortly after Senate Democrats rejected the bill amending the grandfather clause to prevent policies from beseing cancelled due to Obamacare, Republicans reacted.

“The District of Columbia is an island surrounded by reality.  Only in the District of Columbia could you get away with telling the people if you like what you have you can keep it, then pass regulations six months later that do just the opposite and figure the people are going to ignore it.  But common sense is eventually going to prevail in this town and common sense is going to have to prevail on this piece of legislation as well,” said Senator Chuck Grassley at the time.

“The administration’s own regulations prove this is not the case.  Under the grandfathering regulation, according to the White House’s own economic impact analysis, as many as 69% of businesses will lose their grandfathered status by 2013 and be forced to buy government approved plans,” the Iowa Republican said.

The worst part of this entire thing is that Senate Democrats (at the very least), the Department of Health and Human Services and yes, I believe the President himself, knew about these predicted cancellations and not only allowed them to happen but lied about it for three years.  And that absolutely includes the President of the United States.  As I said – as of yesterday afternoon the whitehouse.gov website still promised people they could keep their plans if they wanted.  No “ifs”, “buts” or “howevers”.  So unless they’ve changed it, the whitehouse.gov website says President Obama is a liar.

Of course whether or not the President lied the first time is speculative if he never admits it.  But does anyone really believe Senator Enzi read information from the Federal Register on the Senate floor, which said specifically that up to 69% of people would likely lose their insurance, and introduced a bill to change things which was voted down by the Democrats, and no one in Washington informed President Obama about it?  OK – anyone besides Dianne Feinstein and Tamera Holder?

It’s clear to anyone who isn’t publicly protecting President Obama that he lied over and over about people being able to keep their insurance policies.  The lies have been perpetrated by Democrats and liberal pundits and have been echoed over and over by his blind followers. 

Democrats in Washington are becoming worried about their futures and the election next year given the enormity of the deception and the number of people it’s going to affect – both Democrat and Republican.  Republicans running against Democrats for their seats, as well as Republican incumbents, have far worse ammunition to use against the Democrats now than the Democrats have simply blaming the government shut down on Republicans.  The President of the United States was caught in a blatant lie to the American people.  It will be interesting to see where all of this goes.  

President Obama lied about his health care bill.  He lied about Benghazi.  He says he didn't know about all of the other questionable things going on in his administration and yet, even though his approval rating is waning these days, people still love and admire him.  We've been spoon fed the love for Obama by his administration and the media and they continue to do it.  Some of us spit out the bitter tasting stuff while others swallow it readily and ask for more.  If the masses are kept misinformed and given what they need by the government they remain quiet and pacified.  More and more each day we are witnessing the dumbing down of America.

Obama's Biggest Lie Yet?

Over the last several years President Obama has been telling everyone in the country that Obamacare will allow everyone to keep their insurance plans and their doctors if that’s what they wanted to do.  “If you like the plan that you have,” he said over and over, “you can keep your plan.  Period!”  He insinuated that those who said otherwise were liars and that they were trying to mislead the public in order to derail Obamacare.

The mainstream media and faithful Obama supporters joined in the fight against those who would oppose Obamacare.  We were labeled racists, haters, liars, uninformed, ignorant and even unpatriotic because we saw disaster coming and weren’t afraid to tell people about it.  Then…  it happened.

On October 1^st the Obamacare registration period went into effect.  Immediately there were problems.  Not only did the official web site crash within a day but people around the nation began receiving notices that their health insurance policies were being cancelled because of the required changes specified by Obamacare.  Some people had had their policies for years and suddenly they were told their insurance would be cancelled within a month or two.

The Obama administration, liberal pundits, Democrat elected officials and Obama supporters staunchly defended Obama and his health care law.  They blamed the insurance companies for the cancellations and blamed the Republicans for the problems with the web site.  (I’m not sure how they got around to that – something about rushing the implementation, without testing, because of the Republicans.  It made no sense then and it makes no sense now.) 

They began telling people the reason they were losing their health care policies was because the policies were worthless and didn’t cover enough things.  Obamacare, they said, will provide maternity care, birth control, breast cancer screenings, etc., - all these necessary things that your current policy doesn’t provide - even if you’re a 63 year old man.  How wonderful is that?

We discovered that the Obama administration paid at least $624 million to a Canadian firm whose leadership just happens to include Michelle Obama’s best friend from Princeton, who coincidentally spent Christmas at the White House not too long ago.  The software firm, CGI, had recently been fired by the Canadian government for producing less than satisfactory products.

Journalists not on the President’s cheerleading team, who actually practiced journalism and investigated Obamacare, discovered in an obscure report, buried in a June 2010 edition of the Federal Register, that administration officials had predicted massive disruption of the private insurance market.  White House spokesman Jay Carney said recently that these cancellations would affect only about 5% of the population and indicated that people were making far too big a deal about it.  But 5% of the population is about 15 million people.  Are they no big deal, Jay?

But the Federal Register also predicts that in the coming year(s) up to 51% of employer based health care plans will also be cancelled.  The new estimate takes the total number of plans cancelled up to somewhere between 93 and 140 million.  That could be nearly half the population of the United States.  And many believe it’s by design.  And by the way - I hate to say I told you so but geez - we did tell you.  And you said we were crazy.

The Obama administration then went into its predictable and familiar mantra…  “The President was unaware that this was going to happen.”  That is, until documentation became public that a meeting was held in the White House concerning the President’s continued statements that people could keep their coverage.  It seems White House Aides said the President could be making a mistake by telling people they could keep their coverage without a disclaimer and the White House policy advisers told them to shut up because telling the truth could hurt Obamacare and the President.  So a conscious decision was made that the President would intentionally mislead the public until the implementation of Obamacare this year.

With even Democrats and some of his staunchest supporters beginning to question his honesty, yesterday the President decided it was time to do a little damage control.  Over the last three years he has been repeating, over and over, things like “If you like your health care plan, you will be able to keep your health care plan.  Period.  No one will take it away.  No matter what.”

That’s pretty direct and to the point.  There are video recordings all over the television and the internet that clearly show him making these statements.  However, yesterday he made a statement concerning the cancellation of policies and what he had told Americans over and over.

“Now, if you have or had one of these plans before the Affordable Care Act came into law and you really liked that plan, what we said was you can keep it if it hasn’t changed since the law passed.” 

Really, Mr. President?  You said that?  Can you please find and produce one video or transcript that proves you said that?  Because we, the American people, can produce dozens of videos and transcripts which show you didn’t.

The President may have told his biggest lie to date yesterday.  OK – maybe not.  The "video" lie about Benghazi was worse because four people died.  But remains to be seen how many people will die because of Obamacare and the cancellation of their insurance policies.  It could be thousands.  But don’t expect the President to take any responsibility for it.  He’ll continue to blame the insurance companies and the Republicans.  There is one positive note though…  this is one of the very few times he hasn’t tried to blame George W. Bush.

A Day Of Celebration And Worship

Yesterday morning in church we celebrated the 15^th anniversary of our pastor being at Southcliff Baptist.  Dr. Carroll Marr arrived here in 1998 with his wife and three young sons.  The church has not only benefitted greatly from Dr. Marr’s leadership but they have watched the boys grow into men and have seen two of them marry and have babies of their own.  What a change the church has seen in the last 15 years, not only in the Marr family but in the mission and growth of the church.

I have known Carroll Marr for only two years but in those two years I’ve come to know a man who is passionate in his service to the Lord and to the church.  A self-professed workaholic (his wife says so too), it’s difficult to find a time when he has more than just a few minutes to talk unless you arrange it ahead of time.

Carroll and I have a couple of things in common.  We’re nearly the same age and we were both PKs – preacher’s kids.  Without knowing each other we grew up with similar experiences with our fathers being pastors of small churches where every member over 30 was like an aunt or uncle and you couldn’t get away with anything.  Our mothers sang in the choirs where they had clear views of us regardless of where we sat.  And we were required to be visible and behave at all times during the service lest we get “the look.”  Of course, our fathers also had that clear view and “the look” we got from them was often worse than Mom’s.

Being a PK it has been difficult over the years for me to find a pastor I liked.  Having grown up thinking my father was one of the greatest pastors who ever lived, I was consistently comparing all the other ones to him.  I guess that’s not quite fair to the others.  They were not only being compared to my first pastor but also to my dad. 

Eventually I was able to move away from that and find several that I truly enjoyed.  A pastor not only has to be a dynamic speaker but he has to be interesting – balancing fire and brimstone with warmth (no pun intended) and humor to keep the congregation interested.  Before arriving in Southcliff I knew one in Miami, Florida, who was an outstanding speaker.  But after finding him I didn’t stay there long enough to see where things would go.

My wife has belonged to Southcliff for several years and invited me to go with her when I first arrived.  The church is huge and has over 5000 members.  Being a product of a small church I just knew I was going to hate it.  Quite to the contrary, once I met Dr. Marr and heard him speak I knew it was the place for me.  As our guest pastor put it this morning – God leads you to the church that is right for you.  Since I had been away from the church for several years before arriving here - I truly belief that to be the case.

And speaking of the guest pastor – Dr. Marr got a by this morning and got to celebrate his anniversary, with his entire family, without having to preach.  In his place we had one of his former seminary instructors, Dr. Chuck Kelly, Jr., who is currently the President of the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary.  Dr. Kelly’s sermon focused on Matthew 4:19, when Jesus was choosing his disciples and found Simon and Andrew, telling them “Come, follow me and I will make you fishers of men.” 

He went on to talk about how some people believe they can’t witness for Christ because they have no training and won’t know what to say.  Then he said something very profound that explains it better than anything else I’ve heard.  “If you keep your mind on Jesus He will find a way to come out of your mouth.”  Then he said it again:

“If you keep your mind on Jesus He will find a way to come out of your mouth.”

What a profound and true statement.  You don’t have to have formal training to tell people what you know.  Many people find Christ through the words and deeds of lay people – listening to what they say and seeing the difference Jesus makes in their lives. 

Dr. Kelly is one of those outstanding speakers as well.  He’s funny, unashamed and doesn’t seem to worry about how he looks on the stage as long as he gets his point across.  He made us all laugh with his antics and I couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like to take a class from this highly educated but down to Earth man. 

Dr. Kelly also said that the greatness of Dr. Marr was co-dependent on the greatness of his congregation.  God puts people in churches for the right reasons and that includes the pastor(s).  Southcliff and Dr. Marr have been a blessing in my life and I am thankful to God for His guidance into the church through my wonderful wife.  I just wish He’d gotten me there sooner.

Congratulations to Dr. Marr and his wife Tanya for 15 great and eventful years at Southcliff Baptist Church!  God willing, may they have another 15, at least.  Considering Dr. Marr got two standing ovations from the congregation yesterday morning without saying a word, I’d say the rest of the church feels the same way I do.

Thanks to God for His wisdom in placing Carroll Marr at Southcliff.  And thanks to Carroll Marr for his wisdom in teaching us, his love and dedication to God and to our church, and his vision for the future of the church.  I know I speak for everyone when I say “We’re very grateful you have touched our lives.”