First. Let’s get something straight. Every single American has access to healthcare. Any one of us can walk into any Emergency Room and receive healthcare irregardless of our ability to pay. Will they ask you to pay? Probably. But they’ll still treat you first. So, quit trying to use that silly argument.

Second. Those of us with insurance or money to pay for our healthcare will likely receive better treatment. It’s a reality in every single capitalist economy. Free = lesser. Sorry, but that’s the way it works. If you don’t like it, get a job that offers insurance. And if you do have insurance? Quit going to the doctor so darn often. I firmly believe that you are capable of treating your own splinters.

Third. You do NOT have a right to health insurance. Affordable health insurance? Yes. But, expect your affordable health insurance to not cover as much as the “Cadillac” plans do. This goes back to the Free = Lesser argument. The quality of something (In this case, what it covers and how much it pays) is directly relational to how much you pay for it. If I can afford a health insurance plan that has a premium of $4000 a month, I can expect it to pay everything. If I’m only paying $400 a month, I cannot.

To recap: Health Care does not equal Health Insurance. You do not really have a right to either. What you do have the right to is the “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness”. None of those three things can be construed as meaning health insurance or health care. Very simply, I cannot take your Life from you. I cannot take your Liberty from you, and I cannot keep you from pursuing happiness. Period. Stop trying to give it meaning that doesn’t exist, or I’ll start doing the same. Did I mention that I can make a very good argument for my pursuit of happiness being ruined by people who don’t do what I tell them to?

The more liberally you take these things, the more liberties you’ll give us to use them against you later. You keep saying it, and maybe it’s true, but we conservatives are a warring bunch and when we are not allowed to war with our real enemies, we’ll naturally turn on our domestic ones.

Finally, you all are acting like a bunch of children. You aren’t getting your way, so you’re trying to find ways to break the rules without getting caught and to bend the rest of them so that you’re stuff gets pushed through. Grow up already.

The purpose of a U.S. Senator or Congressman is to act as a representative of his/her constituents. It’s the basis behind the idea of a representative government. You know, that whole thing that started a revolution. If a representative is no longer acting in the best interest of their state and is instead worried more about the best interests of the federal government, they are no longer representing their constituents and should be asked to step down from their position.

Senators and Congressmen, it is your obligation to do what is best for your state no matter what. You represent us, not the U.S. government. If what is best for the state happens to coincide with what is best for the U.S. then we can accept that, but if it does not, you must not be seen to go along with it. Unfortunately, you’ve gotten away with it for far too long and it has become the status quo. I think 2010 might be the start of a change for that. I can only hope that the shake-up is enough. I fear that it won’t be.

Instead, you could just do your jobs and maybe then you could keep them too.

Besides the Presidential election on which I’ve already made my choice, I’ll also be voting for Governor, and Representative to the U.S. Congress.    In North Dakota, the race is between the incumbent, Earl Pomeroy (D), and his opponent, Duane Sand (R).

I’ve decided that I’ll be voting for Duane Sand.  In looking at Rep. Pomeroy’s voting record, I find that it is against most of the things that I believe in.  Therefore, he is not a viable candidate for representing me as a citizen of his state.  Pomeroy voted yes on both bailout bills that came across for voting for instance.  I don’t think either should have passed, but especially the second one that eventually did pass.

Duane Sand doesn’t have a voting record to go off of, but based on his issues stances on his website, I feel comfortable enough to say that he is much more aligned with my beliefs to be a much better representative for me.  And that’s what a representative government is all about, right?

Go and check out Duane’s website.  I hope you’ll join me in supporting his candidacy for U.S. Congress.

Turns out he’s the candidate for the Constitution party.  And then I noticed something else.  Ron Paul announced his support of Baldwin for President on Monday.  Where was that in the news?  Maybe Obama better move his people back into North Dakota.  If Ron Paul is pushing this guy, he could make a close campaign even closer by pulling votes from McCain.  He’s entirely too conservative to pull from Obama, so the extra mix could cause some issues.

After looking at the issues, I can’t say that I will be voting for him.  Some of his issues are a little too drastic.  And while I don’t believe that what a candidate says are his stances on the issues reflect anything of what he/she will do, or be able to do, once in office, that doesn’t mean I can support them either.

What I would like to see is more non-republican and non-democrat candidates for congress and senate seats. A little something to break up the parties and make it a little more of a challenge for any one party to disrupt things.  Why must they always shoot for the top?  Haven’t they ever heard of starting from the bottom and building a base first?

Democrats in Congress today plan to introduce a bill to halt the recently-announced closing of some 600 Starbucks coffee stores, noting that the displacement of 12,000 Starbucks baristas would overwhelm government aid offices…

I was led to it by The Club For Growth.  And I have to echo their sentiment on the news (or lack thereof)

[...] some of you really thought it was true, right? That’s how bad things have gotten.

I believed it.  Granted the edit that CfG did on it helped me by removing some of the more satirical parts, but I still wasn’t surprised that Pelosi and her henchmen would try and pull something like this off.  They already do it for farmers, airlines, Amtrack, and many others.  Why not the Coffee industry…