Obama’s Forced Healthcare

This country was founded on freedom. Freedom of speech, freedom of religion. Freedom to do pretty much whatever we want. With our government becoming more socialistic, we are losing freedoms every day. The loss of freedoms has been gradual over many years. You have to pay taxes. You have to have car insurance. You have to submit to the harassment of the TSA at the airport. The latest in the long line of rights lost will be the requirement to purchase health care.

Under the Senate’s new proposal, those that refuse to sign up for health insurance will be fined $1000.  What happened to personal responsibility?  What happened to freedom of choice?  If someone doesn’t want health insurance, they should be able to take care of themselves.  They should accept any consequences of their actions.  Instead, we have the government, once again, playing nanny to the public.  Here is a quote from the article.

In a revamped health care system envisioned by senators, people would be required to carry health insurance just like motorists must get auto coverage now. The government would provide subsidies for the poor and many middle-class families, but those who still refuse to sign up would face fines of more than $1,000.

The details were unveiled Thursday in a health care overhaul bill supported by key Senate Democrats looking to fulfill President Barack Obama’s top domestic priority.

What if I want to self-insure?  Do people like Warren Buffet really need to have health insurance?  They can pay for it themselves.  It should be an individual choice.  With the push for required health care, the government might as well require other things.  Why don’t they require that congress spend within it’s mean?  That is the kind of legislation we need.  Legislation that promotes responsibility rather than enslavement to the state.

Erosion of Freedom

Erosion of Freedom: US Forest Service / Ashley National Forest: Motorized Travel Plans, Public Meeting held at Western Park. They started the meeting off by saying that they had identified 3 main usage problems, with the biggest being ATV-OHV use. So the answer to this, they are shutting down all OHV use save for on specifically designated trails… all use off these trails is absolutely prohibited, unless special permit is granted for such things as emergency, fire, or search and rescue. The viewpoint of the US Forest Service is that YOU shouldn’t be on there in the US Forest…. ATV’s (and they came out and said this) allow too much access to back wood areas. Not only did they restrict the trails you can use, but they also specified that you can only camp at specifically designated areas within 150 feet of the trail, and more than 100 feet from water.

My question is if they are funneling all ATV traffic into just a few specific paths – creating virtual OHV highways – when are they putting in the traffic lights? What’s funny – funny as in we all recognize the deception attempt is that they showed trails where “ATV’s had caused problems.” but they didn’t show where ATVs went… they showed tracks of where big 4×4 pickups went and tore things up. So instead of enforcing the law on those obviously breaking the laws, they are shutting it down for everyone.

After they explained their reasons for closing everything, they opened the floor to comments. Each comment was followed by them explaining why they know more about our mountain than we do. They used ownership language such as “Our Trail System” - not ours and in yours and mine, but “ours” as in The US Forest Service’s.

One girl mentioned that a trail that she had used all her life was closed at the start of hunting season last year and has remained closed since. She told of frequent and continual attempts to call for information which all remained unanswered. I kid you not, these guys responded with “call us”. This was such a joke, but they were serious. They meant that… like “call us – and fuck you very much.” That was the apparent attitude. Another lady mentioned always camping at a specific location way back off the trail… her family – and let me tell you, her family name goes back to the beginning of recorded history in this area – has camped there for ages since before there was a US Forest Service or an Ashley National Forest – The Feds response was to let them know where so they can look at the possibility of granting access to that area. The audacity of this is appalling. People used to have the right to go there into our mountain, and now we have to ask permission for privilege of going where they had been going for generations. The only erosion I see in the Ashley is our Freedom.

I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t like ATV’s. They are noisy, and the riders are quite often oblivious to the disruption they are causing when someone is aiming a rifle at game and they ride right in front of you, busting your hunt. That happens all the time and every hunter I know has such a story. ATV’s are rude. However that doesn’t mean we ban all ATV’s off every trail that isn’t a designated Forest Freeway. The key word is Designated. Meaning that there are tons of old trails that people have been using forever that are not officially numbered and designated – all those trails are not illegal to use.

I’ve a proposal for the US Forest Service. The problem is not use, but unethical use. The Department of Wildlife addressed this problem the smart way. Shed Hunting is becoming popular… but some unethical hunters chase herds in the hope that this will cause some sheds to drops. The solution was a Shed Hunting Permit… available for free if you take the online course and there you go… you can now go hunt your sheds ethically. Brilliant solution… not a perfect solution but brilliant in that it addresses the problem. The US Forest Service’s solution to “the problem” is to funnel everyone into a traffic pattern that is easier to enforce and ticket. The goal here that they did not say is revenue generation, plain and simple. By putting everyone together, they can write more tickets and make more money than if everyone was dispersed because that would be too hard to monitor. It all comes down to the money… it always comes down to money.

Read the regulations HERE.
http://www.fs.fed.us/r4/ashley/projects/travel_management/index.shtml
All comments are due by June 1st and policy will be in effect by October 9th – right before Hunting Season. How convient for them… limit use and limit hunting. Oh – one more thing about the hunting… You can NOT go off the trail to retrieve game. No exceptions even for those mobility challenged. This is blatant discrimination against the disabled. The American Disability Act evidently means nothing to the US Forest Service… according to the US Forest Service guys, if you are disabled – you shouldn’t be hunting or enjoying the outdoors.

I so hope I get the chance to join the Utah State Legislature. Because I’m going to draft legislation that returns all of Utah State to the Utah State… The Feds can keep their military bases and ranges, and the rest of the State returns to Utah State Ownership. We can regulate our own forests.

(Of course I know that wont pass – but I want the message sent and heard)

Is the Government our New Conscience?

The Obama administration’s recent move to overturn the “conscience clause,” which allowed workers in the Health Care industry to decline providing abortion services and/or advice, should leave us wondering how long conservatives will have the freedom to disagree with any of the far left’s pet causes. In this new world the Obama administration is creating, pro-life doctors and nurses, and even Catholic hospitals may lose their jobs or face lawsuits if they are unwilling to provide abortion services.

Why is the government discriminating against the freedom of conscience of the pro-life health care employees? Unfortunately, there are many other providers willing to provide abortion services for women, so it is not very difficult for a woman to find somewhere else to go for an abortion.

But that is not good enough for the Obama administration and his liberal cheerleaders. Nothing short of a government that legislates all outward manifestations of conscience will satisfy. In other words, if you object to participating in something that goes against your conscience, that’s just tough. You can believe it privately, but you will be fired, sued, and perhaps someday jailed if you attempt to live consistently with your own beliefs. It starts here, with the abortion industry, in Obama’s first few months as president. How many of our other freedoms will we see taken away in the next four years? When will the American people finally stand up and say, “Enough?”

The hard earned tax-dollars of pro-life conservatives are already being used without their permission to pay for some abortions, thanks to Federal Medicaid policies that will pay for abortions in certain circumstances. Obama also lifted the restriction on federal funding for abortion-minded international organizations, so our tax-dollars are now paying to fund abortions out of the country.

The conscience clause is something we need to preserve the freedoms that have always been the foundation of our nation’s government. Interference in the personal convictions of the people in this nation will eventually lead to oppression similar to other countries where freedom isn’t even brought up in discussion. Will we eventually be a country where freedom is given lip service, but does not exist any longer?