CONGRESSIONAL VACATIONS

Congress is going on vacation without having finished universal health care.

We all need vacations. Congress has had a very tense year, so their vacation is even more important. People who do not take vacations get extremely stressed. I, for one, do not want to be governed by extremely stressed people.

However, people have been trying to get universal health care since 1940. It is time for the delays to end.

No system is going to be perfect. We will have to make changes to any system once we know where the problems are. But the universal health care system has to be running before we can fix the problem that will appear.

While congress is on vacation, keep calling regarding health care. If you know a congressperson, tell them politely and nicely how important it is for the United States of America to have universal health care.

Let congress know that we expect a universal health care program to be sent to President Obama just as soon as congress is back from vacation.

Meanwhile, we can all hope that our unemployed grown children do not get sick.

PLEASE CALL CONGRESS ABOUT HEALTH CARE

Too many of us do not take care of our health because we do not have insurance.

A minor problem, easily fixed, turns into an expensive problem because the sick person cannot afford to go to a doctor.

Farmers, small business owners, young people, people paying huge COBRA prices, all need Obama's health insurance plan.

So PLEASE CALL YOUR TWO SENATORS AND YOUR ONE REPRESENTATIVE. Tell them that you want them to vote for Obama's health care plan. Tell them that you want health care NOW.

For some reason, a phone call counts for more than a fax or an email. So call. If the phone is busy, call after hours and leave a message. Call early in the morning, but call. You can call the local office or you can call the DC office, BUT CALL. (Only one call per person to each congressperson, please.)

If you do not do this, you can be certain that someone you know will die because they could not afford health care.

If you do not do this, the lobbyists (for those who are getting rich from the mess that we call our health care system) will win.

HELP WITH HEALTH CARE

Universal health care has always been defeated by the powerful lobbyists hired by those people who are making piles of money providing health care.

Your US Senators and Representatives have to know that you support universal health care. Please call or fax your US Senators and your Representative. You can find out who are your two US Senators by looking in the telephone book. You have one US Representative who represents your congressional district. The League of Women Voters can tell you the phone and fax number of this person.

Please make your comments to these busy people short and to the point.

Even powerful lobbyists can be defeated by the voters demanding reform.

CALIFORNIA BUDGET CRISES

In California, when a school district cannot agree on a budget or when a school district cannot pay its contractors, the State of California takes over the school district.

Perhaps it is time for the federal government to have the power to take over states that cannot seem to reach consensus.

Of course, there is the pesky issue of the US Constitution, which delineates the powers of the state governments.

Alternatively, the US could send mediators to the states in crises, treating the matter as a serious issue pertaining to the nation. Mediators have been used in the past when critical systems have been threatened with crippling strikes by workers.

If you have been reading my blog, you know that I do not trust that the current Governor of California has the political wisdom to chose the correct course for California. He seems to be using the crisis to pass legislation that will have a possible adverse impact on the long term health of the state.

It is unfortunate that people who are used to being appeased by movie producers do not understand when they are being unreasonable.

GOVERNMENT COMPETES WITH SMALL BUSINESS

In Santa Clara County, California, the marriage license desk has ALWAYS handed out a list of ministers who can perform confidential marriages. These ministers specialize in inexpensive weddings at their business or in a park or in a home.

NO LONGER. Now the marriage desk is telling folks that the cheapest way to get married is to get married in their basement 'chapel' at a cost of $120.00 ($80 for the minister and $40 to rent the chapel for a 10 minute wedding.)

Ministers who can perform confidential marriages are MUCH LESS EXPENSIVE than the county weddings.

My friend a 'A Wedding Chapel for You' in Campbell, CA, will perform a desk ceremony for $70.00, and a romantic chapel wedding for $100.00. Other local ministers have similar prices.

(NOTE that you also have to purchase a marriage license, which is actually less expensive at the county.)

I can understand the County of Santa Clara performing weddings if people do not have an alternative. However, to actually compete with the inexpensive ministers available to perform weddings does not seem like something that the county should be doing.