Brushfire of Freedom
Ram Rants
Ah, choice. One of the most sacred of “rights” that exist today. Well, if you’re a Liberal. And if you’re referring to abortion. Yes, we’ve all heard the debate around the “right to choose”. It is most interesting that this right is not vested in the individual most impacted by the decision (the unborn). Instead, we give the right to choose to the individuals who chose to have an intimate relationship that is designed to foster procreation but they have no desire to procreate. It’s like speeding with no expectation of getting caught. It will happen, and you will pay the ticket. But when it comes to an unborn child, we have the “right” to choose not to pay the ticket. We can in effect “abort” the law. This is “choice” in the liberal lexicon.
Ok, let’s go with that.
Recently our president and his liberal lackeys in D.C. have decided to eliminate choice when it comes to schools. They have eliminated the school voucher program that allows parents and students to choose which school should receive the government funding designated for education. Vouchers take the amount of money normally spent on a child in school and assign that money to the student, not to the school. This allows the child to attend the school of their choice, in effect bringing the free market into schools.
It should be noted that the federal government was never meant to be part of the public school system. Schools were designed to be a local decision, or choice. That choice was taken away from the local and state governments in 1979 when Jimmy Carter (a Liberal) oversaw the creation of the Federal Board of Education. The Feds began pumping tax dollars into the schools and with those dollars came the associated control by the central government. Eventually, the ability of state and local governments to choose curriculum, policy, and practices in schools became limited depending on the amount of federal funds in jeopardy. In effect, the Liberals limited the choices. You could no longer “abort” the school you were attending. If you were in a specific school zone, you had to attend the assigned school. It made no difference that you were getting no real education, that the school was teaching subject matter that contradicted your religious background, or that you could not even practice your faith on school grounds. Today, because of Liberals in the central government, you have no choice in schools.
School vouchers would change all that by taking the government money and empowering parents and students with choice. Parents could choose to send their children to the school that provided the education considered acceptable by the student and parent. Schools that provided a better product would thus get more students, and schools that failed to provide a decent education would either improve their curriculum or face closure. This would have the effect of improving the school system, at least based on standards of the “consumer”, the students and parents.
This choice however is not acceptable when it comes to education. In truth, it’s not acceptable because it erodes the power of the NEA, a big-education union that funds Liberal politicians. But that is another blog. Here we can see that choice, when it comes to education, is not supported by Liberals. They want you attending the schools that they choose, schools where they control the curriculum. In education, Liberals want to limit, or eliminate choice.
Hypocritical much, Liberals?
The same can be seen in the health care debate. Now, before you go down the “public option” path, you need to understand that the public option is not really an option. Today, you can choose not to have heath care insurance. You can choose to save cash in a Healthcare Savings Account, or in your own personal account, or not save at all. You have a choice when it comes to health care insurance.
You also have a choice when it comes to health care providers. You can choose to go to a general practitioner, a specialist, or get a second opinion. You can choose to follow your doctor’s prescription or not. Yes, there may be some limits, depending on your health care plan (if you have one). But you can change plans, another choice, and find one that fits your life style.
You have a choice in health care activity. You can choose preventative practices, you can wait for an issue to arise before you take steps, or you can work a combination of the two. You can choose certain elective surgeries that may help you in minor ways, or perhaps give you a huge emotional boost that spurs your life forward. Point is, you can choose to do a lot of things with health care. At least for now.
Once Barry, Harry, and Nancy get their claws into health care, you will not see these choices.
You will be required to purchase approved, acceptable health care insurance, or you will be jailed. Yes, jailed. And fined. Or both. You will not have a choice when it comes to health care. You will not have a choice in providers, as you will have to visit only approved providers. You will not have a choice in services, as you will receive the prescriptions that the approved providers designate as appropriate for you, and you will follow them or you will lose your coverage. Then, because you don’t have coverage, you will be jailed. When it comes to health care, Liberals want to eliminate choice. They’re ok if you’re never born, but once you leave the womb, they want full control. Sounds like a pleasant bunch, huh?
These aren’t the only choices that Liberals have eliminated or want to eliminate.
Movie popcorn? Yea, they’re controlling what oils can be used. Smoking? Try lighting a good cigar in any government building, or any building for that matter, and watch the smoking Nazis come flying from the wood work. No choice in smoking. Want a snack? Check Nancy’s health care bill. There’s provisions in there to control snack machines. They’re already doing it in schools where they have eliminated all other choices.
But Ram, these are for the good of the people.
That’s the cover that is almost always used when liberty, freedom, and choice are eroded by a central government. We loose our right to decide these things for ourselves. If I want a juicy burger with fries, a milk shake, and a nice Dominican cigar for lunch, I should be able to enjoy all of those. It’s my choice. Kids should have a choice in schools. Parents should have a choice in schools and health care for their kids. If choice is so precious to Liberals, why do they spend so much time and money taking choice away from the people? The answers to that question, when considered, can be pretty scary, but that’s another blog.
Oh, and if you could channel the voice of that unborn child, I bet they would choose to be born. See if you can get Sen. John Edwards on that.
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