Illinois Health Care

The illustrious Governor of Illinois, Rod Blagojevich, has been holding the state legislature hostage to special sessions in an attempt to force them to include a new comprehensive health care plan in the states budget. He has all but said until he gets that, he will not allow the members of the House and Senate to return home for the summer.

Contrary to what the press is reporting, there is a budget on the plate; the Illinois House has already passed a budget but Senate President Emil Jones has so far refused to call it for a vote. In addition, the legislature has already overwhelmingly rejected the Governors Gross Receipts Tax (GRT) on businesses.

So in order to help the stalemate, I have a proposal for a health plan to cover those not currently insured.

1. If you do not currently have health insurance, you can sign up for a state financed plan provided the following conditions are met:

A. You are gainfully employed, or if you are not currently employed you must have not been fired for cause from your previous employment.

B. The State of Illinois will only cover you for up to 18 months, at which time you will have to either receive insurance from your employer or have made arrangements to purchase private insurance.

C. You will have an out of the pocket maximum of $7,500.00; comparable to many existing insurance plans currently offered in the private sector.

D. Your premiums will be based upon your annual household income.

E. ER visits will require a co-pay of $200.00.

F. Office visits will require a co-pay of $30.00.

G. all other charges will be handled on an 80/20 split.

H. You must enroll in and pass a money management course, which among other things teaches you how to manage your income vs. expenses and how to plan for unplanned expenditures.

I. You will only be allowed to enroll in the state program twice, with no less than an 18 month break between the two.

Ok, there you have it, those are the basics of my plan, is it perfect? Hell no, is it cheap? No again, but it does provide a bridge for those without coverage and with the time limits it forces people to make responsible choices as to their own lives. Pick it apart, but one thing I would not be willing to compromise on is the time limits, or the limitations regarding the employment.

Email regarding Duane Chapman

I received an interesting email early this morning from a reader that was asking why I am so "angry" with the "Dog"? "He is a good Christian and deserves your support".

Well, here is my reply:

I have no idea as to what Duane Chapman's relationship is with G-d, and to be honest it is really none of my business. What I do know is that Duane Chapman has been arrested for 16 felonies. If he had been arrested once, I very well could be convinced that it was a case of mistaken identity. If he had been arrested twice, you could probably convince me that he had just been in the wrong place at the wrong time. If he had been arrested three times, you MIGHT be able to convince me that he was just hanging out with the wrong crowd......but people, he has been arrested more times than I have fingers and you cannot convince me that an overwhelming majority of them were lawful arrests.

Duane Chapman is a criminal, pure and simple. Do I believe that he can atone for those wrongs? Sure, I suppose he can; but let us consider that according to the FBI, for every arrest or conviction a criminal gets away with three other crimes. So if we do the math, and I give him a huge benefit of the doubt as to the FBI's statistics, he has committed over 24 felonies. He may be able to atone for those crimes with his G-d, but as far as I am concerned, he could not possibly repay society for them.

The only other issue I have is the states of Hawaii and Colorado allowing him to engage in bail bonding and bounty hunting. In my opinion he has not earned the right to perform that type of work with his criminal history.

So there it is again......for the last time; unless of course Duane is shipped off to Mexico in which case I will write another post wishing him well on his trip!

You can't fix Stupid

Ron White, a member of the Jeff Foxworthy Blue Collar Comedy Tour, coined the phrase "You can't fix Stupid" and it is no more appropriate than today.

Linda Wagganer, 44 of Springfield, IL allegedy robbed the CVS Pharmacy on Sangamon Ave around 6pm on July 12, 2007. According to police she entered the store, took a bag of M&M's to the counter at which time she demanded the cashiers money, afterwhich she ran out of the store.

So far so good right? Apparently Ms. Wagganer in her excitement of completing her first robbery FORGOT TO TAKE HER PURSE (which included her ID) with her.

Thanks MS. Wagganer, you alone have provided all the scientific evidence one needs to validate Mr. White.

Lahood Decides Against Bradley

Congressman Ray LaHood has taken himself out of the running for President of Bradley University; or so he says. Actually, it has been reported from reliable sources for the past several weeks that LaHood would not be a finalist; which leaves one to believe that LaHood was told this and his announcement is nothing more than a face saving statement.

Congressman LaHood might be a Republican, and if I was faced between voting for him or a Democrat I would probably cast my vote his way all the while holding my nose.

LaHood has a long history of making comments that are anti-Israel and some have even bordered on being anti-Semetic; depending of course on who you talk to. I do not believe that he is an anti-Semite, but I do believe that the Congressman has a huge amount of animosity that he directs toward Israel.

I was sort of hoping he got the job, we already have enough enemies of Israel in Washington.