A Parable

I bought a bird feeder. I hung it on my back porch and filled it with seed. What a beauty of a bird feeder it is, as I filled it lovingly with seed. Within a week we had hundreds of birds taking advantage of the continuous flow of free and easily accessible food.

but then the birds started building nests in the boards of the patio, above the table, and next to the barbecue. Then came the poop. It was everywhere: on the patio tile, the chairs, the table. Everywhere!

Then some of the birds turned mean. They would dive bomb me and try to peck me even though I had fed them out of my own pocket. And others birds were boisterous and loud. They sat on the feeder and squawked and screamed at all hours of the day and night and demanded that I fill it when it got low on food.

After a while, I couldn't even sit on my own back porch anymore. So I took down the bird feeder and in three days the birds were gone. I cleaned up their mess and took down the many nests they had built all over the patio.

Soon, the back yard was like it used to be ... quiet, serene and no one demanding their rights to a free meal.

Now let's see... Our government gives out free food, subsidized housing, free medical care, and free education and allows anyone born here to be an automatic citizen.

Then the illegals came by the tens of thousands. Suddenly our taxes went up to pay for free services; small apartments are housing 5 families; you have to wait 6 hours to be seen by an emergency room doctor; your child's 2nd grade class is behind at her school because over half the class doesn't speak English. Corn Flakes now comes in a bilingual box; I have to "press one" to hear my bank talk to me in English, and people waving flags other than "Old Glory" are squawking and screaming in the streets, demanding more rights and free liberties.

Just my opinion, but maybe it's time for the government to take down the bird feeder.

[author unknown]

This parable was sent to me in an email - one of those widely circulated, spam type things that normally I glance at and delete. However, this one touched a nerve. Perhaps a few nerves. While I feel the author may be extremely broad by some of his statements, the sentiment is felt in our household. Maybe the solution to the problem of social programs and illegal immigration is to simple take away the free ride.

A co-worker of mine (with whom I rarely chat politics because we differ so widely on some things) and I recently had a discussion about "entitlements". In a conversation with a third person, I had been challenged about the selfish nature of my belief that all persons in the US should have access to basic, necessary health care without worrying about having to file bankruptcy over medical bills or choose food over medications. Not once did I say that we should never have to pay for services - there are those which are elective or alternatively treated at lower costs (example: gastric bypass is an optional surgery however nutritional counseling and access to a fitness coach can provide similar even if slower results). But it got my blood boiling to think that I, as one of millions of hard working tax paying uninsured Americans, am footing the bill for others to receive basic services, services that are freely available to those who are not contributing to the system when I cannot access these services myself without having to give up some other necessity in life. Why does it make me wrong to want what I'm paying for other people to have? That doesn't make me entitled - it makes me justified.

I, for one, am looking forward to hearing more about affordable health care (and not just campaign promises, but real action). And I have a few suggestions about how they can start fixing the problem.

First they need to put wrongful death and malpractice caps back into place. Our society has become so sue happy that a good portion of the cost to walk into the doctor's office is for the overhead of malpractice insurance. Mistakes happen - doctors are human too. Medical treatment comes with inherent risk - since when did we start expecting guarantees of perfect health and zero complication so we don't sue? Sure, there are situations which warrent a charge of malpractice. But what amount of money is going to restore health or life to a victim of such circumstance? And why should the rest of us pay forever for something that cannot be undone?

Second, get rid of "managed" health care organizations. Let physicians and hospitals and medical services compete in the free market like other industries instead of being guaranteed certain fees for billing codes that may or may not be the service performed.

Third, get rid of all of the different social medical programs and their bureaucratic hierarchies. Start calling it what it is - socialized health care - and have if fall under the adminstration of a single program. The monies are there. No taxes have to be raised. National health care is feasible of we stop paying government officials to "regulate" 20 different programs that have the same function in our society.

And fourth, let's stop assuming that everyone who doesn't fit an exact measurement on a chart has health risks that make them uninsurable or insurable at unrealistic premiums. Health insurance should be rated like car insurance - start with a base rate. Add to it factors which contribute to cost. Subtract from it factors which offset cost. Base it on the individual rather than archaeic tables which are not even close to defining the "average" American. [as an aside: By no means to I mean to imply that weight is not a national concern, but not every person who is heavy has health conditions which should warrant excess premium.]

I am ashamed to live in a country where our priorities are so screwed up that you're better off not being a working taxpayer than by meeting your obligations. I'm ashamed to live in a country where we hesitate not to send aid dollars overseas when we have people with real needs living all around us - people who are struggling day in and day out to keep a roof over their heads and food on their tables the middle class poor, not just the impoverished. I'm ashamed to live in a country where we are more concerned with "how will a wall look" than in enforcing the laws of our country. And yes, I very much to agree that the sins of the parents become the sins of the child in regard to illegal immigration. Parents need to think about the impact of being caught and deported and how that will affect their children before they break the law.

I'm all for people wanting to come to a new country to better themselves and their families. But do it legally. And don't cry me a sob story about why you had to break the law. It's still a crime and deserves the appropriate consequence when you get busted. "But judge, my family was starving and we were about to be evicted from our home. I had to rob that gas station." It's the same parallel.

I do invite your discussion - reminding of course that rants are ok, bashing is not.