I HAVE A DREAM... MLK Jr.

"Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health care is the most shocking and inhumane"
"A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual doom. "
Martin Luther King, Jr.


Welcome my friends to a special edition of the Quite Mouse Strikes Back. We have come a long way and have received almost 1000 page views from all around the world. The issue today is HEALTH CARE, which is a truly GLOBAL issue that affects ALL OF US, equally. So sit down, buckle up, and get ready as I explore this issue in depth.
Thank you to all who contributed ideas and inspirations for this blog on my face book threads. Let's jump in with both feet...


I agree with the fact that a "for profit" health care system is the antithesis of actually RECEIVING quality treatment. First I would like to talk about that: how we treat one another as Americans by posing a question...
Are we really FREE?


I want to start my answer by citing Amendment 4 of our bill of rights:

Amendment IV

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Now, I understand that this is meant for a grander purpose than just the health care, but I wanted to cite the first part of the paragraph in particular. "The right of the people to be secure in their persons..."

The reason I cite this is that I personally believe that we have LOST this right as Americans, in the example of inadequate health care, invasive policement of our person and homes, and un-constitutional, unhealthy TSA screenings.

The idea for health and other forms of insurance came from the NIXON administration, ergo, the beginning of the modern fall of ROME. We lost the "gold standard" as well during that time, so the ONLY thing backing our currency is FAITH as an American people. Faith in something that is NOT tangible. Faith in a system that is corrupt, immoral, and by far GREEDY.

How can we be expected to keep the faith in this system that has plundered, raped, and pillaged from the very soul of its inhabitants who are the BACKBONE of this nation? I have asked before and I will ask yet again: "What has to happen for YOU to stand up and demand change?"

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had a dream. He did speak of the plight against people of color, but his REAL message was universal. ALL men and women being equal in the eyes of God.

"We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force..."

"When will you be satisfied?" We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.

When Dr. King spoke these eloquent words, he did so with a fervor and passion that is lacking in American society today. Too many people are AFRAID in their own skin to even leave their own home, hoping and praying for a change that will NEVER come... UNLESS... unless we leave our homes, take to the streets, and DEMAND action from those that would lead us to suffering and despair. All for the bottom line of greedy, blood PROFIT, the true FACE of America. 

Over the last week I have heard many voices on the wrongs and rights of the health care CRISIS facing this ONCE GREAT nation. Let's see some pros and cons of this new health care reform bill passed by Obama.

Health Care Bill PROS:

1. Discrimination of health insurance companies will be eliminated. No more pre-existing conditions clauses in health insurance contracts.

2. Given the fact that millions of Americans will be insured by this new health care bill, the US Government can negotiate among health insurance firms to lower the premiums of their health insurance. This would mean less health insurance costs for a lot of Americans.

3. Tax credit will be given to those Americans who still cannot afford to avail health insurance to help them to have one.

4. Stiff competition among health insurance firms will possibly result to much lower insurance costs and more quality health insurance products and services.

5. Aside from the elimination of pre-existing conditions stated above, the coverage amount or sum insured will also be waived by health insurers.

Health Care Bill CONS:

1. Given the huge amount of expenses pegged at $940 billion in a spread of about 10 years, it might slow down the growth of heavily burdened US economy.

2. Insurance Availment Mandate. You have no choice but to get a health insurance. Otherwise, you will be subjected to a 2% tax increase which will be used to subsidize the insurance costs of other Americans. Healthy people who take care of themselves will have to pay for the burden of those who smoke, are obese, etc.

3. There will be a tax increase on people with very high income. If you are making more than half a million per annum, you will have about a 1% tax increase.

4. The US Government will have more control in the health insurance industry causing patients’ confidentiality to be more likely compromised since centralized health information will likely be maintained by the government.

5. Chances of bribery may possibly increase as health care equipment, drugs, and services may end up being rationed by the government.

Friends have told me about their doctors abandoning patients out of FEAR of this new legislation. There is a likely chance that Emergency Rooms will be flooded with patients that cannot afford this "mandatory" insurance. The state of ER's across this country is a disorderly affair. They are understaffed at most times, burdened with myocardial infarctions from our over indulged, obese society. Burdened with the non-insured, sometimes ILLEGAL immigrants who cannot afford health care on their SLAVE wages, nor the rest of us for that matter. 

And I empathize with people who see the flaws in the system and are fearful of a government ran health care system. But here's the problem folks... While you and I are busy complaining about OUR taxes, the solution is actually simpler than imagined. The issue is NOT weather we need to pay more individual taxes, but that we need to get more INDIVIDUALS to pay their taxes, period.

The insurance system, to my understanding, is based upon having enough people pooling the money into the resource so EVERYONE can be covered. Why do we feel as Americans that we need to be selfish and NOT pay our fair share, let alone the cost of covering EVERYONE. Quite simply put, if we could get MORE people, LEGALLY into the system, i.e. illegal immigrants, to pay their taxes, then we would NOT be facing these issues. Secondly, we NEED to have proper PREVENTATIVE MEDICINE practices in this country... and I'm NOT talking about that POISON they have been injecting us with for "immunizations". 

I was trained in the medical field in the Navy. I have worked in both the military and civilian medical fields, am currently going to school for nursing, so I have been inside the belly of the beast and seen MANY examples of where the system has gone systemically wrong.

The first place it has gone wrong is GREED. From when I was a child, I remember growing up with doctors being treated like ROCK STARS! It was always KNOWN that doctors got paid good money to do what they do, despite long hard hours, and often grueling working conditions. Here's the thing about some doctors. There is a split in the MD community. Some ARE there for the genuine concern of all their patients, seeking to provide ALL that they can, even at the LOSS of their own profit... on the flip side of the coin, there ARE many other doctors, who desire to embrace this ROCKSTAR mentality, and seek to maximize profits, even at a potential patient loss. I have seen this many times, especially during my time working as a surgical tech.

One thing I have noticed emphatically is that the amount of money that insurance companies, including the gov't ran Medicare and Medicaid... well, to put it simply, the COST of the doctors to do business keeps going UP, and the pay keeps going DOWN as the insurance companies make all the PROFIT, while doctors are going belly up. I repeat, it is NOT, in most situations (private doctors like plastic surgeons and cash pay patients not counting toward my argument)  the doctors making the money any longer!! It is the INSURANCE COMPANIES THAT ARE CUTTING A FAT HOG. It is BLOOD MONEY, made off the pain and suffering of the masses.

What are the reasons for this hyper-inflation in health care costs?

To be honest, MOST of the rise in cost is from ADMINISTRATION cost. It doesn't cost much more than it used to for a pack of sponges or gauze rolls. Health care workers are often NOT paid what they are worth, for example, EMT's and ambulance workers are often paid below standard wages, barely above minimum wage. Who's really making the money?

The INSURANCE COMPANIES of course. For years now, THEY have dictated to YOU, the patient, who you can see, what drugs you can get, what treatments you can receive, etc...

They do this because, as I wrote at the top of this blog, because FOR PROFIT health care CANNOT EXIST without someone getting SCREWED OVER. All THEY have to do is pay off our presidential candidates, BUY up smaller companies, and squeeze the lifeblood out of all of us. THEY do not worry about the rise in health care because  THEY are greedy toads, lacking the soul to help their fellow human beings. If they will not help us, then WE must stand together and help OURSELVES!! Don't you think?

Let me cite another example... the last place I worked at back in Plano, TX. The three doctors that owned the building/surgery center I worked at were some of the most vile and greedy people I have ever met. They performed all kinds of fraud toward the insurance system, gov't moneys, as well as the tax system. Ultimately, they RAN THE BUSINESS INTO THE GROUND, putting many people out of jobs... and why? So they could claim a LOSS on their taxes and avoid having to pay out monies of legality to one of the brother's divorce claim, where the ex-wife would get half... can't get half of a LOSS, now can you? The reason I am citing this is because of a couple reasons. 1) I personally witnessed these doctors perform what is known as "ghost" surgery. For those who do NOT know... this is where they tell you that one doctor is going to perform your surgical procedure, but once you are gassed and knocked out, someone ELSE actually does the work. 2) I have seen them withhold medical procedures NEEDED by the patient, because the insurance would not cover. 3) I have seen these same men charge the insurance companies for procedures that were NOT performed, while padding their own pocket books. 

I am sure it is nice to have court side tickets to the Dallas Mavericks basketball games, or 50 yard line tickets for the Cowboys football games... but ALL of these things have come at the price of the PATIENT. They come at a price to ALL OF US who threw our money into the insurance pool. You must understand that THEY, as doctors, are trying to re-make they money and profits that THEY have LOST from the insurance companies due to the EVER-INCREASING cost of MALPRACTICE INSURANCE.

I am fully aware of the issue with doctors cheating their patients and they system! I am fully aware that honest people DON'T want to pay higher premiums or pay for the care of someone else who could potentially be getting better treatment than them (NOT LIKELY). However, as a nation, we have GOT TO STOP suing other people!!

It doesn't matter how much you got fucked over, suing someone over ANYTHING, ONLY SPEEDS UP THE INFLATION OF COSTS!! THEY have to make up their profit margins. This is NOT a lottery! EVERY TIME someone sues the medical system, the systemic rise in costs is paramount to the cost that THEY had to pay out millions of dollars on a lawsuit. STOP suing!! It is ONLY making your costs go up, OUR costs go UP UP UP!!!

Now as far as a government ran nation-wide health care plan goes, I understand the concerns as well. Take a look at my blog about the VA and how badly the veterans of this nation are inadequately treated. Why on Earth would ANYONE want to buy into a system that is already being ran so POORLY?

Here's the deal on the VA... it is NOT about it being ran by the Gov't!! It is about the misappropriations of the Gov't, giving BILLIONS and TRILLIONS of dollars to the Department of Defense to fight "FOR PROFIT" WARS. Companies like Halliburton are making huge profits!!

We CAN afford adequate health care for all Americans... IF we weren't funding TERROR across the world. We could afford adequate education for all of our citizens... IF we weren't trillions of dollars in debt while we unsuccessfully try to POLICE THE WORLD (which by the way... the other nations DON'T WANT US THERE IN THE FIRST PLACE). We owe CHINA soooo much money now. 

The cost of health care and war has crippled the American economy quite possibly BEYOND REPAIR. Like my cousin Jason said, it IS simple economics. You CANNOT spend MORE than you bring in. 

You want ANSWERS!! I have them... you might not like what I have to say, though. Hope you are ready.

1) Put a spending FREEZE on ALL government employees for the next 6 years (at least). It is INSANE that they are making hundreds of thousands of dollars per year while the average citizen makes pennies by comparison. Plus, they get health care included in their salaries.

2) We need to have a comprehensive reform on immigration, both legal and ILLEGAL. We need to set up a plan to get these ILLEGAL citizens into a LEGAL status, so they can be made to pay TAXES too, rather than being a constant LEECH to the system that already CANNOT AFFORD to pay for them.

3) WE must take steps toward comprehensive health care reform:

a) first by shifting our focus away from Emergency Care to preventative care, this includes those end of life discussions, as well as proper nutrition plans, proper regulation of the food and drug industry, as well as IMMEDIATE regulation over the poisonous immunization industry (lead, mercury, and other toxins have been found in these shots)

- On a side note about the end of life physician discussions... These are NOT "death panels". Suggesting your patient is aware of the critical and necessary End of Life care alternatives, not only does it save on EMOTIONAL damage, but it also will save countless amounts of money in the long run, both in health care costs, but also legal fees. If you know it is coming, then you can set your affairs in order, talk to your family about your posthumous wishes...

b) We need to take examples from Asian nations like Japan, where the citizens actually exercise as part of their work day on the job. Preventative health care is MEANINGLESS if we continue to poison our bodies with McDonald's, sodas, and other poisons, like High Fructose Corn Syrup (or corn sugar... as they cleverly want to disguise it)

c) We NEED to demand the subsidizing of FRUITS and VEGETABLES over CORN, IMMEDIATELY!!! This is to include a change in school lunches, which I am very happy that Michelle Obama is tackling that issue right now.

4) We must END these WARS in Afghanistan, Iraq, and other places we DO NOT belong. It is INSANE that we have military bases in over 100 other countries, many of whom do NOT want us there in the first place!!

5) We NEED MORE, not LESS institutions like Planned Parenthood. The gov't has been and could easily spend more money on a program that would offer free- to low cost STERILIZATION. Women need to get their tubes tied if they have too many kids to feed. Men need to STOP being unfit fathers and sticking their dicks in every woman they meet, especially unprotected. The EASIEST way to stop these unwanted or un-needed pregnancies is to eliminate the ability to spread the seed. There are ALREADY almost 7 billion people on this planet consuming up the world's resources faster than they can be replenished. 

6) We NEED, as parents, to talk to our children about the REAL issues of sex, which are unplanned pregnancies and STD's. This goes into the preventative care issue. The social welfare system is overwhelmed with single, unfit mothers and fathers that are NOT paying their child support. This has to STOP!!

7) We need to, globally, repair our image as a nation by providing an example of our real freedom. If WE can reduce our nuclear weapons and cease the war-mongering, we could save BILLIONS of dollars annually.

8) We MUST end the prohibition on CANNABIS or Marijuana as well as HEMP, the industrial product. The end of this prohibition would save the gov't, once again, BILLIONS of dollars, not only in the cost of policement that would be saved, but the taxable revenue as well. 

a) The Hemp plant is VITAL to the efforts of creating a more sustainable country as well as planet. We MUST shift our focus away from the deadly and hazardous petrochemical institution which we live that POISONS everything from the food we eat, the water we drink, to the air we breathe

b) the Hemp plant is 100% usable unlike cotton which is only 50% usable and requires MASSIVE AMOUNTS OF PESTICIDES, HERBICIDES, AND FUNGICIDES from evil companies like Monsanto

9) We need to adopt the mindset like the Europeans have done with GENETICALLY MODIFIED FOODS!! These foods are NOT safe for human consumption and we need to DEMAND stronger laws AGAINST THE SALE and marketing of them, IMMEDIATELY!!

10) We NEED to reform the tax system in this country as well. Forget the refunds, forget the loopholes. We NEED a tax system that is  both FAIR and ENCOMPASSING. We NEED a system that takes the revenues from the taxes and actually USES them to run the gov't more efficiently, environmentally conscious, and FOR THE PEOPLE, NOT the corporate interests, who see us as mere sheep or cattle.

11) We NEED to give MORE incentives for small business owners to be able to set up shop, function efficiently, and provide a decent wage + health care for employees

What is the point of all of this, you might be wondering...

The point is that despite what you may think, YOU ARE ALREADY PAYING for EVERYONE ELSE to get adequate health care. It would cost little to NO more if we would all just contribute the same amount, legally. It IS our responsibility to make sure that children and seniors are afforded proper health care. When you are elderly, YOU will want a handout too!! Social Security IS important. Medicare IS important. All WE need to do is demand the reform that is necessary BEFORE it bankrupts our nation. 

Again, I am gonna ask what I asked earlier in this blog. What will it take for YOU as a person to stand up and DEMAND the fairness and EQUALITY that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. advocated for so many years ago? You don't have to be black or another minority for this issue to affect you to the core. There are many many white people who cannot afford this either. There CAN be a resolution. There CAN be an adequate health care system for all to share. 

Hell, if countries like Cuba and Venezuela... countries that WE have labeled as "socialistic", can have health care for ALL their citizens at a fraction of the cost... WHY can't we? Even Canada has better health care than we do, as I have been told by Canadian citizens. If you want a procedure faster than the system can allow and it is NOT emergent, then by all means PAY FOR IT out of your own pocket. Of ALL the forms of healthcare that I have seen and read about, it seems to me that TRICARE, the military hospital care system, is ran the MOST efficiently. LOOK IT UP... we could all take an example from that. As much as we look down our nose at socialized medicine... that's EXACTLY what military medicine IS... socialized medicine. If we could ONLY get away from our OWN egos and think about the collective GOOD of ALL HUMAN BEINGS rather than our own SELFISH INTERESTS (which make us NO BETTER than the corporations that steal from us), then I think one simple truth...

YES WE STILL CAN!! 

Then and only then can we get past those troublesome issues of pre-screened medical care. Ridiculous profiteering Insurance pyramid scams are un-American, anti-Constitutional, and are INHUMAN by nature.

What kind of world do you want YOUR children growing up? A selfish, immoral one? Or rather one of kindness, empathy, and compassion? 

Write your congress men and women!! Write your Governors and President!! Do ANYTHING but sit on your ASS and complain my friends!! Join with many others on 4/20/2011 at your capitol buildings in EVERY state and demand social change, not JUST in the change of CANNABIS laws, but in HEALTH CARE, WAR, IMMIGRATION, and ALL other pertinent issues. The ONLY way change is EVER gonna happen is if we LEAVE OUR HOMES and march in the streets to demand change!! THEY tend to notice things like that!!

Change is NOT something to FEAR, but it IS something to EMBRACE. If we keep doing the same things that have ALWAYS been done, then we will KEEP getting the same things we have always GOT. We must EVOLVE as a human race to meet the cultural demands for the future... NOT the demands for technology, but the demands for EQUALITY, despite social class or financial wealth!! Dr. King... please illuminate for me...

I say to you today, my friends, that in spite of the difficulties and frustrations of the moment, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal."
I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood.
I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a desert state, sweltering with the heat of injustice and oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.
I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
I have a dream today.
I have a dream that one day the state of Alabama, whose governor's lips are presently dripping with the words of interposition and nullification, will be transformed into a situation where little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls and walk together as sisters and brothers.
I have a dream today.
I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.
This is our hope. This is the faith with which I return to the South. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.
This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with a new meaning, "My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring."

This IS the Quiet Mouse! Let FREEDOM ring!! Today, I too have a dream!!

PEACE. LOVE. RESPECT. EMPATHY. CHANGE.