Posted by
peripheral on Friday, October 30, 2009 5:47:13 AM
From My Perspective - - -
From
a brief summary: “Ebenezer Scrooge is the main character in Charles
Dickens' 1843 novel, A Christmas Carol. At the beginning of the novel,
Scrooge is a cold-hearted, tight fisted, greedy man, who despises
Christmas and all things which engender happiness. A quote from the
book reads ‘The cold within him froze his old features, nipped his
pointed nose, made his eyes red, his thin lips blue, and he spoke out
shrewdly in his grating voice…’ His last name has come into the English
language as a byword for miserliness and misanthropy, traits displayed
by Scrooge in the exaggerated manner for which Dickens is well-known.”
He changed his ways near the end of his life but caused much suffering
and inconvenience before he did.
An application can be made for
the present Congress of the US. In their effort to offer the
possibility of a Government Option so everyone can have Health Care
Coverage, they have resorted to their slight of hand magic. While
attention is focused on center stage, the real action is occurring
behind the scenes and behind locked doors. In a very gushing and
enthusiastic manner, Nancy Pelosi presented her long-promised Health
Care Reform Bill – along with the promise that it will be posted on the
Internet before it is voted on so the American People can read this for
themselves – all 1,990 pages of it. Also, “it will not add one-dime to
the deficit.” To make it appear to be budget-neutral, it required
moving some things from the Health Reform Bill to a separate Bill to be
introduce later. The saying – “the devil is in the details” – could not
be more true than it is with the unconscionable and devious
manipulations of those who in actuality are betraying a public trust.
They conveniently find a Poll that indicates 55% of the people support
Health Care Reform to justify their plan. What are some of the unstated
direction of Health Reform? One does not need to read the 1,990 pages
of the Bill – just look at the Medicare Fees for 2010. The Premiums for
Advantage Coverage have doubled; co-pays have been re-introduced;
patients will pay $200.00 per day (up to 6 days) for a Hospital stay;
Prescription Drug co-pays will be required. Fixed Income people, whose
2010 Social Security Benefits did not receive an increase for the first
time in many years, will have to figure out some way to meet their
medical costs at the expense of other necessities of life. Ebenezer
Scrooge Lives On! While one watches the discussions and proposals of
Congress, the slight of hand in Medicare has already mandated costly
changes for one’s Medical Care. The devil is in the reality and bottom
line of 2010 Medicare costs and benefits.
The following has
been attributed to a number of political philosophers and thinkers,
including Lord Thomas Macaulay, Alexander Tytler and Alexis
DeTocqueville, namely: “A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of
government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can
vote themselves largesse from the public treasury. From that moment on,
the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most
benefits from the public treasury with the result that a democracy
always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a
dictatorship. The average age of the world's greatest civilizations has
been 200 years. Great nations rise and fall. The people go from bondage
to spiritual truth, to great courage, from courage to liberty, from
liberty to abundance, from abundance to selfishness, from selfishness
to complacency, from complacency to apathy, from apathy to dependence,
from dependence back again to bondage.” We are almost there and are
displaying eagerness to knock on that door. Remember though: Ebenezer
Scrooge Lives On!
It is easy in this culture to become
susceptible and selfish. Most have that potential and propensity. One
can read about such a choice in The Amplified Bible, Numbers 21:5-6 –
"And the people said against God and Moses, why have you brought us out
of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no bread, neither is
there any water, and we loathe the light (contemptible, unsubstantial)
manna." The people complained about God’s supernatural provision for
them. God’s response to their complaints is: "God sent fiery serpents
among the people, and they bit the people, and many Israelites died."
Psalm 78:18 states: "…they tempted God in their hearts by asking for
food according to their selfish desire and appetite." The real choice
is limited and should be obvious: Follow the Lord! Trust in Him at all
times and for all things! Do not fear men or the governments of man!
God’s Grace is always sufficient! Consider these things with me!