TELLING IT LIKE IT IS !

Making the Internet safer for children and families.

1. Let’s talk about ‘sexting,’ or the practice of sending explicit messages or photos via cell phone. How do parents deal with this issue?

One of the most important things that parents can do is to be informed and not assume that their child is immune from any type of Internet danger or risk. Actually one in five teens have admitted that they are ‘sexting,’ or have done this in the past. One of the things parents can do is not provide Internet access. You can also limit the ability to text.

2. What about social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace?

Be aware that the popular social-networking sites like MySpace and Facebook, do have age restrictions. However, a young person can go on and be dishonest about their age and get a social-networking profile.

If a parent decides to let their child on a social-networking site, it’s important to instruct them to keep their profiles private, so that only people within their own circle of friends can view their private information. It’s also important to let kids know that no information is truly private. The parent also needs to have access to their child’s profile. The only way the parent can view their child’s profile is if the parent has set up a profile and has been added as a friend. So, there is a tremendous amount of cyber-parenting required to keep your kids safe.

3. What about Internet or fantasy games?

Online gaming does create a number of issues and problems beyond just the violence and the fact that it can be addictive. Anytime a young person is gaming online, they can actually be playing with people that they don’t know. So any of those issues of anonymous predators can come up in the gaming world. It’s important for parents to realize that their kids can be playing with perfect strangers who may want to cause them harm.

But there are also parental controls on the popular gaming devices. We always encourage parents to use ‘rules and tools’ on all Internet-enabled devices. Whether it’s an online gaming device, a cell phone, a laptop, a desktop, you have to use safety rules and software tools. They are there so that parents can limit the amount of access that their kids have anywhere in the online world.

4. Even Internet searches can be dangerous for kids. Is there anything parents can do to lessen the danger?

Kids can access any type of content online. It’s important to recognize that the same laws and regulations that shield kids in print and broadcast, for instance, from pornography, do not necessarily apply online or are not being enforced online. Parents must use an Internet filter. This is very, very important. Filters will catch 95-plus percent of the inappropriate content.

What is so nice about them is that you can set different filter levels for different ages of kids in your household, and they allow you to block different categories as well. Most search engines have a preference level so you can have filtered search results, but a parent has got to go and turn those on. If you don’t know how, then learn or don’t give them access. Parents are the stewards of their children’s innocence.

5. What about file sharing, peer-to-peer networks and that sort of thing?

Peer-to-peer file-sharing networks are the most difficult parts of the Internet to effectively safeguard your children because they are passing from computer to computer. Many of the filters and parental control companies will actually allow you to block all the file-sharing programs. The bottom line is you can’t filter file-sharing programs, so blocking is the only way to stop that.

Last night abortion coverage had been explicitly included in the House bill as mandated taxpayer-funded abortion. The measure, which was debated during the Energy and Commerce mark-up, passed 30-28. Not only does the Capps amendment ensure that abortion will be covered, but it also requires that an abortion plan be made available in every U.S. region … so those states who have pro-life guidelines will be now overthrown.

For months it has been identified that taxpayers would be forced into the abortion business as part of health care “reform,” and Planned Parenthood denied it. MSNBC, NARAL, Daily Kos, and the “religious left” have all accused those who stated that of misleading the public about the existence of an abortion mandate. Now there’s further proof. The Capps amendment wasn’t needed to verify that abortion would be included in the final package. All voters need to know is that Congress has had the opportunity to ban abortion coverage outright a number of times, and it didn’t. Multiple amendments have now been offered by pro-life members to specifically prohibit taxpayer-funded abortion as part of these bills. And every single one – including last night’s – lost.

The left really does plan to outlaw your private insurance … just read the bill. Something that many Members of Congress haven’t done … not just this bill.

The legislation in question is H.R. 3200 (America’s Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009 or AAHCA) which was formally introduced by John Dingell, a leading Democrat in Congress.

Here is some of the actual language:

“Except as provided in this paragraph, the individual health insurance issuer offering such coverage does not enroll any individual in such coverage if the first effective date of coverage is on or after the first day of Y1.”

You read that right. If you are not insured on day one of the effective date of this legislation you are involuntarily forced into the government plan.

If you are not insured on day one of the effective date of this legislation you are involuntarily forced into the government plan.

But there’s more. If you ever have to change insurance (i.e. you switch jobs), you won’t be able to obtain private insurance … that you will be involuntarily forced into a government plan.

If you ever have to change insurance (i.e. you switch jobs), you won’t be able to obtain private insurance … that you will be involuntarily forced into a government plan.

Think about it … how many people switch jobs at least once in their lives?

Answer: Everybody

“The Commissioner shall establish a grace period whereby, for plan years beginning after the end of the 5-year period beginning with Y1, an employment-based health plan in operation as of the day before the first day of Y1 must meet the same requirements as apply to a qualified health benefits plan under section 101, including the essential benefit package requirement under section 121.”

No, your eyes are not playing tricks on you. Those who are ‘grandfathered’ and allowed to keep their private coverage … those who are fortunate enough not to have the need to switch carriers or plans are going to be left out in the cold anyway because the private carriers will be forced to dance to the government’s tune.

Does this sound like a repeat of what Barack Hussein Obama and the Pelosi liberals in Congress did to the housing industry and General Motors?

There’s no doubt; Barack Hussein Obama is rushing to totally socialize America’s healthcare system before the end of summer.

No time to read the bills …. No time to study the effects … No time to consider the costly deficits for as far as the eye can see …. Just demands to pass it now ….

That is why Barack Obama used his weekly radio address to declare that “healthcare reform cannot wait.” Barack Hussein Obama is pressuring your Congressman and Senators.

Barack Obama has repeatedly lied about his healthcare reform plans.

Lie #1, Obama says: “If you like your doctor, you will be able to keep your doctor, period. If you like your health care plan, you’ll be able to keep your health care plan, period. No one will take it away, no matter what.”

But according to Robert M. Goldberg, vice president of the Center for Medicine in the Public Interest, writing in the American Spectator: “Now you might be wondering, how the government plan recruits doctors and providers to this exciting new enterprise? Actually, it forces any provider getting paid by Medicare to join the plan. Do doctors have a ‘choice’? Of course. They can ‘opt out in a process established by the Secretary.’ Translation: No public option patients, no Medicare patients.”

So keeping your doctor will depend on lots of factors, but don’t hold your breath.

Lie #2, Obama Says: “I will not sign on to any health plan that adds to our deficits over the next decade.”

But according to the Congressional Budget Office’s current chief, Douglas Elmendorf, Obamacare will lead to substantially higher costs in the future – costs that will be “unsustainable.”

Other expert estimates for reforming health care range from 1 trillion to 3.6 trillion. Much of this money will be spent on subsidies to the so-called “public” option that would lead to higher rates on the private plans most of us have now.

Lie #3, Obama Says: “They change incentives so providers will give patients the best care, not just the most expensive care, which will mean big savings over time.”

But according to Robert M Goldberg again: “In fact, both bills cover the cost by making people wait for needed tests and treatments and forcing doctors to skimp on care to meet a government standard of ‘quality.’ AAHCA uses price controls. And there is no room for discussion: The bill states: ‘There shall be no administrative or judicial review of a payment rate or methodology established under this section or any other section.'”

Don’t let Obama continue to lie to the American people. This plan will hurt your health care.

It is frightening that Obama, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi are rushing the overhaul of the entire system without adequate debate and deliberation. Pelosi is disregarding the deliberative process. When questioned about the way the House of Representatives leader has repeatedly railroaded over Republican objections, she simple says: “Now, we had an election that was about our different views and the direction our country was going in. We had a different point of view. The American people agreed with us.”

Barack Obama also wants to do away with committee hearings, expert testimony, study and discussion. At a hastily called news conference, Obama was frantically pushing the bill: Obama continued, “now is the not the time to slow down.”“We are going to get this done. We will reform health care. It will happen this year. I’m absolutely convinced of that.”

This gestapo of leftists that are currently in control of America are blocking the torpedoes and pushing ahead because they don’t want key questions asked … questions that deserve answers.

Stand and demand that Members of Congress do the right thing.

The goal is clear. This is the next step before a complete takeover of the American private medical system. Socialized medicine will lead to limits on care, limits on tests, and limits on doctors, leading to premature death for you or your loved ones.

Look what socialized medicine has done to the healthcare industry in other countries around the world, according to Investor’s Business Daily it is a story of care deferred and higher death rates:

“In countries with nationalized care, medical outcomes are often catastrophically worse. Take breast cancer. According to the Heritage Foundation, breast cancer mortality in Germany is 52% higher than in the U.S.; the U.K.’s rate is 88% higher. For prostate cancer, mortality is 604% higher in the U.K. and 457% higher in Norway. Colorectal cancer? 40% higher in the U.K.”

But what about the health care paradise to our north? Americans have almost uniformly better outcomes and lower mortality rates than Canada, where breast cancer mortality is 9% higher, prostate cancer 184% higher and colon cancer 10% higher.

Then there are the waiting lists. In Canada, which has a population of just over 33 million, just under that of California, 830,000 Canadians are waiting to be admitted to a hospital or to get treatment. In England, the list is 1.8 million deep.

Rationed care that increases deaths is not my idea of improvement, and I know you don’t think so either.

Let’s make sure our representatives and senators know what we think.

Stop this runaway train before it is too late!

Here is a link to the ObamaCare health plan. You better read it because you will be forced to live with it unless you do something about it!

Here is an overview of the ObamaCare health care bill (HR 3200) which Congress is about to force every citizen to live under, except members of Congress.

Members of Congress will be exempt from being forced into this plan. They will have their own. The liberals, Democrats and some Republicans – while forcing you to join the plan – refuse to include themselves. Members of Congress will have a better plan which gives these elitists the freedom you will be denied.

ObamaCare will include abortion, healthcare rationing (especially seniors and special needs care no matter what age), doctor choice elimination, increased taxes in many ways and areas, the equivalent of family police where government comes in and tells you how to raise your children, and much more you need to be aware of.

ObamaCare is a nightmare. It is Marxist in its approach and application.

You can read the attached updated and revised overview file of HR 3200 as compiled by Liberty Counsel.

Or, go to the full text of HR 3200 and read directly from the government website what this bill does! It is true you will probably need a lawyer to understand it but thankfully the Liberty Counsel took time to translate some major portions. Most of the politicians haven’t even read it!

Your Senators and Representative will soon be home for the August recess of Congress. Get a car load of friends and go meet with your Senators and Representative. Find out where he or she is holding Townhall meetings. Go to those meetings and ask for some answers! Some of them may try to avoid discussing ObamaCare. Don’t let them!

Find your Senators and Representative local offices here through the American Family Association website.

Take Action!

• E-mail your Senators and Representative,asking for a schedule of their Townhall meeting during the month of August. Once you get the information, get a carload of friends and attend the Townhall meeting.

• If your Senators or Representative is not holding Townhall meeting, ask why not.(We have been told that many of those favoring ObamaCare aren’t holding meeting because they don’t want to answer questions about ObamaCare.) Then ask for an appointment at his or her district office nearest you.

THIS MUST NOT PASS !

I know socialized medicine as I was under it for over 30 years and continue to see how it has deteriorated since I moved to America and watch the poor care my relatives receive back in Canada, which is rife with rationing and lack of services, let alone doctors. It does not work in the long haul … health care in America will be so much worse if this is adopted! And, it is far from free for those who work.

I understand the system needs to be reformed but this is NOT the way!

The Obama administration is finally hitting its biggest roadblock in the debate over health care: the facts. Despite his best attempts to gloss over the real cost, the President continues to lock horns with the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), whose unflattering analyses are cutting significantly into the administration’s efforts to sell this as reform. Much to this administration’s displeasure, the CBO continues to provide an honest assessment of the bill’s price tag, which has rocketed well above $1 trillion.

Unlike other entities, the CBO is supposed to be above partisanship–but in the eyes of the Obama administration, that’s a problem. For an administration so accustomed to having its way with Congress, the press, and the American people, the CBO’s independence has been a powerful annoyance. Frustrated by his inability to control how CBO scores his proposal, President Obama took the unprecedented step of calling CBO Director Douglas Elmendorf into his office for a heart to heart. The White House was particularly angry over Elmendorf’s estimate that the House version of “reform” would “result in a net increase in the federal budget deficit of $239 billion over the 2010-2019.” Obviously the President didn’t take kindly to the CBO for interrupting his public spin with the bottom line.

But calling in Elmendorf to “discuss” these costs is highly unusual – even by liberal standards. To the best of anyone’s knowledge, this is the first time an administration has tried to directly intervene in how the CBO appraises legislation. More than a few people speculated that the administration was trying to strong-arm the Office into releasing more budget-friendly numbers in their scores. There would be no other motivation for the meeting, particularly since (as both Ed Morrissey and John Fund point out), the White House has its own budget office.

If President Obama were earnestly looking for ways to cut costs, he could have picked up the phone and called the OMB, the Office of Management and Budget. Instead, he reached across the entire Executive Branch to strong-arm a congressional appointee, a move that shows this President isn’t willing to fight fair in the most expensive policy initiative of his term.

As Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell described it, “that’s like asking the umpires to come up to the owner’s box…. I mean, if the CBO is to have credibility, they’re the umpire.” To his credit, Elmendorf said that the meeting with President Obama would not impact how the CBO scores health care reform. And to prove it, the CBO released an assessment on Friday afternoon that disputed the Democrats’ claim that a few changes to the plan would result in big savings. On the contrary, the proposed cuts would only skim a measly 0.2% off the bill’s total price.