I don't like the sounds of this!

Today upon the Stoa will once again discuss the concept that words mean things. Lets say this again. Words. Mean. Things.

I started to get that cold "ants down my back" feeling when I heard a left-leaning ISP (Internet Service Provider) tell me on one of its "General Information" pages that the concept of government run health care: 1) nothing new, just look at the VA system, Medicare and Medicaid, 2) the new bill simply extends that same, PRECEDENT setting concept to its logical conclusion.

Logical Conclusion. Hmmmm. So all that other stuff was just a "thin wedge" to get us to this point. Interesting.

It also went on to trot out all the people who have been paying the taxes for Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid and for them to demand something for all that they have paid into over the years.

Words mean things and Liberals sure know it. They have been successful over the last century in "Framing" the argument. They prepare the ground on which the battle will take place, like any good military commander. They send up trial balloon arguments and then see how the right will debate the issues. The Liberals then go about warping the meaning of the words and the issues until they have maneuvered the Right onto the ground they have prepared. Then the battle begins.

A battle that the Right always seems to lose. We argue according to their premiss, argue based upon THEIR definitions of words. We don't think to argue those things, which is why we lose.

The ignorance (and willing participation of those on the dole) of the American people allow this kind of argumentative suicide to take place.

Let us lance a few of the festering boils that the left is creating with the argument that ObamaCare is simply and extension of ALREADY EXISTING PRESIDENTIAL AND LEGISLATIVE PRECEDENCE.

Social Security is not, technically, an entitlement. It is a retirement plan that the government collects taxes on with the understanding that when you are old enough, or debilitated enough, that those benefits will be paid out to you. Over the years, Social Security Insurance (SSI) has been warped to suit election year politics. There is no limit to how much SSI will pay out to a beneficiary, nor is it something that you ever had to work for. The tax that we all pay, for our "own" future, was spent decades ago and will never be replaced. Can we say, "Government Theft"?

SSI is a tax with a benefit. So, let's think of it that way, even if it is a giant Ponzi scheme.

Next, Medicare/Medicaid. One is a Federal program and the other is a program administered by the States. Everyone pays a tax on income to pay for these programs. If you have no income, you pay no taxes. I may never use either of those programs, but as a "people" we decided, long before I was born, that this was a burden that we would all accept in order to help those who needed it. We are a compassionate nation after all are we not?

So, I'm not forced to accept SSI, though I pay a tax. I'm not forced to accept Medicare/Medicaid, though I pay a tax.

So, I'm NOT seeing the "logical extension" of ObamaCare from these roots. First, ObamaCare demands that ALL citizens purchase a product, or pay a penalty. This is not taxation. These are fines and fees. What if they mandate the purchase of Broccoli, or healthy beverages. If they can mandate I purchase healthcare for "the common good", then what is to keep Michelle Obama from forcing us to eat healthy food?

A majority of Americans are AGAINST ObamaCare, so there is no broad, popular mandate for its creation, like there was for SSI and Medicare. Since Medicaid is a program run and administered by the States, the Federal government is Constitutionally unable to order them to do anything related to Medicaid.

Do you see what happened there? With only a little nudging, the Main Stream Media (MSM) has completely removed what a monumental shift this is for us, as a culture, as a people, and as a nation governed by the foundation of the Constitution.

Come on, people, it is just an extension of something we've already done. Look at the taxes you pay, without ever getting a benefit from, for Medicare and Medicaid. Look at your paycheck and see what gets taken out for SSI. You could be hit by a bus tomorrow and never enjoy that retirement money.

My grandmother never earned a paycheck in her life, yet she has been collecting a bounty of benefits since 1979. As a people we decided to repay that generation for all that they endured and all that the had done for the nation. Today, entitlement spending is nearly 75% of the overall budget. Those promises can not be kept for the decedents of the GI generation. It simply can not.

The people in the article were saying that what the Supreme Court was ruling on was "merely semantics".

People, semantics is important. It is vital, especially in legal matters and doubly so in legislation that will crush this nation and its people.

Here is a good example of how important "semantics" is. My wife was born with the name Bea'ta. In English, her her name sounds like "Be-Ate-A". In her language, the name sounds like "Bae-ah-tah". Huge difference. After a week of trying to say her name right, she told me to go back to calling her Bay (bae), which was what I started to call her when I first met her.

So what is the big deal? Well, because of the concept of "Semantics", one pronunciation is her name. The other is not. Simple.

And in the above article? One is Constitutional, the other is not. Just that simple.

The Left loves to prepare the battleground for a debate. They are good at it. The dumbing down of the American public aids in their attempts to win arguments in this fashion...and it works.

Don't just absorb the tripe that they feed us. Think about what you hear and form your own opinion. You have a wonderfully complex mind that is capable of creating operas and planning missions to other planets. Don't just fill it with pop culture and "mental Fast Food". Exercise that brain from time to time and it will serve you well.

Live well.

--Zavost