1814- I WILL NEVER SEE MY HOME AGAIN

When I was a kid growing up in New Jersey- there were certain stories that I heard- you know- things that stick with you for the rest of your life.

One of the all time greats was the day my mom took my Italian Grandma to the store.

Now- my mom was notorious for getting lost- even as a young kid I would tell her directions on my way to school- blocks from the house!

But this one was the best.

The store they were headed to was named Valley fair- it was about 15 minutes from the house- I drove passed it many times- even rode my bike there.

So my mom picks up Nauna and off they go.

Now- my Nauna was a first generation immigrant- you know- came over on the boat [Plane?]

So you might see things differently because of that- having had the experience of leaving your homeland and moving to some strange new world.

As they make this ‘short’ drive- my mom begins worrying that she might have missed the turn.

As a matter of fact- it seems like they have been driving for a while [quite a while to be exact!]

So she finally stops at the gas station and asks the guy ‘do you know where Valley Fair is’?

The guy looks puzzled- and you must understand [to those of you not from the Garden State] that the cities are so tight- it’s easy to drive thru 10 cites without even realizing you did it.

So the guy asks ‘what city is the store in’?

Simple enough.

She tells him [I think the town was Little Ferry?]

He still looks puzzled- he asks ‘what state is that in’?

Yes- they drove out of state and were wandering in New York state.

My Nauna simply said ‘I will never see my home again’.

Yes- we all hate change- we fear the new environment- having to learn new tasks.

Today is day 3 for the Supreme Court to hear the oral arguments on Obama Care.

They set aside 6 hours over 3 days for the case- which is really extraordinary.

They usually give you one hour and that’s it.

But they know this is a major thing- and they want to hear both sides.

By most accounts- the Solicitor General for the govt. [the lawyer who argues the case for it] had a bad day.

Some even went as far to predict that the law will get struck down [Toobin for CNN].

I think it’s still too early to say that- but it did look like the court might be accepting [at least asking] more arguments on the side of those who want to overturn the law then those who are for it.

Why are so many people against it?

About 2/3^rd’s of the country do not like the mandate [Me too].

People will indeed be forced to buy insurance- or pay the fine.

I found it funny that one of the more liberal justices- Stephen Bryer- kind of rebuked the president’s lawyer [the guy arguing for it].

The lawyer kept referring to the fine as ‘the tax’ and Bryer called him out on it.

Why was the lawyer fudging like this?

Because if you argue that the mandate is simply a tax- then by all accounts the govt. has the power to tax.

But the law was not drawn up this way- because of political reasons.

So instead of saying the charge is a tax- they said it’s a fine.

As this case has made its way thru the courts- the govt. has tried this a few times- and one judge said ‘look- you have argued in public that this is not a tax- now you are saying it is- you can’t have it both ways’.

So the govt. [Obama] has really twisted this thing a lot.

I don’t know if the court will uphold or reject the law- but things look brighter today for those who want it struck down.

One of the things that will happen- is if it passes- is things will change.

Now- frankly I’m not in the camp of thinking the whole country will go socialist over it- to be honest the mandate used to be a Repub idea [the Heritage Foundation- a conservative think tank- once supported the idea].

Socialism- in its truest form- would have been the one payer- govt. run system- this plan is not that.

But yeah- there will be changes- many for the worse- a few for the better.

Many people will lose their employer provided insurance- because it will be cheaper for the Employers to drop their coverage and let people fall into the plan.

So that will be bad for some.

And of course- the argument that all the govt. is doing is regulating commerce [that’s the argument they are using- the commerce clause] is really silly in my mind- they are trying to mandate people to buy a private product- from the private business sector- this is much more than simply regulating commerce.

But overall- if it passes- things will change.

Yes- change is scary- we get used to familiar surroundings- then one day you wake up- head out to the store- and before you know it- you will never see your home again.

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Note- Do me a favor, those who read/like the posts- re-post them on other sites as well as the site you read them on. Thanks- John