Obamacare Upheld

Obamacare was upheld today in the US Supreme Court.  This was a big surprise to many on the left and the right, because it appeared fairly clear that the constitution does not allow the government to force a citizen to purchase something from another private citizen.  In this case we will all be forced to buy health insurance or we will pay a fine.  The court rationalized this by saying that it wasn't a fine but a tax, and the Congress is allowed to levy taxes.  This seems like a blatant end run around the Constitution.  Frankly I am shocked that the Supreme Court has decided this way.  This essentially throws that part of the Constitution out the window.

There are some things I like about Obamacare like forcing restaurants to show nutritional information about the items on their menu.  Not that that is going to stop somebody from stuffing a Big Mac into their face if that is what they went to McDonald's for.  The main thing I have a problem with Obamacare about is not the mandate it is that it does not address the fundamental problem with health care in America.  The cost.  Health care has been going up by about 9% per year every year since the early 80's.  Has anybody's income gone up by that much?  Not many.  What that means is that health care has become less and less affordable.  So instead of attempting to address the cost, Obamacare seeks to spread the cost of this ever increasing burden to as many people as possible.  I suppose hoping that there will be enough healthy people to pay for all the sick people.

What if all the mechanics in a town decided to slow start increasing the cost of an oil change until one day it cost $500 for one.  People would say they can't afford that and would either do it themselves or go to another town for an oil change.  This would in turn force the mechanics to lower their prices to what the market can bare.  This is basic economics.  However, what if the government stepped in and said we'll pay for $450 of that oil change by taxing people who don't own cars.  Why would the mechanics lower their prices in that case?  Of course they wouldn't, and they would keep right on increasing their prices.

Greece Votes

Today is the day of the Greek elections.  The financial news is telling us that this is a very big deal.  It could mean the difference between Greece staying in the Eurozone or rejecting the deal that was painstakingly put together over the past 6 months.  The fear among many is that the Greeks will vote to reject the deal which calls for huge cuts to their already bare bones government.  They literally have people working in government who are not getting paid.  I wonder what they will do.  What does somebody who is already on hard times, being told by somebody in another country that they will be forced to endure even harder times for the good of the European continent.  What would I do?  I would vote for whatever direction is best for my country.  I think I would vote to tear up the agreement.  I don't think a country is a country if officials from another country can tell you how to spend your money.  That would be like me having a checking account but with some random person in Italy also having access to it.  If that were the case, it would not be my checking account.

I am pretty sure they will vote for whatever choice will make their own lives easier in the shortest amount of time.  That is just human nature. 

Derek Graduates

I went to Derek's graduation today.  My boy has come a long way and I am very proud of the young man he is becoming.  I am looking forward to hanging out with him this summer.

Good Job Derek!

Late Night Warrior

Here I am again.  It is getting close to 10pm.  I had about a 2 week layover between the last project I was on and the one I am supposed to go onto next.  Usually this layover is spent prepping for the new show, which I could definitely be doing.  However, knowing that another project in house was in dire straits, I chose to offer my services....and here I am.  Even though I would prefer to be home right now, it feels good to know that I have the ability to help my friends when they need me.

I found out that one of the shows I worked on, Nike Knit, one an AICP award.  How bout that.

June Update

Wow, I have been really falling behind on this.  I keep wanting to write something but then I think I don't have enough to say so I don't do it.  That defeats the point.  I think the point of a blog is to let people know what you are thinking.  Doesn't necessarily have to be a long post.  So here's my short post about today.  Yesterday we went to a funeral.  It was sad.  It happened to be at the Miramar Marine Air Station, where I happen to have spent 5 of the 6 years I was in the Marine Reserves.  It has been about 12 years since I was last there.  I couldn't believe how much it had changed.  There has been a huge amount of construction on that base.  We drove around looking for the buildings I used to work in and could not find them at all.  Another thing I noted was that the entire time we were there there was constantly marines running.  This was midday on a Wednesday.  I always remember getting my PT sessions in before or after work.  Marines really take their physical fitness seriously.  Actually I think they take pretty much everything seriously.

Last week I finished another project.  It was the second installment in the Transformers video game series.  It was quite stressful in the final 2 days because we realized that we were not going to make the deadline.  We ended up having to pull people off of other projects to pull all nighters to get it done.  They did.  I think that final Friday night I didn't leave until 2:30am.  Good times.