May we be so lucky that they actually realize what the people DO and do NOT want for America! Time will tell – they now have 15 minutes to vote on HR3590, the first of potentially 3 votes this evening on health-related issues. The clock has started…

May you make your resolution today to begin discussions of political issues and candidates as we enter this election year.

As I read the headlines pontificating on the current legislative workings, I can’t help but think of the countless college students (not necessarily UMR/Missouri S&T students) who mimic this behavior. As Finals week approaches they believe their study is adequate and their preparation is sufficient. However, in the week or two beforehand, some begin to rethink their position/preparation and they begin to panic. Instead of preparing beforehand, they have squandered their preparation time and now are left unprepared. As the deadlines approach, their efforts appear to skyrocket, but amount to little success. In the end, the unprepared hurry to get together their answers – correct or not – which they turn in, in an attempt to get some credit! In their failing efforts, these people  do measurably worse than those who took time to consider the problem and work to find the appropriate solution.

So as CONgress hones in on their health”care” bill, you may want to ask yourself if you would want to go to the doctor who rushed through his medical school in the final hour, cramming for his tests and passing with the bare minimum required for graduation. Or, would you rather go with the doctor who took the time to think through the material, studied the possible solutions and various underlying problems, and was the one who got 99% of the answers correct. The fact of the matter is the doctors’ impact is relatively local in scope – impacting you and your family and friends (and I’m guessing you’d opt for the best possible doctor). Conversely, the impact of the US Legislature is comprehensive in scope, impacting every person within the US (though some feel that *any* change is better than *no* change)! For such changes, I would argue we better be in the 99% correct solution, not the bare minimum bottom-of-the-barrel just-cutting-it type of solution which typically emerges out of Washington from their last-minute “solutions”. You can think back to one of these last-minute solutions, the “we must immediately pass” 787 BILLION dollar stimulus bill, and see that 3/4 of the money was unspent as of a month ago (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/11/30/stimulus-unspent-cbo_n_374729.html). With such a rush to judgement, the appropriate solutions aren’t given the proper consideration and, instead, we’re stuck with the last-minute, hurried, best-guess solutions which will ultimately result in failure – but instead of a mere college student failing a course, it will be the entire country failing.

To All My Democratic Friends: 
Please accept with no obligation, implied or implicit, my best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low-stress, non-addictive, gender-neutral celebration of the winter solstice holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, or secular practices of your choice, with respect for the religious/secular persuasion and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all. I also wish you a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2010, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make America great. Not to imply that America is necessarily greater than any other country nor the only America in the Western Hemisphere . Also, this wish is made without regard to the race, creed, color, age, physical ability, religious faith or sexual preference of the wish.

To My Republican and Independent Friends:
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year in the year of our Lord Jesus Christ 2010.