Richard E Kelly

Hannah says it’s for the Gold Award. I say it’s for the puppy. You decide.

I saw it first on a Facebook post by one of my granddaughters. “Hannah Claire Kelly is going to get a dog!!! SO HAPPY, life is good.” Could it be really be? I thought any chance of that was kyboshed many years ago. But as I read the FB comments to her post, I realized it wasn’t a done deal; at least not yet.

Hannah has been an avid girl scout for the last nine years. She also has a very special connection with dogs. If it had been up to her, there would have been a family dog for all of the fifteen years of her life. But after Mandy—a pet golden retriever who died when Hannah was seven—her parents said, “No more dogs.”

Hannah could have lived with that decision. That is until she read the story about a young lady who had trained a guide dog. It was the featured story in The Golden Link, a monthly magazine published by the Girl Scouts. The Texas teenager provided a foster home for a nine-week-old puppy; raising him until he was sixteen months old. During that time, she taught the dog 40+ commands and exposed him to many types of social situations. For this community service, she received The Gold Award—the highest honor you can receive as a Girl Scout.

Hannah had worked hard for her bronze and silver award. Now she knew how to get the gold. But the biggest hurdle to getting a dog (a golden retriever or a lab) would be her dad. Determined to make it a reality, she put together a 22-slide PowerPoint Presentation, which took her two-and-a-half weeks. Her goal: To convince her dad that she should be a “puppy raiser.” (See attached copy.) He was impressed with her creativity and due diligence. However, this would be a major commitment for the family. So he said that he would have to think on it.

Four days later, he told Hannah that the jury had made their final decision. Was she ready for it? Her hopes hit rock bottom, when she saw his deadpanned expression. Then he announced his verdict, “I know you will have many obstacles ahead of you. But I won’t be one of them. You have my approval to send in your application to be a foster mother for a potential “dog of service.”

Hannah’s Power Point Presentation

I received a telephone call from my granddaughter on June 4, asking me if I would like to hear a speech that she had written. She planned to present it at church the next day. I am curious if you will have the same response as I did. It reads:

What is Faith?

By Erika Waalkes, Age 15

For me, “Faith” is a very complex word. For many people this is the word they live by, and for others it is not even part of their life.

When I looked up faith in the dictionary, one of the definitions was, “any set of firmly held principles or beliefs.” This can mean so many different things. It can refer to religion, what you believe, or it can simply be how you live your life.

For me personally, I see faith as how I journey through life and my values; being a good person, helping others, and working hard to achieve my dreams. In other words, I try to live by the golden rule. Treating others how I want them to treat me. I think this is a rule everyone should live by.

Ironically, the golden rule is found in all major religions, just in different words. In Buddhism it is, “hurt not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful.” In Hinduism it is, “this is the sum of duty; do naught onto others what you would not have them do unto you.” And what I appreciate about these words is that growing up and going to All Souls Church, I have learned that these are powerful words of wisdom. If everyone lived by them, the world would be at peace.

For many people, their faith is dependent on their belief in a higher power than themselves. They worship and pray to this God or Gods. Living in west Michigan, I have been asked many times about my religion. Depending on who the person is, I’ll explain what I believe and what kind of church I go to. After describing my faith, I am often asked, “Do you accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior?” I’ll say, “No, but I respect what you believe.” Normally, I’m criticized for what I believe, and the person tries to save me. I wonder why? If I respect and honor what they believe, why can’t they afford to do the same for me?

Many people who believe in God say that it helps them to be a good person; it gives them comfort in their journey through life. I respect this. However, at this point in time, I don’t believe in God or any higher power.

For me growing up as a Unitarian/Universalist has significantly influenced my life. I think that learning the “Seven (7) Principles” has made me a better person. It has taught me that if you are kind to everyone, life will be so much more enjoyable. It has also helped me in school. In seventh grade, my history teacher handed out a quiz on Buddhism. I was the only student to receive an A. I am sure that was because I had learned about all the major religions in church.

Being a part of the “Coming of Age” program, I have learned more about Unitarian Universalism. I have many good memories, and I have improved my public speaking. I look forward to taking the skills that I have learned through this program, and applying them throughout my life. I have also discovered what “faith” means to me, and how I apply it to my life. I ask that when you go home, to think about if faith is part of your life. If so, what does it mean to you? How does it guide your life?

By Richard E. Kelly & Mark A. Evans

So what happens if the 2010 Health Care Law is repealed? If the health care system in the U.S. is not broke, why fix it? Right?

The engine that drives U.S. health care is health insurance, which will be an unregulated industry if the law is repealed. Unlike bankers and Wall Street, this industry will then be able to police itself, with no government regulations to get in the way of keeping Americans healthy, at least for those who can afford health insurance.

Unfortunately, there are a few doomsayers. Warren Buffet, for one, warns, “If we repeal the current law and do nothing, everyone’s health care will be in jeopardy. The way we are going, within a decade we’ll spend one dollar out of every five we earn on health care – and we’ll keep getting less for our money. Fixing what’s wrong is a necessity we cannot postpone.

“The high costs paid by U.S. companies for employee health care puts them at a competitive disadvantage internationally. That kind of cost, compared with the rest of the world, is like a tapeworm eating at our economic body.” And feeding his warning are the following facts:

• Health care premiums have doubled in the last eight years at a rate 3.7 times faster than wages have increased.
• The U.S. spends 17% of GDP on health care while the rest of the world spends 9% and it has fewer doctors and nurses per person.
• The average cost per person/year for health care is $6,714 for U.S.; $3,678 for Canada; $3,449 for France; and $2,760 for the UK.
• Half of all bankruptcies are caused by medical bills.
• 25% of all medical spending goes to admin/overhead costs.
• Antiquated paper-based record keeping and information systems needlessly increase health care costs.
• Only four cents on every health care dollar spent is on prevention.
• Many businesses cannot provide health care coverage to its employees as it’s too expensive.
• The constantly rising costs of Medicare and Medicaid could lead to fiscal meltdown in the near future.
• Inefficient and poor quality health care costs the US somewhere between 50 to 100 billion dollars a year.
• Millions of dollars are lost each year due to profiteering, resulting in people paying more without receiving better care in return.
• The number of uninsured is growing at an alarming rate. Today it’s 51 million, up from 46 million 9 months ago. If it balloons to 100 million, could that trigger a U.S. health care crash?
• $2.3 trillion plus was spent on health care in 2008.

One knowledgeable insurance executive checked the facts here cited and said, “To the best of my knowledge, this paper is factually accurate.”

“The case that your paper doesn’t make—and as far as I can tell no one has made—is that the proposed health care reform actually addresses the issues that your paper highlights. I understand that this would require a massive explanation. Personally, it troubles me that the government has not attempted to explain its analysis of the problems you’ve outlined or demonstrate how HCR solves those problems.

“Yes, one can imagine how some of the proposed elements of HCR will help, but it would benefit the American public immensely if the government would thoroughly and explicitly describe the problem, explain all of their root cause analysis, describe the potential solutions they explored, justify the solutions they chose, and connect all the dots between problem and solution elements.”

Okay, so what does one expert know? Once the law is repealed, we’d suggest setting the following two goals to improve health care in America:

1. Cut National Health Care Spending by 2 Trillion Dollars in 10 Years
   • This includes Medicare and Medicaid
2. Provide Quality, Affordable Health Care for all Americans
   • Protect families from bankruptcy or debt because of HC costs
   • Guarantee choice of doctors and health plans
   • Invest in prevention and wellness
   • Maintain coverage when a person changes/loses their job
   • End barriers to coverage for people with pre-existing conditions

P.S. Oops! I think those were the goals President Obama and his team set for the current 2010 Health Care Reform Law. So why doesn’t the President just explain the damn law so the average American can understand it?