July 14, 2017

Phil Beaver works to establish opinion when the-objective-truth has not been discovered. He seeks to refine his opinion by listening when people share experiences and observations. The comment box below invites readers to write.

Note 1:  I often dash words in phrases in order to express and preserve an idea. For example, frank-objectivity represents the idea of candidly expressing the-objective-truth despite possible error. In other words, a person expresses his “belief,” knowing he or she could be in error. People may collaboratively approach the-objective-truth.
 Note 2: It is important to note "civic" refers to citizens who collaborate for the people more than for the city.
A personal paraphrase of the preamble by & for Phil Beaver:  Willing people in our state routinely, voluntarily collaborate for comprehensive safety and security: continuity (for self, children, grandchildren & beyond), integrity (both fidelity and wholeness),  justice (freedom-from oppression), defense (prevent or constrain harm), prosperity (acquire the liberty-to pursue choices), privacy (responsibly discover & pursue personal goals), lawfulness (obey the law and reform injustices); and to preserve and cultivate the rule of law for the USA’s service to the people in their states.
Composing their own paraphrase, citizens may consider the actual preamble and perceive whether they are willing or dissident toward the preamble.  

Our Views (theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/opinion/our_views/article_3e794bde-6287-11e7-8295-f719b65ae9f1.html)

To Scuddy LeBlanc, I came to this thread to ask the question: Is this an Obamacare phenomenon?

Your generous wording pays off for readers who care to follow-up. I used your phrase about 5.7 times and found this article and quote:
  

"As legislators debate the specifics of repealing and replacing Obamacare, they should resist the feel-good talking point that Medicaid is a silver bullet for solving the opioid epidemic. In reality, Medicaid may be fueling the problem and may be largely responsible for starting the epidemic in the first place."

Read more at: http://www.nationalreview.com/article/449171/medicaid-opioid-problem-has-it-made-epidemic-worse

Gov. Edwards may look in the mirror and say, “You did the wrong thing for the people of Louisiana,”  reform, and correct as quickly as possible.

   

Today’s thought, G.E. Dean (Micah 29:7-8, CJB). “Would ADONAI take delight in thousands of rams with ten thousand rivers of olive oil? Could I give my firstborn to pay for my crimes, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?" Human being, you have already been told what is good, what ADONAI demands of you - no more than to act justly, love grace and walk in purity with your God.” 

Dean says “God hasn’t changed. He still wants us to live holy lives.”

Dean omits verse 7, which shows that the writer is merely thinking. And what awful thoughts! Sacrifice the first born to pay for the parent’s errors! Can good reasons come from bad thoughts? I don’t think so, and would not follow Dean. I want to act good for the sake of acting good.

Plato argued (gotquestions.org/Euthyphro-Dilemma.html), and I think the good is good because it is good. “Holy life” is the mystery Dean presents and Micah argued using “grace” and “with your God.” I prefer good behavior for good consequences, leaving the mystery elsewhere.

Letters.

Improve BR zoo in place (Brown). (theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/opinion/letters/article_e59b2dda-67da-11e7-8e1e-4f1247515273.html)

 
Brown adds to the incentives we have already been presented for keeping the zoo where it is. See, for example, businessreport.com/article/move-zoo-put-brec-superintendent-unveils-plan.

However, there seems to be a civic coercion to move the zoo even though there is no common sense to the move.

BREC’s attitude seems to be: keep forcing zoo relocation until the people shut up and go away. It is a sad display of sheer force instead of public integrity.

I hope the Mayor and Metro-Council stops the tyranny if tyranny is what is happening.

Against personal citizenship by professionals (Levy). (theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/opinion/letters/article_8b83043a-6717-11e7-ac6d-5351047b0e81.html)

To Joe Diogenes:

A serious problem with some people of propriety is inability to respond to people who like to learn the essence of a message and then experience its application (or not) in the day to day living with neighbors, whether worthy or not (avoiding hatred and rage). In other words, they don't want to study classical liberalism in order to live responsibly, they just want to behave.

The American colonists, loyal British subjects, realized freedom-from oppression they could not have experienced had they stayed in their homelands. After a few decades here, they perceived the opportunity to acquire the liberty-to pursue personal preferences rather than conform to a society, nation, or ideology. With a common language and a common, factional religion, they experienced personal independence and collaboration for justice more than preserving a tradition. Without articulating freedom-from and liberty-to, they perceived that England was enslaving them for homeland benefits. They changed their style from colonists to statesmen.

When the thirteen free and independent states did not work out, the 1787 statesmen designed an amendable nation predicated on governance of, by, and for the people (merely envisioned by Abraham Lincoln, in 1863). So far, the generations have neglected the conversion from “We the States” to “We the People of the United States.” The opportunity is ours: The willing people of 2017.

  

Yet, the enduring consequence is a culture of fiscal conservatism with responsible liberalism; live and let live; you take care of yours and I’ll take care of mine; let’s collaborate if our culture is attacked. The preamble offers this culture to willing people, and there will always be dissidents for personal reasons the dissident may or may not understand.

Liberal-democrats demand: I’ll nourish my appetites and you pay. The culture resists both irresponsible appetite and no work.

The preamble offers willing people comprehensive safety and security, and the people who don’t want it are dissidents. Levy, steeped with a propriety, doesn’t get it, but I suspect he is a dissident against comprehensive safety and security or public morality.

Columns. (The fiction/non-fiction comments gallery for readers)

  

Louisiana drugs (Froma Harrop). creators.com/read/froma-harrop

Sometimes I may say, “Thank you, Froma Harrop.” And I do today.

Harrop illustrates the application of comprehensive safety and security that is offered to people who are willing to collaborate for a culture that is guided by the civic agreement stated in the preamble to the constitution for the USA. It’s articles are amendable statutory laws that, if just, support the preamble’s purpose and goals. In Harrop’s case, one drug that offsets adult satisfactions of appetites presents 0.4% to 1.5% liability on the national GDP. See ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2898888/ for behavioral ties. There’s evidence that neither government nor God will solve this problem, but We the [Willing] People of the United States can and may.

“Louisiana . . . has 35,000 residents with hepatitis C who are on Medicaid or uninsured. Hepatitis C destroys the liver, but the drugs to treat it cost $85,000 for a 12-week regimen. Thus, the state decided to cover only 324 patients already suffering severe liver damage.”

“. . . but $85,000 is an only-in-America price. Canada pays $55,000 for a course of treatment. France recently got Gilead down to a price of about $33,000.”

According to Harrop, if Louisiana had “single payer” guaranteed drugs, Sovaldi liability would be $3 billion for the year. For 324 patients, the bill is $28 million for the year.

However, Louisiana sees it differently. “The state agency is responsible for covering approximately 35,000 Medicaid beneficiaries and uninsured residents, but covering the cost of hepatitis C treatments at current prices would run an estimated $764 million. In the current year, the Medicaid pharmacy program expects to spend just $76.2 million, according to a department spokesman.” See statnews.com/pharmalot/2017/05/04/louisiana-patents-hepatitis-drug-costs/.

“An estimated 3.5 million Americans live with chronic hepatitis C.” See cnn.com/2016/05/04/health/hepatitis-c-deaths-all-time-high/index.html. With my view from Harrop that’s a Medicaid liability of $300 billion or 1.57% of GDP. Adjusting to Louisiana’s view, it’s 0.4% of GDP.

Harrop’s column tacitly points to some major injustices in the American free-enterprise system. First, the focus on property as happiness that was incorporated in the Declaration of Independence from 17^th century English non-fiction has been proven false by 228 years’ operation of the USA under “life, liberty, and happiness.” In other words, these three “sacred” words seem to be comprehensively false. Evidence No. 1: 33 of the world’s countries have per capita child poverty lower than the USA. See washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2013/04/15/map-how-35-countries-compare-on-child-poverty-the-u-s-is-ranked-34th/?utm_term=.0f3a1b4390b4 . Evidence No. 2: gross domestic product per capital in the USA is 49% of the average for the top 5 nations and there are 19 countries with higher numbers. See cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2004rank.html. This USA failure-to-perform attests to privation of comprehensive safety and security, which is offered to willing people by the civic agreement stated in the preamble.

Again, thank you, Froma Harrop. If you, reader, are also bothered by the USA barbaric abuse of children, you may assist rather than resist ending 230 years’ neglect of the preamble. America, low as it may be, may become great by collaborating for comprehensive safety and security.

  

Press freely makes no sense (Byron York). washingtonexaminer.com/byron-york-for-trump-critics-to-follow-is-to-lead/article/2628158

I appreciate York pointing out that the press makes no sense.

  

Pope Francis confused (Page 3A). newjersey.news12.com/story/35879082/confidant-of-pope-francis-condemns-us-religious-right

The caption is, “Confidant of Pope Francis condemns US religious right.”

At last the pope is aligning his opinion with mine. Religion is alright in the heart, the closet, the home, the assembly place for believers, but not in a civic meeting, where “civic” refers to people who agree to collaborate for responsible living rather than for hopes for afterdeath.

No one will compromise their hopes for their unique afterdeath.

However, evil can be kept out of the USA, so on that, the pope remains wrong.

Phil Beaver does not “know” the-indisputable-facts. He trusts and is committed to the-objective-truth of which most is undiscovered and some is understood. He is agent for A Civic People of the United States, a Louisiana, education non-profit corporation. See online at promotethepreamble.blogspot.com.