Are We Better Off Now Than We Were Two Years Ago?

Are we better off now than we were two years ago?
Do we win when we roll the dice on ol' B.O.?
Are we working more, paid more, freer, will our debt get low?
Are we better off now than we were two years ago?

Do we want the gov a monopoly HMO?
Can we buy Canadian drugs where the price is low?
When we choose to save on health can we keep the mo?
Are we better off now than we were two years ago?

Do the politicians heed how King Jesus reigns?
Died as his gift, gives us what we need, His choice not our claim?
He rose again: superpower's overthrow!
We're better off than we were 2000 years ago.

Are the taxes simple now, even if not low?
Can we lawyer ourselves, or do lawyers' laws say "No!"?
Are the jobless 8 percent or the big one oh?
Are we better off now than we were two years ago?

Q&A (explanations), followed by lines I cut to keep it down to four stanzas

Q "ol' B.O."? A old Barack Obama. "B.H.O." for Barack Hussein Obama would be an alternative.

Q "gov"? A government.

Q "the mo"? A the money. I once took three stitches out of my hand, but did workers' comp pay me for not going to a doctor? My sister has given birth at home; did insurance pay her for staying out of the hospital? (Maybe it did.) Medical Savings Accounts that we can keep if not spent are one way we could keep what we choose not to spend on health/health insurance.

Q What's this about Jesus? A At the very heart of Christianity--any version--is that Jesus died on the cross, and that this was his choice (at least, staying alive was not his top priority). To do what he wanted to do, he gave his own life. Not that it was taken from him by us who needed him to do it; it was his gift, not us imposing a tax on him, however badly we needed what he gave. So it is Christian to be generous with what is our own. It is the opposite of Christian to be generous with that which is other people's. Political generosity is usually of the second kind. It is our money, not its own money, that politicians spend. So political generosity is bogus and hypocritical. We need the government to punish evildoers so doers of good can do any good they choose; and taxes to pay for this service are well earned. We do not need government to babysit us at our own expense.

Q "superpower's overthrow"? A The only superpower of his day had condemned Jesus to death, and executed him. When he rose up alive from the dead, emptying his tomb, the verdict of the only superpower was reversed--God showed the only superpower who the Only Superpower is. Jesus did not wage war on Rome, but as His Kingdom grew, it came to pass that Rome is no longer the only superpower. Let the only superpower of these days remember and take heed.

Q So we're better off now thn we were 2000 years ago? A Yes, compare the lives of the Presidents of the US with the lives of Plutarch's noble Greeks and Romans, most of whom were murdered (some murdered themselves) or killed in battle. Christianity, even divided and watered down, makes for better countries than paganism (Greece, Rome, New Guinea), atheism (North Korea), or Islam (Saudi Arabia). Compare!

Q Taxes simple if not low? A Well, even if we shrank the government at 10% per year it'd take awhile to get taxes down much; but if taxes were simpler (Line 1, what did you take in last year? Line 2, send in 19% of line 1--going on 9% when we get down that far) we could spend more time doing productive work and less time doing tax paperwork.

Q Lawyer ourselves? A Sure; it's laws, not reality, that makes us use lawyers for some things; the laws protect lawyers from competition. Other laws protect taxi drivers, barbers, doctors, interior designers, and so on from competition. Get rid of such laws, and make lawyers earn their keep. (See some of the cut lines, below.)

Q Jobless 8% or the big one oh? A We were told the stimulus bill would keep unemployment below 8%. Unemployment is around 10%. Do we want the people who gave us that train wreck selling us health insurance, or used cars, or the Brooklyn Bridge?

Outtakes

Is it time for Pelosi Read and their crew to go?
Cut the tax-paid stuff so we choose buy get and go? We have to pay taxes, and what taxes pay
Can we shrink the gov to let freedom ring below? for may be offered to us for free; that's
Are we better off now than we were two years ago? government. In business, we choose
what to buy, and we pay for it; if we don't
Liberty's working can our President learn to know? choose it, we needn't pay.
When the feds wanna buy our soul can we "just say no"?

Have we cut silly laws that make jobs hard to start?
Has the Justice Institute laid regulations low? Institute for Justice; www.ij.org; they have
Has one bureaucrat's job been cut as best I know? gotten rid of some regulations.
Are we better off now than we were two years ago? Job been cut? Some have been laid off, but I
haven't heard much about bureaucrats being
Are the taxes simple now even if not low, told, Your position has been eliminated So instead of paper we work to make stuff we want? permanently. Maybe in New Jersey.
Are the regulators patient and nice and slow? Some regulations may need to be enforced
Are we better off now than we were two years ago? hard and fast (speeding on the road), but
a lot, I think, could be enforced by a procedure like this: We think you've broken this rule; we'll take one hour a day, no more, to teach you the rule and help you learn to keep it, and penalties will not exceed 10% of
your income. And if you think the rule is
stupid, or need not apply to you, we'll listen
and maybe let you off.

If I know what I need, can I doctor myself at will? My wife has a constant condition that needs
medication; why need she see a doctor every
time her prescription runs out? That's a useless "health care cost."

When our taxes bail out rich or poor do they pay? Heads I win, tails the taxpayers lose? If there is a bailout, let the recipient pay at least something.