Pet Health Care Talk

U.S. Rep. Thaddeus McCotter, has introduced legislation to create a tax deduction for pet owners’ expenses related to their pets.

According to the pet industry trade magazine, Pet Product News, McCotter, a Livonia Republican, introduced the legislation July 31 in conjunction with a Pet Product News survey on the industry.

The legislation is being supported by the lobbying arm of the pet industry, the Pet Industry Joint Advisory Council (PIJAC).

According to the PPN story, the proposed legislation will amend the IRS code to allow pet owners to deduct up to $3,500 in pet related expenses, including veterinary care.

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Bag of Randomness

  • Our downstairs air conditioner died and is being replaced today.  Yup, we are getting an entire new unit.
  • Hello new AC, goodbye home theater savings funds.
  • And it turns out that a new AC unit is going to cost more than the worth of my car.
  • I usually watch most of the Football Hall of Fame coverage, especially when a Cowboy is being inducted, but I only caught the highlights this year.
  • Bravo to Bruce Smith for busing his high school to his Hall of Fame induction.  Heck, Bravo for the city of Buffalo who I hope will always have an NFL franchise.
  • What a shame that Bob Hayes, who died at the age of 59 in 2002, wasn’t alive for his introduction.  Does anyone of his family get the honor of receiving a gold jacket?  I guess not.
  • I wonder what is must be like for someone like Roger Staubach to present a dead teammate into the Hall.  It must be tough putting a speech like that together.
  • What an interesting choice for Rod Woodson to have a friend from childhood to present him into the Hall.  It’s cool he didn’t forget his roots.
  • Sometimes I feel like a manly-man after doing some housework.  But after hanging out with BibleScholarGeorge on Saturday on the house he it doing a total remodeling effort on, I feel a bit like an underachiever.  But at the same time, I’m so very proud of the hard work and effort BibleScholarGeorge is putting into his house.
  • I’m also thankful for his willingness to be a friend.  I really don’t have any males in my life to confide in.  My father is deceased and the closest friend I felt comfortable with totally opening up is also deceased.  I have a budding relationship with my pastor, but that will take time, and I have someone I can email, but sometimes you just need to talk to another man face to face.  Even though BibleScholarGeorge and myself may disagree on how we vote and that he’s even an Eagles fan, I find him very rational and mature, and gracious.
  • Trust is one tough thing to earn, and a lifetime of trust be lost in a second.
  • I bought an ooma box/unit on Friday.  I haven’t hooked it up yet because I had to ship my old Vonage unit back.
  • If you haven’t heard, Texas Ranger Josh Hamilton has made a mistake concerning his rehab and has tarnished his beautiful comeback story, and more importantly, disgraced his family and his faith.  Sure, he’s to be forgiven and he can and is reddeemed, but man am I deeply disappointed.  Many people raise an eyebrow when celebrities talk about Christianity changing them, when stuff like this happens, you really can’t blame them.  Best of luck to him, his family, and his relationship with Christ.
  • And his agent has to be ticked, that’s gonna hurt the contract negotiations.
  • My pastor is doing a series over mainstream music and looking at it with a Christian perspective.  The song he focused on yesterday was John Mayer’s Waiting on the World to Change.  I wonder if John Mayer ever thought this song would be sung during a Sunday sermon.  I have to say I like this kind of perspective on things, it’s certainly different then the days in which I felt pressured only to listen to Christian music and have all my car presents set to the local Christian music station.
  • My pastor actually turned down a full ride to the University of Chicago law school to go into the ministry.
  • Here’s a video that another church created using Mayer’s song.
  • Of course I know some people, some people in my past, that would totally freak out that such a song would be sung in church.
  • There was one part in the song that made me think about a post from last week, the one in which I wrote about health care and referenced my friend Shawn that stated that the wrong people are controlling the discussion and then my questions and thoughts about unbiased news:
    And when you trust your television
    What you get is what you got
    Cause when they own the information, oh
    They can bend it all they want
  • That song is mainly about the generation gap that we face at one time in another.  Which made me think of this line from a new U2 song:
    Every generation gets a chance to change the world
    Pity the nation that won’t listen to your boys and girls
    ‘Cause the sweetest melody is the one we haven’t heard
    Is it true that perfect love drives out all fear
    The right to appear ridiculous is something I hold dear
    Oh, but a change of heart comes slow
  • Speaking of the news and health care, I mentioned that things were only going to get uglier, and they are.  I saw some local news coverage of angry people at town halls with their congressional representatives.  Most of their concerns were over misinformation, and the news didn’t bother to explore their concerns.  I was a little torn on that.  On one hand, the news is covering the event, and even though I thought they should examine what the concerns were to see if they were valid, I can understand why they just wanted to cover the event.
  • The people against health care reform seem to be worried that we will have a socialized health care system like that of Canada or Great Britian.  But that’s false and not what Obama is proposing.  Obama wants to create a government run health insurance company to compete with the publicly run health insurance companies.  Competition is a very capitalistic thing that benefits the market and the consumer, and something similar is happening with the U.S. Postal Sevice that competes with UPS, FedEx, and other carrier services.  And no one will be forced to take the government version, they can stay with that they have and have the freedom to choose.
  • However, if people are against tax dollars being allocated towards this when they thing those dollars should be allocated elsewhere, I can understand that.
  • And I can understand the argument against big government and not liking the idea of another government run entity, but I don’t believe what Obama proposes is going to lead to a socialized health care system.  As a matter of fact, the idea that his plan will cause all health car in this country to eventually be run by the government is false.
  • Part of the government is already socialized, like police and fire, and people don’t seem to be too upset at that.
  • I also hear the argument that the government isn’t capable of running a health care plan, but Medicare is a government run health care plan that is run well.  And our government runs our military among other things, and I think our military is the best in the world.
  • All the above links about health care go straight to PolitiFact.com, and I consider it a trusted source for filtering out misinformation.  Here are some more popular items they address regarding health care, all of them false:
    – “All non-US citizens, illegal or not, will be provided with free health care services.”
    – The Democrat-backed health care reform plan “will require (Americans) to subsidize abortion with their hard-earned tax dollars.”
    – In the health care bill, “The ‘Health Choices Commissioner’ will decide health benefits for you. You will have no choice. None.”
    – The health care reform bill “would make it mandatory — absolutely require — that every five years people in Medicare have a required counseling session that will tell them how to end their life sooner.”
  • And during his weekly radio/YouTube address, Obama has addressed some of those claims:
    – So, let me explain what reform will mean for you. And let me start by dispelling the outlandish rumors that reform will promote euthanasia, cut Medicaid, or bring about a government takeover of health care. That’s simply not true. This isn’t about putting government in charge of your health insurance; it’s about putting you in charge of your health insurance. Under the reforms we seek, if you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor. If you like your health care plan, you can keep your health care plan.
  • You know, I can totally understand if people are concerned about how to pay for such a plan and that they have a concern about increasing the deficit.
  • OK, so I laid a lot out there about health care reform.  I’m not so much trying to convince you to believe in the plan, but I see so much disinformation out there, I wanted to do my part to clear the air so you can make a sound decision on your own without any false information.  And you can probably guess, that more or less, I am in favor of this plan.  But if you differ in thought, that’s cool, I don’t want to change your mind, I want you to have all the correct information.  I did my best to state all this information and my views in a thoughtful and polite manner, so if you have something to add or differ in thought, please feel free to comment with the same generosity that I attempted to give to you.  Political talk can get nasty, but this is my attempt to lay out a spicy topic in a rational manner and see what happens.
  • 60 Minutes had a special on great white sharks last night.  In the segment, they mentioned that some people have actually been swallowed whole, and WifeGeeding wondered if the people swallowed whole knew what happened and how long did they survive after being swallowed whole.  Now that’s an interesting thought.
  • Once agin I caught the Hall of Fame Game introductions.  I love how the players line up mid-field as the new members of the Hall of Fame are introduced.  It’s such a great way to honor the game and to start the seaon.
  • I’m not sure why the refs were dressed they way they were in orange.  I guess refs back in the day use to dress like that.
  • No John Madden this year for the first time in my life.  That’s gonna be weird.  However, Cris  Collinsworth was gracious in taking the reigns.
  • Caught a little of the new Who Wants to be a Millionaire last night.  The new rules make it a bit more interesting.
  • The first question was cute.  It referenced the show and Slumdog Millionaire that had the Indian version of the show.
  • Terrance Newman is hurt again.  Check his DNA, he must be made of glass.
  • I haven’t seen Jack in the Box run this special in 15 years, but the Big Deal is back.  For $2.99 you get a cheeseburger, a taco, fries, and a drink.  Back in high school, that was one heck of a deal.  Fifteen years later, it’s even a better deal.
  • When I was at the Home Depot with BibleScholarGeorge this weekend, two of their employees said, “Hello Keith” while passing me, and I have no idea how they knew my name.
  • And yes, I didn’t have a name tag on.
  • I can’t remember if I mentioned this, but I was recently tapped on the shoulder to teach Sunday school.  I’ve really enjoyed taking a back seat to things from the leadership roles in my other churches, and I really want to take in more about this Mainline experience, but I suppose it won’t hurt to chip in every now and then.
  • Grace

“All non-US citizens, illegal or not, will be provided with free health care services.”

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Obese Texas inmate hides gun in his flabs of fat

HOUSTON – An obese inmate in Texas has been charged after officials learned he had a gun hidden under flabs of his own flesh.

Twenty-five-year-old George Vera was charged with possession of a firearm in a correctional facility after he told a guard at the Harris County Jail about the unloaded 9mm pistol. The Houston Chronicle reported Thursday that Vera was originally arrested on charges of selling illegal copies of compact discs.

The 500-pound man was searched during his arrest and again at a city jail and the county jail, but officers never found the weapon in his rolls of skin. Vera admitted having the gun during a shower break at the county jail.

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