I Heard That!

So I watched Obama's address to congress. Wow it was amazing! I was studying today for some tests and really was struggling to stay focused. I forgot that he was going to speak today. Luckily this morning I received a text reminding me to tune in. I am so glad I did! So I thought I would talk about the points I loved. I didn't catch all of it. My roommate kept talking to me during the speech.

So my first point was from the following quote:

The answers to our problems don't lie beyond our reach. They exist in our laboratories and our universities, in our fields and our factories, in the imaginations of our entrepreneurs and the pride of the hardest-working people on Earth.

I like that he points out the answer is in us. It is not in the government. We have to make changes to help the economy to survive. Now all you republicans I don't think that the government should be devoid of involvement. I think the government should govern. The government can hand out money, however the government can not force us to action. We ultimately have to make the decisions that add up to bring back our economy. We ultimately are the answers and need to step up. We work on developing new renewable energy sources, educate ourselves, and control our spending better.

So the next thing I would like to talk about how he talked about the countries economic history. He talked about how the growth was not due to government supplant to private sectors. It provided opportunities for business to flourish. By helping "the man" (yes I am using this cliche, it works and its in lower case to show my disrespect) we are not adding to the middle class we are depleting it.

So then I loved the whole energy segment! We have for too long been ignoring, procrastinating, however you wanna label it, the energy issues. I was once part of the problem. I dreamed of driving a big truck. I do dream of a truck but know I have to do my part keep my carbon foot print low. Its sad that we are not leading in the world in trying to find a environmentally safe form of energy. We invented solar energy and we use it less than too many other countries. I tried to get recycling to come to my condo but the HOA won't allow it. That is insane! I have found a place to take my recycling thankfully. There is not any place to recycle glass in the state of Utah. That is a disgrace.

So moving on to health care. Wow this is something that I am passionate about. I love medicine! Those who are reading this most likely know I am going to be a doctor. I have struggled with my insurance company to cover important health problems I face, but they will not. It sickens me that BYU, that has an alarming high rate in mental illnesses, does not provide coverage for mental illnesses in it insurance. Yes BYU offers free counseling. I appreciate it very much and have benefit from this service. However when I was hospitalized for a suicide attempt. It was not covered in my insurance. So I had to pay and am still paying the 5,000 dollar bill. BYU should be above the standard. Unfortunately it is not in so many cases (such as sports, housing situation, honor code). Now lets talk about health care cost. Wow 5,000 dollars for two and half days. I can spend less on a weeks vacation to the Caribbean and it would have been better for my depression than the situation I was in. The cost is out of control. I know insurance companies or "the man" are mostly to blame, but I know doctors need to take a stand! Lawsuits are also to blame for the cost, seriously people stop blaming doctors. The truth is they often work so hard to serve us and people are just waiting to attack them. Any way back to the cost. The cost needs to be controlled because health care is a necessity. Now the other problem is health care should be focused more on preventive care! Hello that will save money in the long run. Not only will it save in health care costs. It will help the economy if we Americans are healthier we will be able to perform at our jobs better. I want to be a doctor that treats illness and prevents them by providing preventive health care.

So that was long. If you are still with me I'm going to move on to education. Obama challenged every American to complete one more year of schooling. Wow that is so great. We need to follow that advise. Now I know it won't change my lifestyle because I am a student already. I also loved how he said that education starts in our homes. That is the problem with our poorly educated society its not those hard working underpaid teachers! We must teach our children to learn. To love learning, to always be open to learning new things. My sisters are great at teaching their kids these principles. I don't know how they do it but their kids are constantly trying to learn. The Shanafelt kids wow. One always reads. One always draws and loves to learn about the planet. Even one of their games revolves around the educational series Planet Earth. One can't stop exploring technology (he doesn't even speak) and the other just all over the place and loves to learn. Then the Wrights wow! The oldest is always looking to learn something new and is teaching his younger siblings what he learns and encourages them to learn. Then the Kitchen's they are very concerned about leaning in school. One of their daughters is going to be the debate champion. I can go on but this is long.

So I can go on some more but this post is long enough. The moral of the story is as Americans we need to use conservative spending and improve our work performance. We know how we can cut our spending. We can improve our work performance by more education, healthier bodies, and teaching our children to do the same!