The following is a comment by “Buddy” as part of "Buddy's" lengthy response to my last blog. I am not sure why ”Buddy” is not using his real name but combined with his comments, I suspect he may not be telling us what he really thinks or intends.

The beginning of “Buddy’s” comment:

“Entitlements are 1% of the budget... one percent.
Americans want health insurance... the majority want a public option..

it is the insurance companies that don't (corporate created tea party).
Lefties object to tax dollars being used to kill people
Rightwingers object to tax dollars being spent to save lives”

The rest of his 9 paragraphs attacks the city government and while passionate, I probably agree with most of it.

My response to “Buddy” and his comment:

Why do you think I oppose you (Buddy)? I'm just saying your comment is longer than my blog. You will touch more people if you write your own blog.

Your comments about the city government are preaching to the choir. We have to have backbone and make tough choices for sure. They may be unpopular choices as Valerie has stated.

Your comments about healthcare do not square with your message that followed nor do they present the facts. Makes me wonder who you are? Here are the facts:

Fact 1:

A book "The Complete Idiots Guide to Economics" written in 2003 cites the U.S. Government budget as reporting that entitlements make up approximately 65 percent of our budget, distributed as follows:

Social Security: 23%

Medicare: 12%

Medicaid: 7%

Other Means-tested entitlements: 6%

Mandatory payments (pensions, etc.): 6%

Net interest on debt: 11%

With healthcare that may rise to 75% (remember that the budget will increase by more than a trillion so it is a bigger pie as well. So entitlements are not 1%? Right?

Fact 2 Quoting Rasmussen Polls:

“Three weeks after Congress passed its new national health care plan, support for repeal of the measure has risen four points to 58%. That includes 50% of U.S. voters who strongly favor repeal.

The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of likely voters nationwide finds 38% still oppose repeal, including 32% who strongly oppose it.”

So Americans don’t favor Government Healthcare Takeover do they?

Fact 3:

As far as the wacky statement about Tea Party creation, I know the ladies that started the First Coast Tea Party and they are no corporation and none of them that I know of are in Healthcare. The Tea Party fomented with dissatisfaction over Busch policies (He is a progressive too) and gelled with Obama's election and Tarp and Stimulus and the immediate introduction of the Healthcare takeover. the Tea Party big money budget last year was probably less than $15K.

On your last two points, you probably got it backwards.

Fact 4

Lefties (liberals) are for the most part, pro-abortion (for allowing women to kill their unborn offspring) and want to use tax dollars to do it. I don’t want to generalize here, many on both sides believe in the sanctity of life and it is not my intent to lump them in the larger category.

Fact 5

Right wingers (We call them conservatives) are concerned that the healthcare takeover (It is not reform.) will lead to rationing as it has everywhere it has been done and that will limit care and more people especially seniors (our parents and grandparents) will die because of a lack of care.

So, you can see Buddy, your comment baffles me. Makes me wonder who you are and what you really believe?

Buddy’s comment can be found in its entirety under my prior blog titled “All politics is Local Mayor Peyton!”