ObamaCare Kills Health Competition

By MICHAEL TANNER

August 13, 2009

PRESIDENT Obama has repeatedly said that one of his "reform" goals is to increase "competition and choice" in the US health-care system -- but the policies he's pursuing would actually reduce competition and give consumers fewer choices. Meanwhile, he's ignoring reforms that would bring more choices and competition.

The nation now has some 1,300 insurance companies, but most consumers actually have far fewer choices. An American Medical Association survey found that in 299 of 313 largest metro areas, one insurer controls at least 30 percent of the market.

In New York, just two insurers, GHI and Empire Blue Cross, represent 47 percent of the market. In New Jersey, a single insurer, Horizon Blue Cross and Blue Shield, controls 43 percent of the market. And in Connecticut, Wellpoint holds an astounding 55 percent.

There's nothing inherently wrong with one company earning a large market share, but the lack of significant competition helps contribute to higher insurance costs and poorer service. Moreover, this market concentration hasn't necessarily flowed from consumer preference in a free market, but results in good part from barriers to entry erected by state insurance regulation.

Obama's answer to this problem is to set up a new government-run insurance plan to compete with private insurers. But such a plan will ultimately result in less competition, not more.

A government-run plan would have an inherent advantage in the marketplace, because it ultimately would be subsidized by taxpayers. The government plan could keep its premiums artificially low or offer extra benefits, because it could turn to taxpayers to cover any shortfalls.

Plus, the government plan also could use its market power to impose much lower reimbursement rates on doctors and hospitals -- Medicare and Medicaid do that now, to the point where they often pay less than cost. Providers would be forced to recoup the income lost thanks to the "public option" by raising what they charge to private insurance -- driving up premiums and making private insurance even less competitive.

In the end, the private-insurance market would be eviscerated, leaving millions of Americans with no choice but the government-run program. No choice. No competition.

To truly create more choice and competition, Obama should tear down the regulatory barriers to choice by letting people buy insurance from states other than the one in which they live.

Though few realize it, it's illegal to purchase health insurance across state lines. This effectively creates insurance cartels in each state.

Tear down this barrier to interstate commerce, and you'd instantly increase competition. If someone in New York or New Jersey is unhappy with the insurance choices available in that state, he or she could buy a policy in Vermont, Pennsylvania or Delaware. For that matter, he or she could go online and purchase a policy anywhere in the country.

There'd be another benefit as well. Different states have different regulations and mandates that can dramatically affect insurance costs. New Jersey, for example, requires insurers to cover a wide range of procedures and care, including in-vitro fertilization, contraceptives, chiropodists and children until they reach age 25.

Those mandated benefits aren't cheap. To buy a standard health-insurance policy, a healthy 25-year-old man must pay five times as much in New Jersey as in Kentucky, which has far fewer mandates. Why shouldn't Jersey residents be free to decide whether those state mandates are worth the added cost, and buy a cheaper policy in Kentucky or elsewhere?

Ironically, one group has this ability today: big businesses. The federal ERISA law (the Employee Retirement Income Security Act) lets larger companies ignore state mandates and avoid uncompetitive state markets: They can create their own plans, and their employees can take that insurance anywhere in the country.

Thus, when Jerry Hairston Jr. is traded to the Yankees, he doesn't have to buy a new health policy in New York. But the Yankee fan who works for a small business, or buys insurance on his own, is stuck with high New York prices.

More competition in insurance markets would be a good thing. It would, as the president likes to say, "keep insurers honest." As it has with other goods and services, it would lead to lower prices and improved quality.

But true competition comes from expanding free markets, not from the heavy hand of government. If President Obama truly wants to give consumers more choices, that's a lesson he should heed.

Michael Tanner is a Cato Institute senior fellow and (along with Michael Cannon) is the author of Healthy Competition, Second Edition: What's Holding Back Health Care and How to Free It,

http://www.nypost.com/seven/08132009/postopinion/opedcolumnists/obamacare_kills_health_competition_184274.htm?page=0

A friend forwarded this to me originally published in American Thinker (link at end of post).

I love this letter because it is such a simple explanation of ObamaCare in the words of a practicing physician.

Read it and share it with others! ~Marisela

August 06, 2009

ObamaCare and me

By Zane F Pollard, MD

I have been sitting quietly on the sidelines watching all of this national debate on healthcare. It is time for me to bring some clarity to the table by explaining many of the problems from the perspective of a doctor.

First off, the government has involved very few of us physicians in the healthcare debate. While the American Medical Association has come out in favor of the plan, it is vital to remember that the AMA only represents 17% of the American physician workforce.

I have taken care of Medicaid patients for 35 years while representing the only pediatric ophthalmology group left in Atlanta, Georgia that accepts Medicaid.

For example, in the past 6 months I have cared for three young children on Medicaid who had corneal ulcers. This is a potentially blinding situation because if the cornea perforates from the infection, almost surely blindness will occur. In all three cases the antibiotic needed for the eradication of the infection was not on the approved Medicaid list.

Each time I was told to fax Medicaid for the approval forms, which I did. Within 48 hours the form came back to me which was sent in immediately via fax, and I was told that I would have my answer in 10 days. Of course by then each child would have been blind in the eye.

Each time the request came back denied. All three times I personally provided the antibiotic for each patient which was not on the Medicaid approved list. Get the point -- rationing of care.

Over the past 35 years I have cared for over 1000 children born with congenital cataracts. In older children and in adults the vision is rehabilitated with an intraocular lens. In newborns we use contact lenses which are very expensive. It takes Medicaid over one year to approve a contact lens post cataract surgery. By that time a successful anatomical operation is wasted as the child will be close to blind from a lack of focusing for so long a period of time.

Again, extreme rationing. Solution: I have a foundation here in Atlanta supported 100% by private funds which supplies all of these contact lenses for my Medicaid and illegal immigrants children for free. Again, waiting for the government would be disastrous.

Last week I had a lady bring her child to me. They are Americans but live in Sweden, as the father has a job with a big corporation. The child had the onset of double vision 3 months ago and has been unable to function normally because of this. They are people of means but are waiting 8 months to see the ophthalmologist in Sweden. Then if the child needed surgery they would be put on a 6 month waiting list. She called me and I saw her that day. It turned out that the child had accommodative esotropia (crossing of the eyes treated with glasses that correct for farsightedness) and responded to glasses within 4 days, so no surgery was needed. Again, rationing of care.

Last month I operated on a 70 year old lady with double vision present for 3 years. She responded quite nicely to her surgery and now is symptom free. I also operated on a 69 year old judge with vertical double vision. His surgery went very well and now he is happy as a lark. I have been told -- but of course there is no healthcare bill that has been passed yet -- that these 2 people because of their age would have been denied surgery and just told to wear a patch over one eye to alleviate the symptoms of double vision. Obviously cheaper than surgery.

I spent two year in the US Navy during the Viet Nam war and was well treated by the military. There was tremendous rationing of care and we were told specifically what things the military personnel and their dependents could have and which things they could not have. While I was in Viet Nam, my wife Nancy got sick and got essentially no care at the Naval Hospital in Oakland, California. She went home and went to her family's private internist in Beverly Hills. While it was expensive, she received an immediate work up. Again rationing of care.

For those of you who are over 65, this bill in its present form might be lethal for you. People in England over 59 cannot receive stents for their coronary arteries. The government wants to mimic the British plan. For those of you younger, it will still mean restriction of the care that you and your children receive.

While 99% of physicians went into medicine because of the love of medicine and the challenge of helping our fellow man, economics are still important. My rent goes up 2% each year and the salaries of my employees go up 2% each year. Twenty years ago, ophthalmologists were paid $1800 for a cataract surgery and today $500. This is a 73% decrease in our fees. I do not know of many jobs in America that have seen this sort of lowering of fees.

But there is more to the story than just the lower fees. When I came to Atlanta, there was a well known ophthalmologist that charged $2500 for a cataract surgery as he felt the was the best. He had a terrific reputation and in fact I had my mother's bilateral cataracts operated on by him with a wonderful result. She is now 94 and has 20/20 vision in both eyes. People would pay his $2500 fee.

However, then the government came in and said that any doctor that does Medicare work cannot accept more than the going rate ( now $500) or he or she would be severely fined. This put an end to his charging $2500. The government said it was illegal to accept more than the government-allowed rate. What I am driving at is that those of you well off will not be able to go to the head of the line under this new healthcare plan, just because you have money, as no physician will be willing to go against the law to treat you.

I am a pediatric ophthalmologist and trained for 10 years post-college to become a pediatric ophthalmologist (add two years of my service in the Navy and that comes to 12 years).A neurosurgeon spends 14 years post -college, and if he or she has to do the military that would be 16 years. I am not entitled to make what a neurosurgeon makes, but the new plan calls for all physicians to make the same amount of payment. I assure you that medical students will not go into neurosurgery and we will have a tremendous shortage of neurosurgeons. Already, the top neurosurgeon at my hospital who is in good health and only 52 years old has just quit because he can't stand working with the government anymore. Forty-nine percent of children under the age of 16 in the state of Georgia are on Medicaid, so he felt he just could not stand working with the bureaucracy anymore.

We are being lied to about the uninsured. They are getting care. I operate at least 2 illegal immigrants each month who pay me nothing, and the children's hospital at which I operate charges them nothing also.This is true not only on Atlanta, but of every community in America.

The bottom line is that I urge all of you to contact your congresswomen and congressmen and senators to defeat this bill. I promise you that you will not like rationing of your own health.

Furthermore, how can you trust a physician that works under these conditions knowing that he is controlled by the state. I certainly could not trust any doctor that would work under these draconian conditions.

One last thing: with this new healthcare plan there will be a tremendous shortage of physicians. It has been estimated that approximately 5% of the current physician work force will quit under this new system. Also it is estimated that another 5% shortage will occur because of the decreased number of men and women wanting to go into medicine. At the present time the US government has mandated gender equity in admissions to medical schools. That means that for the past 15 years that somewhere between 49 and 51% of each entering class are females. This is true of private schools also, because all private schools receive federal funding.

The average career of a woman in medicine now is only 8-10 years and the average work week for a female in medicine is only 3-4 days. I have now trained 35 fellows in pediatric ophthalmology. Hands down the best was a female that I trained 4 years ago -- she was head and heels above all others I have trained. She now practices only 3 days a week.

http://www.americanthinker.com/2009/08/obamacare_and_me.html

I Have Something FISHY to report!

Have you all seen this!

The Obama government is actually asking american citizens to "report" their fellow citizens!

You can find this on the whitehouse website:

There is a lot of disinformation about health insurance reform out there, spanning from control of personal finances to end of life care. These rumors often travel just below the surface via chain emails or through casual conversation. Since we can’t keep track of all of them here at the White House, we’re asking for your help. If you get an email or see something on the web about health insurance reform that seems fishy, send it to flag@whitehouse.gov.

What? Yes, the Obama administration is asking American citizens to turn on each other because of differing opinions and disagreements on Obama's horrible healthcare reform.

Well, Mr. Obama, the simple fact that you are asking people to report others is VERY FISHY!

Where is our FREE SPEECH? Can we no longer debate what we feel is best for our country without fear of being "reported"?

I don't care WHO you voted for, if THIS does not scare you --- NOTHING WILL!

http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2009/08/05/kevin-mccullough-white-house-disinformation/

http://freemenow.wordpress.com/2009/08/05/flagwhitehouse-gov/


Fact: Obama's healthcare reform will lead to a single-payer system and eliminate healthcare reform, but don't take my word for it!

Here it in Obama in his very own words: http://revelationsoftruth.blogspot.com/2009/08/obama-in-his-own-words-admits-that-his.html

Obama in his own words ADMITS that his Health Plan WILL ELIMINATE private insurance!

Obama's goal is to ultimately eliminate Private employer provided insurance.

Watch this video of Obama Lying about healthcare.

(Obama S.E.I.U. forum on health care 3/24/07, Barney Frank, Jan Schakowsky all admitting a public option will put the private insurance industry out of business)

Obama and his pals are exposed as the liars that they are. He was clearly lying then or lying now. Unless you want another 15% of the economy taken over by this corrupt government let your voice be heard. The White house has responded to the video by putting out their own video saying "we won’t take over health care." (and we're supposed to BELIEVE them? --yeah right?) They are ignoring what has been said in the past and not denying it. That’s because he was being transparent then but after the election it’s a whole new ball game.

Read what else Obama's healthcare bill has in store for all of us: http://www.liberty.edu/media/9980/attachments/healthcare_overview_obama_072909.pdf

You can also read the actual bill itself here: http://www.capwiz.com/afanet/webreturn/?url=http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c111:H.R.3200:

Corrupting the Innocence of our children!

The article attached below is an excellent article depicting a scary new trend, regarding our children. This just goes to show how the days are increasingly evil.

Thirty years ago, if you would have told someone that gays would one day actually be "proud" of their sexually deviant behavior and have gay pride parades, they would have looked at you like you were crazy!

Twenty years ago, if you told someone that gays would one day demand that their dysfuntional unions be labeled as marriages and fight to legalize gay marriage and succeed, they would have thought you were insane.

Ten years ago if you would have told someone how one day the President of the United States of America would announce a "Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride Month", they would have laughed at you!

Five years ago if you would have told people that it would one day be "considered" a hate crime to preach on the truth of homosexuality, they would have said "No, people won't stand for that!"

Oh really?

Well, it is August 2009 and Gays have parades all the time showing how "proud" they are, fighting to be called a "marriage" and legalizing gay marriage, and Obama declared June LGBT Pride month, along with pushing for "hate crime" legislation that can put a pastor behind bars for preaching from the word of God!

Now, I am going to tell you something very freaky:

The same people pushing for gay rights all over the place are the same people who are one day going to push to LEGALIZE adult-child sex.

Yeah, go ahead and call me crazy, insane, and laugh at me. But when you gain composure, read the writing on the wall!

And while you are at it go ahead and tell me that things will NEVER go THAT far! And people won't stand for that!

Oh, really?

What are YOU doing to stop child porn, too speak out against overtly sexualized ads depicting children, to stop hollywood from making movies sexualizing children, to stop the market for "sexy" clothing for young girls! What does a ten year old need a thong for anyways?

Wake up people!

I shudder to hear the following argument---

(me in a whiny voice) But! but, I want to have sex with my 8 year old lover, after all, gender, oops, I mean, age shouldn't matter, right? People should be able to "love" whoever they want no matter their age! Besides, I can't, I just can't help it, I was "born" that way!

As sick and perverted and distorted as that sounds, the day will come! Mark my words.

-Marisela Gutierrez

But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea. Matthew 18:6

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Are Our Children Under Threat

By: Steve Gallagher

It is a clash of conflicting trends that promises only to intensify in the coming years. Record numbers of American men are viewing suggestive images of adolescents and even child pornography, while, at the same time, highly publicized cases of child rape and murder have sparked an enormous public outrage toward sex offenders.

This growing interest in the bodies of children has authorities alarmed. “The threat is frighteningly real…” Attorney General Alberto Gonzales recently said. “Child exploitation and pornography is growing rapidly, and it must be stopped.”

A negligible percentage of adults with an innate sexual attraction toward children has always existed. These men are what would be considered true pedophiles and some of them have molested thousands of children.

But a disturbing trend is emerging: “regular guys” who are seeking out child pornography in record numbers. “The vast majority of people [we have arrested] have never been charged or even suspected of crimes against children,” FBI Special Agent Pete Gulotta recently stated. “This is very disconcerting to us in law enforcement. It tells us that the people who get caught are either very unlucky, in that they were caught the first time… or it tells us that they have been doing this and getting away with it for some time.”

The idea of the sex offender being a greasy weirdo with obvious problems has been dispelled in recent years by the arrest of such notables as rock star Pete Townshend (child pornography) and Brian Doyle, deputy press secretary for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (attempting to seduce a child online). This is an escalating problem that is not going to just go away.

Contributing Factors
The recent growing fascination with explicit images of children is not simply happenstance: there are legitimate, attributable reasons involved. The first is the ongoing sexualization of adolescent girls in our culture. For instance, Hollywood has produced a number of movies which portray young girls as sexual objects; e.g. Taxi Driver and Pretty Baby.

Another contributing factor to this alarming trend has been the promotion of child sex through the use of cartoons in men’s magazines such as Playboy, Penthouse and Hustler. Dr. Judith Reisman was commissioned by the U.S. Department of Justice to direct a two-year content analysis on this subject. “Our study documented each issue of Hustler averaging 14.1 children and pseudo-children alongside 47 images of crime and violence,” she wrote. “52 percent of child photos were sexually explicit and most cartooned children were sexually violated.”

Also contributing to this obsession with young bodies is the law of diminishing returns: sin does not satisfy. The first time a guy (maybe as a teenager) sees an image of a topless woman he is thrilled, but over time those pictures fail to excite him; he wants to see more. He advances to full nudity, but again, it is only a matter of time before he feels a need for something more explicit. This brings him into the realm of X-rated pornography. When the thrill of this begins to diminish, he begins looking for something to take its place. For many, this is child pornography.

Another element that further exacerbates the problem is the proliferation of websites offering “legal child pornography.” One method pornographers have concocted is to use computer technology to alter innocent pictures of children into the simulation of a child engaged in sex. Websites are also available that offer videos of adolescent girls seductively dancing in skimpy outfits. One of these sites received 32 million hits from 357,000 visitors during a nine-month period in 2002.

Then there are the “conventional” adult entertainment sites that offer explicit images of teenagers. According to one expert, these sites receive 7-8 million hits a day. They claim their actors and actresses are at least 18-years of age, but they are made to look and act younger. One such purveyor bragged, “We make the girls look as fresh and as cute and cuddly as possible – ‘adorable cupie dolls,’ I call it… I put it to the girls this way: ‘You’re 18 with the mentality of a 14-year-old. You want to experiment, you want to try things. Anything your parents told you not to do, you’re gonna want to do.’”

The last and most obvious reason for the increase in the sexual interest in youngsters is the proliferation of child pornography available on the web. Some people believe there are upwards of 100,000 child porn sites generating annual revenues between 3 and 4 billion dollars. Part of the problem is that the web is not confined to the United States. According to Ernie Allen of the Center for Missing and Exploited Children, 122 countries have no laws addressing child pornography on the Internet. He says only 5 countries (the U.S. being one) have strong enough laws to make an impact on this crime.

Authorities Fight Back
In 1993, while investigating the disappearance of a 10-year-old boy from his Brentwood, Maryland neighborhood, FBI agents discovered two men who had been sexually abusing children for a quarter century. The offenders had set up a private computer bulletin board service to “chat” with boys and share images of child pornography. That discovery led investigators to a larger ring of computer pedophiles. As a result of this case and others, the FBI created a nationwide task force (code-named Innocent Images) with the goal of breaking up networks of online pedophiles and stopping sexual predators from using the Internet to lure children into illicit encounters.

“During the early stages of Innocent Images, a substantial amount of time was spent conducting investigations [of] ‘chat rooms’ in which teenagers and pre-teens can meet and converse with each other,” an FBI bulletin states. “Investigation revealed that computer-sex offenders utilized the chat rooms to contact children… Chat rooms offer the advantage of immediate communication around the world and provide the pedophile with an anonymous means of identifying and recruiting children into sexually illicit relationships.”

There has been a dramatic increase of investigations since the task force’s humble beginnings in 1995. There were 113 cases opened in 1996, which expanded to over 2,400 in 2005—a twenty-fold increase!

Today, more than 200 FBI agents are assigned fulltime to the Innocent Images program. In addition to them, scores of local law enforcement agencies are also working with this task force within their local communities. For instance, it was the Polk County (Florida) Sheriff’s Department that investigated and arrested Bryan Doyle.

One of the bright spots of this federal program has been a 95% conviction rate of investigations they have initiated. “We have no idea how many pedophiles are out there,” says agent Pete Gulotta. “We only know the ones we catch. It is like fishing in a pond full of hungry fish. You throw lines in with bait and keep catching fish. You really don’t know how many fish are in the pond until you stop catching them. We haven’t stopped catching them yet!”

Spiritual Implications
It is a frightening thought that millions of American males are regularly viewing child pornography and even more so that many of them are acting upon those evil images. As chilling as this is, none of it should take the Christian by surprise. At the end of the Revelation we are told, “When [the time of fulfillment] comes, all doing wrong will do it more and more; the vile will become more vile…” (22:11 LIV) It is no wonder then that Paul described the last days as a “perilous” time when men would become obsessed with pleasure. Yes, “evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.” (II Timothy 3:1-4, 13)

God is extremely patient, but history tells us that a civilization can cross a line of evil where divine mercy is exhausted and divine judgment must fall. Persistence in sin can and will only end in certain doom. “Unnatural vice… sends up a cry to heaven that the righteous Judge must answer.” Once the “cup of iniquity” has become full, sentence is pronounced and overwhelming punishment is sure to come.

It seems as though the pervasiveness of the national moral decay that began in the ‘60s has intensified over the past decade. How much farther can we as a people go before facing God’s wrath? Only God knows the answer to that question.


Steve Gallagher is the founder and president of Pure Life Ministries. He has dedicated his life to helping men find freedom from sexual sin and the abundant life in God that comes through deep repentance.

http://www.purelifeministries.org/index.cfm?pageid=117&articleid=63

Obama's "Gangster" government!

Obama is destroying America and creating a "gangster" government! Is this the "change" you voted for?!

6/10/09 - Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) speaking on the House floor: "Now we've moved into the realm of gangster government. We have gangster government when the Federal Government has set up a new cartel and private businesses now have to go begging with their hand out to their local--hopefully well politically connected--Congressman or their Senator so they can buy a peace offering for that local business. Is that the kind of country we are going to have in the future?"

Hollywood "waking Up" to the truth of Obama!

Many in Hollywood are finally waking up and seeing the truth of the "Obama Oppression"

Jon Voight: "....I"ll tell you why this really scares the hell out of me, because EVERYTHING Obama has recommended has turned out to be disasterous...."

We've Figured Him Out

By Ben Stein on 7.24.09 @ 9:45AM

Why is President Barack Obama in such a hurry to get his socialized medicine bill passed?

Because he and his cunning circle realize some basic truths:

The American people in their unimaginable kindness and trust voted for a pig in a poke in 2008. They wanted so much to believe Barack Obama was somehow better and different from other ultra-leftists that they simply took him on faith.

They ignored his anti-white writings in his books. They ignored his quiet acceptance of hysterical anti-American diatribes by his minister, Jeremiah Wright.

They ignored his refusal to explain years at a time of his life as a student. They ignored his ultra-left record as a “community organizer,” Illinois state legislator, and Senator.

The American people ignored his total zero of an academic record as a student and teacher, his complete lack of scholarship when he was being touted as a scholar.

Now, the American people are starting to wake up to the truth. Barack Obama is a super likeable super leftist, not a fan of this country, way, way too cozy with the terrorist leaders in the Middle East, way beyond naïveté, all the way into active destruction of our interests and our allies and our future.

The American people have already awakened to the truth that the stimulus bill — a great idea in theory — was really an immense bribe to Democrat interest groups, and in no way an effort to help all Americans.

Now, Americans are waking up to the truth that ObamaCare basically means that every time you are sick or injured, you will have a clerk from the Department of Motor Vehicles telling your doctor what he can and cannot do.

The American people already know that Mr. Obama’s plan to lower health costs while expanding coverage and bureaucracy is a myth, a promise of something that never was and never will be — a bureaucracy lowering costs in a free society. Either the costs go up or the free society goes away.

These are perilous times. Mrs. Hillary Clinton, our Secretary of State, has given Iran the go-ahead to have nuclear weapons, an unqualified betrayal of the nation. Now, we face a devastating loss of freedom at home in health care. It will be joined by controls on our lives to “protect us” from global warming, itself largely a fraud if believed to be caused by man.

Mr. Obama knows Americans are getting wise and will stop him if he delays at all in taking away our freedoms.

There is his urgency and our opportunity. Once freedom is lost, America is lost. Wake up, beloved America.

Ben Stein is a writer, actor, economist, and lawyer living in Beverly Hills and Malibu. He writes “Ben Stein’s Diary” for every issue of The American Spectator

A Wedding Day begins with "Forever"

It's no wonder so many love this video! What a unique and fun way to begin your wedding day! Others say it is disrespectful in a church setting!

Hmm! I do not see any inappropriate (or sexualized) dancing at all nor any disrespect! The lyrics of the song are appropriate as well!

In fact, David danced before the Lord (2 Samuel 6:14) and David was adored by God as he was a man after God's own heart!

There is, the Bible says, A time to DANCE! (Ecclesiastes 3:4). The joyous beginning of a new life as Husband and Wife as they begin their "Forever" is such an occasion!

Dance On!

Chris Brown -- "Forever"

1,2,3, 4..
Hey (eh)
Forever
Hey (eh)
Forever

It’s you, and me
Movin at the speed of light into eternity (yeah)
Tonight, is the night
To join me in the middle of ectacy
Feel the melody and the rhythm of the music around you (around you)

Ima take you there, Ima take you there
So don’t be scared, I’m right here, ya ready?
We can go anywhere
Go anywhere
But first, its your chance
Take my hand
Come with me

It’s like I waited my whole life
For this one night
It’s gon be me you and the dance floor
Cuz we only got one night
Double your pleasure
Double you fun
And dance forever ever ever
Forever ever ever
Forever ever ever
Forever (forever)
Ever ever ever
Forever ever ever
Forever ever ever
Forever on the dance floor

Feels like were on another level (ohh ahh)
Feels like our loves intertwine
We can be two rebels
Breakin the rules
Me and you
You and I
All you gotta do is watch me
Look what I can do with my feet, baby
Feel the beat inside
I’m drivin, you could take the front seat (front seat)
Just need you to trust me (trust me)
Girl girl girl
It’s like now

It’s like I waited my whole life (oh)
For this one night (one night)
It’s gon be me you and the dance floor (dance floor)
Cuz we only got one night (ohh)
Double you pleasure
Double your fun (yeah)
And dance forever ever ever (ohh)
Forever ever ever (ever)
Forever ever ever (ever)
Forever (forever)
Ever ever ever (ever)
Forever ever ever (ever)
Forever ever ever (ever)
Forever on the dance floor

It’s a long way down
We so high off the ground
Sendin for an angel to bring me your heart
Girl where did you come from?
Got me so undone
Gazin in your eyes got me sayin
What a beautiful lady
No ifs ands or maybes
I’m releasin my heart
And it’s feelin amazing
Theres no one else that matters
You love me
And I wont let you fall girl
Let you fall girl (ahh ohh oh oh yeah)
Yeah, I wont let you fall
Let you fall
Let you fall (ohh ohh)
Yeah yeah
Yeah yeah

It’s like
It’s like I waited my whole life (whole life)
For this one night (one night)
It’s gon be me you and the dance floor (me you and the dance floor)
Cuz we only got one night
Double your pleasure
Double your fun
And dance forever ever ever
Forever ever ever
Forever ever ever
Forever
Ever ever ever
Forever ever ever
Forever ever ever
Forever on the dance floor

ohh oh oh oh oh oh ohhh yeah
Forever ever ever ever
Forever ever ohh!

Powerful And Timeless Message For Married People and Single People Who Want To Be Married One Day

This message goes right in line with the one I posted last week entitled:
Love is a choice, a decision!

I am certain Steve McNair NEVER thought his affair would end in his death and yet his four young children are now left without a father. Steve's wife has to deal with the fact that her husband was unfaithful to him and now dead and now has to raise four children alone, children who will one day learn of the circumstances that took their father away.

If you are married and having an affair, it is only a matter of time before you pay a price--you can count on that! That "price" is different for everybody, whether that be the end of your life as in Steve McNair's case or/and the end of your marriage or/and the loss of respect from those around you, or/and a sexually transmitted disease or/and on and on and on.

If you are single and think that having sex outside of marriage is ok and saving yourself for marriage is outdated and old-fashioned, then please, look in the mirror so you can see a real, live fool! You are stting yourself up for lots of pain and disappointment. Some of the prices for your sin (and yes, in 2009 sin is alive and well) are sexually transmitted diseases that may take years to show up (and condoms are not and never have been "safe") and may lead to your death, pregnancy which may lead to abortion (traumatic for you and deadly for your baby) single-parenting (very hard emotionally and financially and your children will suffer--don't fool yourself otherwise.), heartache, feeling used, and on and on and on.

Single people: Did you also know that by giving in to sexual temptation now, you are setting yourself up to one day cheat on your spouse. NOW is the time to develop sexual discipline and integrity. It will NOT "magically" just appear on your wedding day!

My favorite analogy is this: Fire in a fireplace is beautiful, warm, and romantic. Fire outside the fireplace and in the living room is scary, deadly, and destructive. The same goes for sex. Sex in the confines of marriage with your spouse is beautiful, warm, and romantic. Any sex outside of the marital union (including masturbation, pornography, etc.) is incredibly destructive and harmful! PERIOD!

Please read the message below, it is long but so worth your 3 minutes!

truthfully,

Marisela

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Last weekend came the tragic news that former All-Pro NFL quarterback Steve
McNair was shot 4 times and killed, found dead with a young woman who had a
single gunshot wound to her head. McNair came out of a small college,
Alcorn State, and went on to a great pro career with the than Houston Oilers
that moved to Nashville and became the Tennessee Titans.

"Air" McNair as he was known, was a tough player who led the Titans to their
only Super Bowl appearance several years ago, where they ended up 1 inch
from the goal line on the last play of the game, losing to the St. Louis
Rams by 7 points. McNair had a wife, 4 children, and was known as a great
guy who did lots of great work in the community. That is why the details of
his death are so sad.

As it turned out, McNair was killed in a Nashville condo he was sharing with
his 20-year-old girlfriend. She was a very troubled young lady, had told
friends prior to last weekends tragedy that she was worried about her
finances, had seen McNair with another woman days earlier, and had thoughts
of "ending it all." Last Saturday as McNair slept on the couch, she pulled
out a gun she had bought a few days earlier, shot him in the temple, shot
him 2 more times in the chest, and than one more time in the other temple.
She sat down next to him, put the gun to her head, and pulled the trigger
ending her life.

This sad story is a great reminder to men and women who are cheating on
their spouses, SIN HAS A PRICE. Sometimes you will pay the ultimate price
for your sin. While you think you are getting away with your sin, never
forget God is watching. In the end, is it worth the cost? Satan is so
crafty as he entices men and women to sin. It looks so attractive. It
looks so perfect. He knows your weaknesses. He will give you all the
justification you need. Once you give in, all of a sudden the bill for your
sin starts to come in. It is like getting a $5,000 water bill, or a $12,000
electric bill. Satan is only going to laugh at you when you complain about
the price!

Would you be Concerned if your Husband or Wife Read your Emails or Instant
Messages? What about listened to your phone calls? What about if they knew
every place you go each day? How about the places you go when you are out of
town? Would you worry if your husband or wife heard a tape of all the
conversations you had each day with people of the opposite sex? For those
who are still reading, you either have no problem being this open with your
spouse or you are now under great conviction and God is speaking to you
today.

For those who have no problem being this open with your spouse, praise God!
A marriage centered in Christ should include this type of openness and
transparency. With Christ at the head of your life and loving and honoring
your spouse as the Word calls for, there is no reason you should be afraid
to allow your spouse to read your emails or Instant Messages, listen to your
phone calls, know exactly where you are at, or hear any of your
conversations with people of the opposite sex. I pray that you will continue
to love and honor your spouse so that you can always be this open and
transparent.

For those who are under conviction by these words today, this could be the
very tap on the shoulder from God that will keep your marriage from ending
in divorce. Satan is very subtle in how he destroys marriages. No marriage
ends in divorce overnight, but over time. One of the chief ways people open
the door for satan to come in and destroy their marriage is in their
relationships with people of the opposite sex. If your heart began racing as
you read those questions, if you know deep down you would never want your
spouse to read your emails or Instant Messages, hear your phone calls, know
exactly where you are at all times, or hear a tape of the conversations you
have with people of the opposite sex, please hear what God is saying to you
today. It may very well save your marriage!

Nobody wakes up one morning and decides to become an alcoholic. They have a
few drinks, it becomes part of their life, and over time they get into
bondage to alcohol. Nobody wakes up one morning and decides to become a drug
addict. They experiment with drugs occasionally, begin to use them more
frequently, and over time they get into bondage to drugs. It is the same
thing with someone who is in bondage to food, shopping, gambling, making
money, sex, or any other type of bondage you can name. A person doesn't get
into bondage to anything overnight, but over time.

This is also how relationships outside of your marriage develop, over time.
You get friendly with someone of the opposite sex at work, you see them
every day, you make sure you spend some time with them every day, talk to
them every day, you start to develop that elementary school crush and
fantasize about them, pretty soon you create opportunities to have lunch
with them or see them after work, and during this process the conversation
turns from work to your personal lives and often to sex. One thing leads to
another and one day you and your co-worker are in bed together.

Even if this relationship never culminates in having sex together, never
forget that Jesus said if you lust in your heart you have committed
adultery. You are giving someone else the emotions, feelings, and attention
that should ONLY be given to your spouse. When you got married, that is the
person God gave you for the rest of your life to pour all of your emotions,
feelings, love and attention into. NOBODY ELSE! That is the person who God
gave you to enjoy sex with. NOBODY ELSE!

Satan's new lie to people that there is really nothing wrong with carrying
on a relationship with someone "online." The reality is, you begin to pour
your heart, emotions, and feelings into this person you are having the
online relationship with just like if you were with them in real time.
Ultimately, in most cases it actually does evolve into meeting in real time
and ends up being no different than any other extra-marital affair. It all
started so harmlessly. A few innocent emails and Instant Messages that
became more frequent, more personal, more sexual in nature. The next thing
you know you are actually sitting side by side with this person.

Again, even if this relationship never culminates in having sex together,
never forget that Jesus said if you lust in your heart you have committed
adultery. You are giving someone else the emotions, feelings, and attention
that should ONLY be given to your spouse. When you got married, that is the
person God gave you for the rest of your life to pour all of your emotions,
feelings, love and attention into. NOBODY ELSE! That is the person who God
gave you to enjoy sex with. NOBODY ELSE!

I love you and care about you so much. Pray for the families of Steve McNair
and this troubled young woman who killed him and herself. They need the
Lord's strength during this difficult time. Today's message is a warning
that you must guard yourself from opening the door to satan, allowing him to
enter into your marriage and destroy it through your relationships with
people of the opposite sex.

If you are married, you simply cannot allow yourself to get too close to
someone who is not your spouse. You have got to be aware this is an avenue
the enemy will use to try and destroy your marriage. The way you judge if
you are getting too close to someone of the opposite sex is by answering the
original questions I posed. If the answer to any of them is "yes," you need
to back off because you are too close to that person.

I will be praying for those of you today who God brought under conviction
because you know that you would NOT want your spouse to read your emails or
Instant Messages, hear your phone calls, know all the places you go, or hear
the conversations you are having with people of the opposite sex. Be like
Joseph and RUN from this relationship NOW before it destroys your marriage.
God is speaking to you today and God is trying to help you save your
marriage. I will be praying for you to listen to Him and cut off ALL
communication with this other person.

I already know many of you will email me and tell me that your spouse
doesn't understand you, that you have "grown apart," and a whole plethora of
reasons to try and justify your involvement with someone who is not your
spouse. SAVE IT! Let me encourage you that if you put the same time, effort,
emotions, feelings, and energy into your spouse as you do this other person,
you would be amazed at how different your relationship with your spouse
would be. Whatever the problems in your marriage may be, being involved with
someone else is NOT the answer. I will pray today for God to bring healing
and restoration to your marriage. The first step, however, is to cut off all
communication with this other person you are involved with.

I will also be praying today for those of you who are dealing with a spouse
who has become involved with someone else. Never forget, you are not
responsible for the actions of your spouse. God gave us each free will and
only He can change your spouse's heart. Now is the time to make your faith
real and learn to trust God during this difficult time. Find your peace and
strength in Him each day and know that He is still in the restoration
business! I will be praying for you and for your spouse to turn their heart
and life back to the Lord and bring healing to your marriage.

Would you be concerned if your husband or wife read your emails or Instant
Messages? What about listened to your phone calls? What about if they knew
every place you go each day? How about the places you go when you are out of
town? Would you worry if your husband or wife heard a tape of all the
conversations you had each day with people of the opposite sex? If the
answer to any of these questions is "yes," God is speaking to you today.
Please, listen since your marriage is at stake.


In His love and service,
Your friend and brother in Christ,
Bill Keller
http://www.liveprayer.com/