senate – DiabetesDad

A Short Letter to Our Elected Officials………..This is Because of YOU!

Posted on October 9, 2013 | by tomkarlya | Leave a Comment

Dear Leaders on Capitol Hill,

Because there is a clause, a statement, a law, a glitch, an understanding, a phrase called mandatory spending; you all get a pay check this week.

And yet there are no provisions from the country they served, and gave their life, for a mother to bury a returning soldier?

Shame on all of you! It’s not about a stalemate, a point to be made, a bending of the rules…..there are American lives you are impacting in this ridculous-ness.

Seriously, a mom or dad cannot bury their child. Seriously. SERIOUSLY!

That really sucks!

Period.

I am a diabetes dad.

Please visit my Diabetes Dad FB Page and hit ‘like’.

Can We Discuss the Government Shutdown? I Wonder if Anyone has an Opinion?

Posted on October 9, 2013 | by tomkarlya | 3 Comments

I just want to make sure I have my facts straight.

One of the main focuses or duties of those who serve on Capitol Hill is to pass (or not) spending bills that fund the government?

Should the House not be in agreement how money should be spent, the Federal Government ‘shuts down’ until such time an agreement can be had….good so far?

During a ‘government shutdown’, those federal employees, who DO RECEIVE income, do so because there are also laws in place known as “Mandatory Spending”. This includes many essential aspects of government that must continue running but also includes the salary of the President, Senate, and Congress; correct?

The reason that there was not an agreement is because the House Republicans will not agree to new spending until such time that there are provisions to de-fund or derail Obamacare or the Affordable Care Act (ACA) (they are the same thing)?

Obamacare or the ACA is already a signed law that has withstood the test of ridicule/challenges all the way to the supreme court…..yes?

Should the Democrats agree to provisions to ‘lessen’ Obamacare or the ACA than the Republicans would be satisfied and would stop withholding votes and would pass on the federal budget that they have not done; thus crippling federal offices….correct?

So as it stands, if I understand this correctly, a law that was passed by both houses and was signed into law by our President, AND was upheld in our Supreme Court, is being held ‘hostage’ by a group (in this case Republicans) demanding that provisions be made to the very same law both houses voted into law and was signed.

Now this is where I am troubled because to change that law under any other circumstance would require a process whereas an amendment is added to the law changing whatever is/was wrong about it in the first place. There is a procedure for that and I do not know of the ‘keeping a law’ hostage act anywhere in this great country of ours being lawful.

Also, it seems to be that the United States’ credit card of 16.699 trillion dollars will also be held hostage for the very same reason should it make sense to raise the limit (debt ceiling). Whether THAT is the right thing to do is not my point but rather just the fact that the consideration if that step would be held hostage for the same reason the government shut down….right?

Okay.

I sense a pattern here, anyone else see it?

This is not about whether Obamacare/ACA is correct or not; that discussion was done a long, long time ago. The fight was at that time, not now. It is now the law of the land. Period.

Now if everything I have stated is correct and actions continue, and I have been examining this for a few days now, have we not set force an extremely dangerous precedent of measures that may be taken when a group can somehow think or believe that a United States Law, enacted by our Congress and Senate and not only signed by our President but upheld as Constitutional by our Supreme Court; the highest court in our land; then have we not broken down every single thing that our fore-fathers put into place for us in 1776? Have we not made a mockery of how this great country began in the first place?

Something……..SOMEthing is not right here. In many ways I am a Republican and in many ways my viewpoints reflect being a Democrat, and that is MY absolute right as I am an American and if I have this scenario correct…….I am also deeply ashamed on what we have become. Is anyone else?

Someone please tell me I am wrong, and if so, why?

I am a diabetes dad.

Please visit my Diabetes Dad FB Page and hit ‘like’.

Messages on the Way to Washington…..Your Messages.

Posted on March 6, 2013 | by tomkarlya | 4 Comments

The names jumped out at me; Grace, Kylie, Samantha, Callan, Shelby, and so many more.

Stories of kids. Heartbreaking stories.

There seems to be an ongoing dilemma in the diagnosis of diabetes. Or should I say ‘missed’ diabetes. A while ago I asked if people would be willing to share their stories. Stories of kids who went to the doctor, or hospital, or walk-in clinic, with symptoms that would eventually lead to the road of the ‘new normal’….diabetes.

But the diagnosis was missed when they first went.

Would you be willing to send a story and picture and I would find people who were going to Washington who would share your story there too.

And the stories kept coming. Most were from parents willing to share. One touched my heart because it was from Alyse, she wrote the letter herself, and she is 8. I thank everyone who took the time to share something so personal.

I want everyone to know that there are carriers of the stories. People going to Washington, and who knew others going to Washington, also contacted me and stated they would be willing to carry these stories to be told.

The stories that need to be told about being misdiagnosed, that for the most part, eventually found their way back to the path of going home with the new normal.

Some, and it is these stories that were the most troublesome, did not.

Mary Kathryn’s story just broke my heart. You can read her story by clicking the link, it is a rough story to read. My heart broke. It was the strength of her mom, Deborah, that weakened my knees. Her last line, “…….but please feel free to share it in any and every way possible.”
Who would do that?

Who would be out there in this wa?. Someone who wanted to make a difference? Someone making sure her pain is never felt by others….ever. Makes one wonder, after reading something like that, if we are working hard enough.

I was hoping I would have stories and when I had them and shared them I wanted to end my column by saying, “The good news is that these stories will be read in Washington and State Capitols…….” But in truth, it is not “the good news……anything”.

The stories are horrid. They will break your heart.

So I will end this way, as discussed, the stories people provided will be taken and delivered to those in the decision process. We are planning other things also to get the word out but in this month of March, elected officials will listen to these stories. Let’s hope they really hear them also.

And that’s a start.

I am a diabetes dad.

Please visit my Diabetes Dad FB Page and hit ‘like’.