Brady asked about pre-existing conditions. I answered, “The idea is that it’s health insurance. And the whole concept of insurance is that you get it before you get sick, or before something happens to you. It would be the equivalent of not having any car insurance, hitting a tree, and then calling Geico and saying you want to sign up. It doesn’t make sense.”

Obviously in a few seconds I only had time for a brief statement, and not a full argument. I was surprised, then, at some of the vitriolic responses posted on NPR’s Web page.

One woman (wrongly) suggested that I “don’t know anyone that has cancer, heart disease, or any other chronic illness that can spring up in life at any given moment.” A gentleman said I am “ignorant, thoughtless, and misinformed.” Another man said, “This is ridiculous.”

I find it ironic that, even as the left demands civil debate, many on the left refuse to treat people with different views respectfully or give their views a sympathetic hearing.

Many Americans are concerned about the future of their health care and want to have a real discussion, so I would like to take this opportunity to explain my views more fully. Insurance is an important commodity that helps protect us from expenses of major health problems. It is so important, in fact, that we should restore a free market in insurance rather than expand harmful political controls.

In a free market, insurers and consumers voluntarily make an agreement to mutual benefit. When politicians dictate what policies and services will be sold and to whom, those politicians undercut people’s ability to reach insurance agreements that work best for them.

In a free market, companies that don’t take care of their customers risk losing them to a competitor, creating an incentive to provide the best service at the best price. When there is no free market for health insurance, there is less competition, resulting in less need to out-bid competitors for our business.

A free market also depends on the reliability of contracts. Once a contract between an insurance company and an individual is made, breaking that contract should be punishable by law. This means that if an insured individual’s coverage is dropped when they find a medical problem that was covered, they should be able to sue the company for breach of contract.

It is true that many people today with pre-existing conditions have trouble finding affordable coverage. But politicians, not a free market, created the problem.

Currently, employer-based insurance makes it difficult for those with pre-existing conditions to stay on the same insurance because it is not portable. Current tax law that favors employer-sponsored insurance over directly purchased plans makes it more likely individuals will be tied to their employer for insurance.

Insurance is meant to hedge against unforeseen, catastrophic events or illnesses, as opposed to covering every doctor visit. If it were, protection against major health problems or accidents would be possible for a majority of individuals and pre-existing conditions would be much less of a worry for those who need coverage.

Having a high-deductible plan coupled with a health savings account, as opposed to being tied to employer-insurance, would eliminate having to switch insurers for those with pre-existing conditions.

If we really want to address the problem of pre-existing conditions, we should fix today’s politically controlled insurance by restoring a free market.

What do you think he’s best/weakest at, instrumentally?

And, as I told Bubba, I could do it, I just don’t wanna.

Update: Unfortunately, the bass seems to be lost in the mix at times.

Update II: And just by way of comparison, No comparison.

In part two of our interview with Rand Paul we focus on immigration or, as I like to call it, the free movement of people. Dr. Paul wants to see a militarized border complete with checkpoints whereas I wasn’t convinced. I believe that the pro-freedom position is to think about it as a matter of property rights. If you own a business you have the right to hire or fire whomever you want regardless of where that person was born. Likewise, if you want to rent or sell your property, you should have the right to do so regardless of where people are in relation to imaginary political boundaries.

As I mention at the end of the video, if a politicians is concerned about the welfare “carrot” that big government provides the answer isn’t more big government in the form of fences, guns and a disregard for freedom. instead, lets get rid of the carrot.

Back in August we had the opportunity to talk to Rand Paul on a wide range of issues. In the first part Dr. Paul told us about himself and why he decided to launch his campaign to represent Kentucky in the U.S. Senate. He also discusses his fathers influence on him and we discuss the concept of sovereignty.

SHERIDAN, WY – A couple of days ago when cruising west on I-90 through South Dakota we agreed to break up the 600-mile drive when possible. In this video, a few of those times are shared in what we think is a pretty solid compilation of funny clips. Evidence that the venn diagram for humor and liberty overlap quite a bit!

SHERIDAN, WY – After driving a couple of hours the very first day we were on the road (April 4th) we found ourselves pulling into a rest stop off I-95 just north of Baltimore. We navigated through the special “RV & Trucks” lane and pulled into a slot. Unlike parking spots for regular vehicles that allow two cars to park end-to-end, parking spaces in the “RV & Trucks” area are long and unbroken.

Seeing a couple of RV nearby I bounded out of MARV and headed toward the first and knocked on the door, flyer in hand. I heard some shuffling around inside and the mummerings of an older couple – the demographic of most others fulltiming. Soon the door opened and a woman peered through the narrow opening – “What do you want?” she nervously asked. I could hear her husband behind her, watching TV.

I introduced myself and gave a three-sentence overview of MHD, expecting to see similar levels of excitement due to the shared RV lifestyle and mindset, which breathes independence. Unfortunately I was greeted by a “Oh. Well, we’re fine. Thanks.” Followed by the “click” of the door as it closed.

A bit dejected, I looked up, saw Jason walking my way and tried to decipher his reaction. There was none – he’d been locking up MARV and had missed the exchange. I told him what went down as we continued walking to the rest stop’s entrance. He laughed and reminded me that not everyone is a freedom activist but to remain optimistic. That’s why, to this day,  we continue to wave at every passing RVer – hoping to replicate that friendly community both of us as former motorcycle owners were so used to when. Then, when traversing on two wheels, we knew pretty much all other bikers would return the wave or nod. But for some reason that doesn’t exist in the RVing community.

Yet, as I explain in this video shot when we cruised west on I-90 in South Dakota, we’re working to change that.

Oh yeah – and back to the story about our time at the rest stop just north of Baltimore. As Jason and I passed the only other RV in the parking lot en route to the entrance an MHD flyer found its way under the RVs windshield wiper. Gotta keep spreading the word. And we’re optimistic. Especially after meeting such great folks as we randomly did when pulling into a gas station as we made our way across South Dakota. We’ll have more about Kevin and Ryan and their “Shortbus Adventure” soon!

RAPID CITY, SOUTH DAKOTA – We had a great day. I woke up on Saturday morning to discover that Pete was driving MARV West on I-90 as he and Adam were collecting statistics on various items passed during the long-ass 600 mile drive. For example, we drank 6 cans of Pepsi, saw 12 windmills, and about 50 billboards for Wall Drugs in the 150 miles from its location. We’ve long said that we’re taking a survey of the freedom movement in america and the guys were taking the survey part literally. Appropriate, since this was the route that Louis & Clark were on when they surveyed the west. We stopped at a very elaborate rest station in South Dakota where they had a display of L&C’s boat. The first sign (photo) we encountered was a stern reminder that the expedition was in fact a military operation by the United States government and the exhibit alluded to how native americans were dealt with:

This was authorized by the then president and slave-owning statist, Thomas Jefferson. He did some good stuff also. Speaking of presidents, the visitor center has floor mats that are very disrespectful to the presidents carved on Mt. Rushmore but I didn’t want to track mud into a government building:

Not wanting to perpetuate the “Cult of the Presidency,” we skipped Mt. Rushmore. It was a long drive so we decided to enjoy other stops along the way. The first was a gas station that sold fireworks and buffalo meat while warning customers, like us, of the impending disaster in the year 2012 and handing out LaRouche magazines. The guys bought some of the latter in the form of jerky and we snacked on it throughout the day.

Later we stopped at another rest station and for some reason decided to explore a hiking trail down the hill. We goofed around and made some videos of the experience. It’s always fun to have opportunities to tell Adam about impending doom so this time it was Sasquatch, lost savage Indians and poisonous rattle snakes.

Wall Drugs was an interesting stop. Adam became more and more excited each time he saw a sign for this business, proving that their advertising works. Basically Wall Drugs is a single store that is made to look like an old Western Town. The crew and I checked it out as you can tell from our photos and videos.

As is often the case we like to end with a public service message:

RAPID CITY, SD – Late Thursday night when the wheels on MARV stopped outside a suburb of St. Paul, MN, we found ourselves at the home of Pete’s brother, Tom Eyre, Jr. Like we stated previously, we had planned to be in the Twin Cities for a few days but due to some last minute stops we arrived a few days later. Tom and his wife, Sara, were kind enough (like so many others) to open their home to us making it possible for us to do laundry (see disaster below), use their internet, cook breakfast and a take showers. We spent the day working from the Eyre home and it was a very relaxing work environment so thanks Tom & Sara!

It wasn’t long before we were off to the downtown area of Minneapolis. Pete had some banking things to take care of and we were hoping to score a sweet parking spot for MARV outside Jager Club, the meetup location. We accomplished both and seven o’clock came before we knew it so we headed into the Jager Club, a nice little bar just north of the warehouse district. If it wasn’t so cold/rainy we could have used the back patio w/ fire pits. We started the meetup with everyone introducing themselves and stating how they came into the movement. The Minneapolis group was diverse with folks from Liberty on the Rocks, the Chairmain of the City’s Republican Party (although he’s an anarchist), former Ron Paul meetup group members and even a woman who joined us from the main bar. There were even two folks from the Madison, WI meetup that decided to take a road trip to the Twin Cities and hang out with us – thanks again Briana and Matt. On behalf of MHD I would like to thank all of you for letting us hang out with ya’ll, those who gave donations for gas, shot a video with us, bought some food for the group, signed our guestbook and engaged in some great discussions. Whatever you’re doing to promote freedom, keep up the good work.

RAPID CITY, SD – Last night after our Minneapolis meetup Adam drove south on I-35 to Albert Lea, MN then west on I-90, stopping only when our fuel gauge was nearing the “E” hash mark. When he turned the ignition to its “Off” position there were already a couple of semis parked in the gravel parking lot next to a BP station where we planned to fuel up in the morning.

Sometime in the night I awoke to Jason, who had been sleeping in the back, asking “Did you guys hear/feel that?” Both Adam and I groggily replied “What?” and let the issue pass – perhaps lulled into complacency by the steady rain and strong wind that muffled outside noise and our non-stop travel the past few days from Ames to Mankato to St. Cloud to Minneapolis.

This morning I woke up, eager to document the diverse areas we’ve been fortunate to travel to by snapping a few pics of MARV. It was only when rounding the back passenger side of MARV that I noticed the damage.It seems that the semi, which had been parked 5-10′ away, clipped the back of MARV when pulling out. I’m sure this contact wasn’t purposeful – people do make mistakes – but this incident underscores the importance of responsibility – the ying to the yang of freedom. This is something we’ve been stressing since Day 1 – that with freedom comes responsibility.

I generally think truckers are superb drivers; they have to be as their livelihood depends on it and they log hundreds of thousands of miles on the road each year. If they get into an accident their employer may deem them too much of a risk and they could loose their job. Or, if they’re owner/operators they may find their increased insurance rates eat up too much of their take-home pay and decide to find other work. That’s why I’m fairly certain that the driver whose rig damaged our property knew of the accident – anything as unroutine as hearing metal connect with fiberglass and plastic should cause him/her to pause.

What this incident underscores is the importance of responsibility. It is the driver’s responsibility to admit fault. To knock on our door, inform us of what happened and seek to reach a mutually agreeable solution. But they didn’t. So now we’re on the lookout for a blue semi cab pulling a white trailer that has black paint on its corner….

And, knowing that the accident took out of commission one of our marker lights (which can be reason for someone with a badge to ticket us) we stopped at a rest stop and while the guys were making lunch I pulled out a spare can of spray paint we bought back in May from a Birmingham Wal-Mart during MARV’s Transformation, went to work and MARV was soon back on the road.

At the conclusion of this project in about a month we’ll likely make a more-permanent fix using the a staple of the auto repair world – Bondo – but for now, we’ll just keep doing our best with what we have.

Okay, one thing: This has been the greatest comeback, over a season, ever. Whatever happens, Jim Tracy will be Manager of the Year, hands down. Or even up.

Update: Jinx!