Military1Retired

Government [Hypocrisy] about taxpayer-funded health insurance

admin — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 05:46:52 +0000

As before, Slate we’ve noted [government programs are saving insurance companies] if you add the failure of employer-linked health care with Medicare, Medicaid, government employment, and the military, a huge chunk of Americans already have taxpayer-funded health care. It’s a diverse lot. Rich old people and poor kids, university professors, congressmen, teachers, DMV clerks and their families. Pretty much everybody you see on CNBC yelling about socialism? Their parents and grandparents (if they’re still living) get taxpayer-funded health insurance. Mine do. Charles Grassley, the septuagenarian Iowan who is doing his darnedest to torpedo meaningful health care form, has it. Arthur Laffer, the 69-year-old economist who went on television and suggested that Medicare isn’t a government health care program, is eligible for Medicare. Dick Armey, who spent many years teaching at a state university and served several terms in Congress, has had taxpayer-funded health insurance for much of his adult life. Same for Rudy Giuliani and Newt Gingrich. Democratic senators like Max Baucus, Kent Conrad, and Ben Nelson? Yes, yes, and yes. Law professors at the University of Tennessee have it. The employees of George Mason University, which houses the free-market Mercatus Center, do, too. Policy analyst Betsy McCaughey, currently reprising her 1990s role of health care bamboozler, will be eligible for it in a few years’ time.
Obvious? Yes. But it’s still worth pointing out. All these people rely on—or have relied on—the government to pick up the tab for their health care and for their health insurance. And that hasn’t caused euthanasia or the abolition of private property. Funny how you don’t hear any complaints from worthies about taxpayer-funded health insurance when it’s covering them, their staffs, and their loved ones. For many of these people, especially the older ones, there literally is no affordable alternative. Insurance companies prefer to insure healthy people, not sick people—that’s how they make money. And older people are more likely to run into health trouble requiring expensive care. Dick Armey, who issuing to get out from under the tyranny of Medicare, is apparently under the illusion that insurance companies are really eager to cover 69-year-old men at a low cost. House Minority Leader John Boehner is a 59-year-old smoker whose skin has an orange hue. What do you think Aetna would charge him per month for a good policy?
After the stock-research scandals of the 1990s, analysts were required to disclose whether they or their families owned stock in the companies they were talking about. That has since emerged as a key gauge of credibility. I’d like to see something similar for the health care debate. Before they weigh in on the prospects for health care reform, interview subjects—pundits, talking heads, policy wonks, editors, members of Congress—would have to disclose whether they or their family members rely on taxpayer-funded health insurance.
Such a disclosure might eat into valuable airtime. But it would clarify the debate. We’re witnessing a conversation between various people who are dependent on taxpayer-funded health insurance telling the public why tens of millions of people shouldn’t have access to it. Most of the opponents of universal health care don’t really think the public provision of health insurance services is immoral, evil, or socialistic—after all, they’d be at risk of bankruptcy without it. And most aren’t opposed to deficit spending as a matter of principle. (How do they think we’re paying for the Medicare prescription drug entitlement the Republicans rammed through a few years ago?) In effect, they believe that taxpayer-funded health insurance is appropriate and crucial for some people—themselves, their staffs, their parents—but not for others; that some are entitled to it, and that others simply aren’t. In Washington, unlike at Whole Foods, they want us to believe that what’s good for the goose will poison the gander.

http://www.americanveteransaid.com/?gclid=CMGByr2r5a0CFSYaQgodLgqvnw

The Affordable Care Act: One Year Later

admin — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 23:04:15 +0000

The Affordable Care Act: One Year Later (medical Neglect)
The Affordable Care Act is a health care law that protects people who have insurance. The law also makes it easier for some people who do not have health insurance to find coverage. Reforms under the Affordable Care Act have brought an end to some of the worst abuses of the insurance industry. These reforms have given Americans new rights and benefits, by helping get health coverage, ending lifetime and most annual limits on care, allowing young adults under 26 to stay on their parent’s health insurance, and giving patients access to recommended preventive services without cost.
The Affordable Care Act assists people in different ways. Some benefits of the law are determined by your age range and gender. Many other new benefits of the law have taken effect, including50% discounts on brand-name drugs for seniors in the Medicare “donut hole,” and tax credits for small businesses that provide insurance to employees. More rights, protections and benefits for Americans are on the way through 2014. See major parts of the law on an interactive timeline, or read the Patient’s Bill of Rights. Find out how the law provides better benefits and better health.
Health Disparities and the Affordable Care Act
Not all Americans have equal access to health care—or similar health care outcomes. Low-income Americans, racial and ethnic minorities, and other underserved populations often have higher rates of disease, fewer treatment options, and reduced access to care. They are also less likely to have health insurance than the population as a whole. There are many sources of health insurance coverage, such as a job, the military, or a state-sponsored program.
The Foundation for Prevention
The Affordable Care Act helps people who already have health insurance. The law also makes it easier for people without insurance to find coverage. Chronic diseases – such as heart disease, cancer, stroke, and diabetes – are responsible for 7 of 10 deaths among Americans each year and account for 75% of the nation’s health spending. Often due to economic, social, and physical factors, too many Americans engage in behaviors – such as tobacco use, poor diet, physical inactivity, and alcohol abuse—that lead to poor health.
Specifically, you will have access to two important insurance forms:
• An easy to understand Summary of Benefits and Coverage
• A uniform Glossary of terms commonly used in health insurance coverage
This will include basic information that every person should have, including:
• What is your annual premium?
• What is your annual deductible?
• What services are NOT covered by my policy?
• What will my costs be if I go to a provider in my network versus one that is not in my network?

http://www.healthcare.gov/index.html

http://www.kaiserhealthnews.org/Daily-Reports/2011/September/01/health-care-politics.aspx

http://www.kaiserhealthnews.org/Daily-Reports/2011/September/01/state-medicaid-issues.aspx

HEALTH CARE Reform in Action
The Affordable Care Act creates new health insurance programs for people at certain income levels. These programs may vary based upon where you live and the number of people in your household. Health reform makes health care more affordable, holds insurers more accountable, expands coverage to all Americans and makes our health system sustainable. These facts gives you what you should know about how the Affordable Care Act impacts your health options.

HOW THE AFFORDABLE CARE ACT IMPACTS PEOPLE WITH MEDICARE
The Affordable Care Act improves benefits for people with Medicare. The law protects Medicare’s guaranteed benefits. These benefits include care that you get from a doctor or in a hospital. Here are some facts you should know:
• Original Medicare will pay for more services. Most people with Medicare get their benefits from Original Medicare. Now there are new benefits as well.
o Medicare covers many preventive services. You will not have to pay out-of-pocket for most of these services. Preventive services include screenings for health problems such as cancer, high blood pressure and high cholesterol. Preventive services also include prostate exams.
o Medicare now covers wellness visits so that you and your doctor can develop and update a personalized prevention plan. You can get your free wellness visit each year.
o You will have access to reviews of Medicare doctors so you can choose the doctor who will provide you with the best care.
o Health care fraud costs Medicare money every year. Medicare is working more than ever to cut down on fraud to protect your benefits. There are new tools to find people who send false bills to Medicare, available at www.stopmedicarefraud.gov/.
• Medicare Advantage plans will focus more on quality. Some people with Medicare have a Medicare Advantage plan instead of Original Medicare. The law changed the way Medicare Advantage plans operate.
o The law rewards Medicare Advantage plans with bonuses if they provide high-quality care. Medicare measures quality using a star rating system. You can find your plan’s star rating at www.medicare.gov.
o Plans that get quality bonuses must spend some of that money on plan members. This means that you might get extra benefits or rebates from high-quality plans.
o Medicare Advantage plans must limit how much they spend each year on administrative costs. They must now spend at least 85 percent of your premiums on medical care and no more than 15 percent on administrative costs.
o Medicare Advantage plans cannot charge more than Original Medicare for some services. Examples of these services are chemotherapy, skilled nursing care, and kidney dialysis.
• Medicare Part D will cover more prescription drug costs. People with Medicare Part D will see changes to their prescription drug coverage. The Affordable Care Act will make it less expensive for you to fill your prescription drugs during the coverage gap, or doughnut hole.
o The doughnut hole in Medicare Part D is getting smaller. In 2011, you’ll get a 50 percent discount on brand-name drugs and a 7 percent discount on generic drugs while you are in the doughnut hole. The exact discounts you receive depend on your plan.
o The doughnut hole will gradually narrow until it disappears in 2020.
o You will still get catastrophic coverage if you spend enough on prescription drugs each year. At that point, you will generally pay no more than 5 percent for each of your prescription drugs.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:
If you are like many people with Medicare, you may have questions about what the health care law means for you. To find out more about what the health care law means for people with Medicare visit www.aarp.org/getthefacts.
You have a choice of how you get Medicare. You can get Medicare through the Original Medicare plan or Medicare Advantage plans. Your decisions about which plan you choose are important because they affect how much you pay for your health care and what is covered.
To find out more about your Medicare choices, visit www.medicare.gov.

FACT SHEET:
HOW THE AFFORDABLE CARE ACT IMPACTS PEOPLE WITH A
PRE-EXISTING CONDITION INSURANCE PLAN (PCIP)
The Affordable Care Act made a new insurance program for people who can’t get health insurance due to a health problem. This program is called the Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan, or PCIP. There is a PCIP program for each state. Here are some facts you should know:
• How to qualify for PCIP coverage. In order to get PCIP coverage, you must meet the following rules:
o You must have been uninsured for at least six months before applying for PCIP coverage; and
o You must prove that you have been unable to get health insurance because of a health issue.
• How the PCIP program works.
The PCIP program covers a broad set of health benefits, including primary and specialty care, hospital services and prescription drugs. The program is also required to cover health care services for pre-existing health conditions.
o You will pay a certain amount each month for PCIP coverage. This monthly amount is your premium. Your premium will not be based on your health condition.
o You will not have to pay out-of-pocket for preventive services under the PCIP program.
o There is no annual or lifetime limit on your benefits under the PCIP program.
o The PCIP program will operate until 2014, when you will then be able to buy health insurance through the exchange.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:
Learn more about the Pre-existing Condition Insurance program in Learn more.

FACT SHEET:
VA/DOD HEALTH INSURANCE
The Affordable Care Act does not change VA or DOD health care. To find out more about VA Coverage, visit www.va.gov/health/default.asp. To find out more about DOD TRICARE coverage, visit tricare.mil.
If you are able to get health care services through TRICARE or the VA, then you may not need to buy other health insurance. But depending on individual circumstances, some people may still want to buy other types of extra private health insurance coverage.

http://healthlawguide.aarp.org/?CMP=KNC-360I-GOOGLE-IVS-HEALTHLAWG-1111&HBX_PK=affordable_care_act&utm_source=GOOGLE&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=affordable%2Bcare%2Bact&utm_campaign=G_OTC2B&360cid=SI_310557624_10799190061_1

American Jobs Act – Will Help African Americans

admin — Sun, 11 Sep 2011 06:17:37 +0000

I didn’t know that it was our President who make American job; but he’s gone out there with his best effort. Our country now needs to be fully educated, so that the status quo will stop the lies by omission. We do know about the greed; we see thru the rationalization how the TEA party came into office to fix the problem created by too much government. Yet, I don’t know anyone who doesn’t want the government running wars and military matters. Who in their right mind once they know the facts about the TEA would want to keep it in office? But they are looking for some way to say; it’s someone else who should step up and do something while they do absolutely nothing to get the economy moving again. They think we’re so incompetents that we can’t see that corporation have empowered themselves by stepping all over others. The rich get richer by avoiding taxes and keeping corporate wealth out of the country. (Our new citizen you know) Remember, they have no obligation to be a good corporate citizen. They have move most of the manufacturing jobs to third world country with no rule for safety of worker at all. Believe me; Make no mistake about it those who have any kind of power or $ want to keep it any way they can. Well ask not for whom they looking at; No matter what color you are, if you think slavery is dead just take a look in the mirror for it is us.

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) praised President Obama’s new jobs plan and said that Obama clearly had the African-American community in mind while he was making it.

“He heard us. As a matter of fact we can see our hand print all over this proposal. We’re pleased about it,” Waters said Friday on MSNBC.

White House: Here’s How American Jobs Act Will Help African Americans

On the heels of President Barack Obama’s speech to announce the $450 billion American Jobs Act, the White House gave specifics Friday on how the legislation would benefit African Americans, who have an unemployment rate of 16.7 percent.

The White House believes the American Jobs Act will help African Americans in a number of ways:

An estimated 1.4 million unemployed blacks will benefit from extended unemployment insurance, which would continue into 2012.
About 20 million black workers will benefit from the extension and expansion of payroll tax cuts.
More than 100,000 African American-owned small businesses will benefit from the plan’s reducing employer payroll taxes in half, providing business owners with an added bonus for hiring new employees and extending provisions that provide an incentive for investment

http://www.americanjobsact.com/ the purpose of the American Jobs Act is simple: put more people back to work and put more money in the pockets of working Americans – without adding a dime to the deficit.

Social Security and Medicare entitlements

admin — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 05:29:38 +0000

Someone please tell me what in the world is wrong with all the people that run this country! Story: Obama’s full address on debt ceiling impasse The Social Security’s retirement program has been a basic part of American life for more than 65 years. Suddenly, we’re broke and can’t help our seniors, War Veterans, Orphans, and Homeless etc.? Over the years, you save up more money and earn ‘credits’. Then after you retire, these savings are paid back to you, depending on how many credits you earned. Medicare is our country’s health insurance program for people age 65 or older. (That no entitlement)

They call Social Security and Medicare entitlements, even though most of us have been paying for them all our working lives. I have been paying into SSI (1.45% payroll) for over fifty years and it not over yet. It also is financed in part by monthly premiums deducted from Social Security checks. Every single month all Social Security recipients (around 30 million) pay for their own Medicare through deduction of $96.50 from this so call entitlements. Do the math. Where does that money get used along with Medicare part D, paid to the drugs company by the Government? And remember each prescription require a co-pay. And now, just when it’s time for us to collect, the Government is running out of money. Why and who authorized the Government to borrow from our Social Security in the first place? That money is supposed be in a lock box. (That no entitlement)

AMERICA: a country where we have homeless without shelter, children going to bed hungry, elderly going without needed medication, mentally ill going without treatment, etc. Our retired seniors living on fixed incomes receive no aid nor do they get any breaks while our Government gives Hundreds of Billions to Foreign Countries! In recent months we have provided aid to Haiti, Chile, and Pakistan…home to bin Laden…literally BILLIONS of DOLLARS! We have many adoptable children who are shoved aside to make room for the adoption of foreign orphans.

What the GOP plan would do! According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a liberal-leaning think tank, virtually all of the additional $1.8 trillion in Boehner’s cuts would have to come from entitlement programs. Can you just imagine how much better off the country would be if our Government gave us the same support they give the people who hate us. Why do people vote for those that do not care for their best? (No entitlement here)

Your Social Security benefits are the foundation on which you can build a secure retirement. The three major elements of your retirement portfolio are benefits from pensions, savings and investments, and Social Security benefits. Most financial advisors say you’ll need about 70 percent of your pre-retirement earnings to comfortably maintain your pre-retirement standard of living. If you have average earnings, your Social Security retirement benefits will replace only about 40 percent. You’ll need to supplement your benefits with a pension, savings or investments unless you’re a Congressman that will retire with 100% of their salary. What An Entitlement!

Military vets higher rate unemployment

admin — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 18:52:51 +0000

Unemployment rate for military vets twice as high as civilian rate

The unemployment rate for military vets is higher than that of the entire US population despite skills gained on active duty; up to 11 %, a full 2 % higher than the general population. Still the congress debates the merit of pay for their service. More than 90 % of our business leader never serves a day in service to our country. It’s no wander that they have no understanding of the skills that vets possess after serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. http://www.military.com/veteran-jobs. This is but one of few outlets specifically designs to assist vets after leaving the military. Rep. Jeff Miller, Chairman of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, recently introduced complementary legislation to the Veteran Opportunity to Work (VOW) Act of 2011 (H.R. 2433) to help curb rising veteran unemployment. The Tax Credit to Hire Veterans Act of 2011 (H.R. 2443) would provide a tax credit to be applied toward capital equipment purchases to small businesses that hire unemployed veterans. To learn more, visit the Military.com Veteran Jobs Center. Yet we still find congress up to their old method of balancing the budget on the back of a small minority. Specifically those who choose to serve our country.

Military Pay Held Hostage – Again

Week of July 18, 2011

The U.S. is about to hit the $14.3 trillion debt ceiling and it appears Congress and the President are no closer to a deal to raise the spending limit. The impact of hitting the debt ceiling is not fully known, but the Department of Treasury says that “If Congress fails to increase the debt limit, the government would have to stop, limit, or delay payments on a broad range of legal obligations, including Social Security and Medicare benefits, military salaries, interest on the national debt, tax refunds, and many other commitments.”

Read the full article on the Military Advantage Blog.

Reform and Healthcare – Constitutional Convention

admin — Tue, 21 Jun 2011 06:24:46 +0000

No one has been able to explain to me why young men and women, who serve in the U.S. Military for 20 years, risking their lives protecting freedom, only get 50% of their pay at retirement. This after all other money is taken away. While Politicians, who hold their political positions in the safe confines of the capital, protected by these same men and women, receive full pay retirement after serving only ONE term. It just does not make any sense.

How much longer can this continue?

Fox news has learned that the staffers of Congress, family members are exempt from having to pay back student loans. This will get national attention only if other news networks will broadcast it. When you add this to the below, just where will all of it stop?

How much longer can this continue?

Here is information for your consideration for a 28th amendment. These are ideas that we; the American people should address. It has long been going around on the internet.

35 States file lawsuit against the Federal Government.;

Governors of 35 states have filed suit against the Federal Government for imposing unlawful burdens upon them. It only takes 38 (of the 50) States to convene a Constitutional Convention.

For too long we have been too complacent about the workings of Congress. Many citizens had no idea that members of Congress could and do retire with the same pay after only one term, that they specifically exempted themselves from many of the laws they have passed (such as being exempt from any fear of prosecution for sexual harassment) while ordinary citizens must live under those laws. The latest is to exempt themselves from the Healthcare Reform… in all of its forms. The House Republican Health Care Plan to repeal the Affordable Care Act and take away all the new freedom and control it gives the American people over their health care and give it back to insurance companies will not only raise costs for individuals and businesses, but it will also hurt our economy. Somehow, that doesn’t seem logical. We do not have elite that is above the law. I truly don’t care if they are Democrat, Republican, Independent or whatever. The self-serving must stop. This following proposal is one that really been passed around the internet for a long time.

Proposed 28th Amendment to the United States Constitution:

“Congress shall make no law that applies to the citizens of the United States that does not apply equally to the Senators and/or Representatives; and Congress shall make no law that applies to the Senators and/or Representatives that does not apply equally to the citizens of the United States.”

Take a moment to let this fact register in your mind. This is not a metaphor or a figure of speech… we are currently in a civil competition against domestic political and economic forces that are killing us and destroying our nation. The actuality is that a great many Americans are unaware of this new civil conflict does not change the fact: un-American, power-mad forces are sending thousands of Americans to their death devastating our nation politically and economically as we speak.

“It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us — that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion – that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain – that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom – and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.”

Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address 1863

How much longer can this continue?

Example
More Wars, Less Veterans Benefits

March 27, 2011 • BEN KRAUSE

Seems like a week can’t go by without hearing of some new deficit reduction plan with veterans’ benefits in the crosshairs of politicians. All the while, these same politicians appear more than willing for us to “help liberate” one oil country after another. Conflicts like these are great for making headlines and more disabled veterans, but they also take from the limited tax dollars that create Jobs.

How much longer can this continue?

John Lewis – Immigration New Civil Rights Battle

admin — Mon, 23 May 2011 21:58:46 +0000

Rep. John Lewis: Immigration Is the New Civil Rights Battle

Fifty years after taking part in the Freedom Rides, John Lewis issues a challenge for today’s generation.

John Lewis – During the week of May 22-26, hundreds of Americans are expected to converge in Jackson, Miss., to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Freedom Rides. Between May and December of 1961, the nonviolent protest against segregation in the Deep South — which continued despite the Supreme Court’s outlawing of such practices — saw 436 black and white young people riding interstate buses together through the South, testing segregation laws.

For flouting rules on who could ride in the front of a bus or use waiting rooms designated “Whites Only” and “Colored,” the Freedom Riders faced vicious mob attacks, slashed tires, firebombs and jail cells. Yet after persevering through more than 60 rides, they helped to hasten desegregation and ignite a nationwide movement for civil rights.

Among the Freedom Riders was a 21-year-old seminary student named John Lewis. He went on to chair the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, speak at the 1963 March on Washington, lead the voting-rights march from Selma to Montgomery and represent Georgia’s 5th District in the U.S. Congress, where he continues to serve today.

The civil rights icon; John Lewis shared his Freedom Ride experience with The Root, his anticipation about the 50th-anniversary reunion and the issue he wishes that more young people would mobilize around today.

The Root: Many people don’t realize just how unpopular it was to join the civil rights movement at first. Most people at the time thought it was too risky or not worth the headache. What made you willing to join the Freedom Riders and face violent mobs for the cause?

John Lewis: As a student, and as someone who had grown up in rural Alabama, 50 miles from Montgomery, I had been deeply influenced by the Montgomery Bus Boycott, Rosa Parks and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. I didn’t like seeing signs that said “White” and “Colored,” and I wanted to do something about it.

A year earlier I’d participated in the sit-ins, and from that point forward I made a commitment to do whatever I could to end segregation and racial discrimination in America. I studied the philosophy and discipline of nonviolence, and I came to a point where I lost all sense of fear. I was prepared to put my body on the line, and I was prepared to die for what I believed in.

In conclusion, those of us who enjoy freedoms we take for granted, should give thanks to John Lewis. Without him and people like him, who were willing to lay it on the line, who knows. John Lewis, we salute you, you are a true American hero.

Cynthia Gordy, The Root wrote the above article.

Today’s Health Care Court Cases

admin — Sun, 15 May 2011 04:57:27 +0000

Today’s Health Care Court Cases

The people of this Country apparently are not aware of the changes made after the passage of the Affordable Care Act. It is clearly making it better for those who want the get busy helping our selves. Those who claim that the “individual responsibility” provision exceeds Congress’ power to regulate interstate commerce because it penalizes “inactivity” are simply wrong. The real shameless are those among us who refuse get health care for themselves and their love one; perhaps love is too strong a word. When if ever will we learn to care for those we love so dearly? Individuals who choose to go without health insurance are actively making an economic decision that affects all of us. Effetely the emergency room care has nothing left; even leaving some dead just waiting. That is the true death panel that one must accept should we as a nation refuse do our part. I’m reminded of the word of a great scholar: ”As nightfall does not come all at once, neither does oppression. In both instances, there is a twilight when everything remains seemingly unchanged. And it is in such a twilight that we all must be most aware of change in the air–however slight–lest we become unwitting victims of the darkness.”

Justice William O. Douglass

Making Medicare Stronger, Improving Care, Saving Money

Posted by Nancy-Ann De Parle on May 12, 2011 at 1:46 PM EDT

Today, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released a new report outlining some of the steps our Administration has taken to strengthen the Medicare program, save money and improve the quality of care for our seniors. The report finds that the tools in the Affordable Care Act and other steps we have already taken will save nearly $120 billion for Medicare over the next five years and help deliver better care to people on Medicare.

Many of these reforms were made possible by the Affordable Care Act. The new law rewards doctors and hospitals for providing high-quality care and offers new tools to help law enforcement and the Medicare program crack down on waste fraud and abuse. Other steps like improving care for patients with disabilities and bringing down the cost of durable medical equipment build on initiatives undertaken at CMS that will also reduce costs. And recently announced the launch of the Partnership for Patients, a new public-private partnership that will help improve the quality, safety, and affordability of health care for all Americans. Already, more than 3,000 organizations, including 1,500 hospitals, have signed a pledge to become part of the Partnership for Patients. This has the potential to save up to $10 billion for Medicare through 2013.

The actuality is that a great many Americans are unaware of the power-mad forces (healthcare professionals and the insurance co.) that are sending thousands of Americans to their death and devastating our nation politically and economically as we speak.

Barack Obama and Birthers

admin — Sun, 24 Apr 2011 20:04:40 +0000

Barack Obama and Birthers

Article first published as Barack Obama and Birthers on Technorati.

Barack Obama is an American citizen! Enough already with the kooky birthers and their insane charges leveled against President Obama. Perhaps they would be happy if the state of Hawaii could produce pictures or video showing Obama as he came out of the womb with the placenta attached and Don Ho in the background playing Hawaiian music on his ukulele.

We have three wars going, a fragile economy, nuclear disaster in Japan and air traffic controllers taking siestas placing us all in danger. Come on people, we have much bigger fish to fry. Given the hand Barack Obama was dealt, he is doing an admirable job, all things considered.

The birthers, and now Donald Trump are calling to see Mr. Obama’s birth certificate. This is a tired side-show that is a distraction from our real problems. President Obama was thoroughly vetted, he has shown his birth certificate; end of story! The birthers antics just may help get Mr. Obama re-elected. The sane among us will grow evermore tired of the birther shenanigans and re-elect Mr. Obama in a landslide. I can hear the birhters screaming now!

It’s amazing how our standards for president change depending on who you’re talking about. During Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s (CA) first term when he was the darling of California and national politics, there was talk of how could the U.S. constitution be amended so that Mr. Schwarzenegger could run for president, since he was born in Austria and not in the U.S.! I wonder if they (birthers) would have considered an amendment to the constitution if his name had been, Arnulfo Sanchez? I don’t think so!

Actually the right-wing of the GOP have actually considered amending the 14th amendment of the constitution so they can deport American-born children of undocumented immigrants; namely Latino immigrants. Doing so would be nothing more than a xenophobic, racist knee-jerk reaction to America getting a little more “brown” than they (GOP and birthers) can handle.

Mr. Obama, the son of an immigrant is sensitive to the plight of Latino immigrants. This may be part and parcel why the right-wing (and birthers) of the Republican party are coming down so hard on Mr. Obama. This fact, endears him (Obama) to the Latino electorate and they (GOP and birthers) know it.

Mr. Obama has always attempted to reach across the isle and work with the other side. All too often, he just seems to get his hand slapped. President Obama has done everything possible to work with Republicans, short of using bleach! This writer can’t understand all the rancor when it comes to Mr. Obama. He and the democrats do what they do best in negotiations with the GOP – FOLD! The GOP draws the line in the sand and the Democrats don’t dare cross it; Give me a break. The Democrats and President Obama have become such accomodationists when it comes to the will of the Republicans. So who is really winning and what are the birthers and tea party griping about?

Michele Bachman, the chair of the Tea Party caucus in the house is definitely pushing the birther agenda. Instead of smoke-screening more pertinent and relevant issues, they should try and work closer with Mr. Obama. It doesn’t appear that is going to happen anytime soon. Now that the 2012 campaign is starting to take flight, there will be more demagoguery and fear-mongering than you can shake a stick at. Trust me, the Republicans are experts at this. They will play on white Americas fears of a Negro/Latino nation and scare the hell out of middle America and the suburbs. The birthers will be there throwing gasoline on the fire to create even more dissension.

Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, “We will stand together as brothers or perish together as fools.” His words ring just as true today as they did when he first spoke them. The world has grown smaller and more dangerous. We are not the dominant power we once were. We’re going to have to learn to play nice and share the globes resources with other nations. They are no longer there for the taking or for our convenience. America, wake up before it’s too late!

The Civil War and America

admin — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 02:17:39 +0000

Battle at Fort Sumter Starts Civil War

As we commemorate (not celebrate) the 150th anniversary of the civil war in America, I ponder the words of the great southern historian and author, Shelby Foote, who once said, “You can’t know America unless you understand the civil war.” He was very accurate in his assessment. Many people lambaste African-Americans for “whining” about slavery. The truth of the matter is, the vestiges of this “peculiar institution” are with us to this very day. That’s why will NEVER be a post-racial society. Race and class are embedded in our DNA.

The first shot of the civil war at Fort Sumter is still being heard all over America. Our media, our co-workers, job and mortgage applications all want to know our race, ethnic background etc. It’s interwoven deep within our core as Americans. We are color-struck to the 10th power and don’t want to acknowledge or recognize it.

Sex is deeply woven into the complex issue of race and social strata. This is a pathology that is so ingrained that the mention of it brings controversy to the fore of the argument on the topic of race. Many southern segregationists main goal in maintaining Jim Crow, did so out of a motivation to keep black boys and men away from white girls and women. There was a deep concern that miscegenation would run out of control and create a “mongrel” race of mulattoes.

Of course, the same didn’t apply to white men and black women. It was a little known ritual in the deep south that you weren’t a man until you “bedded” a black woman (splitting the “black oak” as they liked to call it). Bet you didn’t learn that in your high school history class? We were presented with a “sanitized” version of the civil war.

Racist restrictive covenants in housing were the law of the land up until very recently. There was pending Fair Housing legislation that was being debated just before Martin Luther King’s assassination. Literally one week after his death Title VIII (Fair Housing) was passed to quell all the social unrest across the country immediately following his death. Of course, the legislation had no “teeth” in regards to enforcement. Suddenly however, everyone has amnesia and can’t remember America ever being so racist. It’s a fact, just the same. The deed to my home still has that language in it, thankfully it can’t be enforced because it’s been rendered moot by fair housing laws. In fact, most of my African-American friends who live in my neighborhood as well as suburbs all across America couldn’t have lived in them as recently as twenty years ago. Thank God for change!

Having worked in Equal Opportunity Enforcement for a large metropolitan city in the southwest, it was common that directors would make up work assignments in such a way to keep black men and white women from “consorting” on the job. Yes, it really happened. You can trace this type of behavior back to the civil war.

Of course, we don’t see crosses burning and right-wing terrorists wearing white sheets as they did in the good ole days. Wholesale terrorism against African-Americans erupted immediately following the civil war. Today they wear loafers, designer suits have MBA’s and are much more subtle in the racism that happens today. The end result is still the same, an entire class of people are marginalized and seen as less than. We see it in predatory lending, red-lining, blockbusting, gerrymandering, environmental racism and exclusion from voting due to criminal records etc. Social exclusion for the lower-classes has morphed into other forms of social control.

Of course my detractors will point out that we have a black president (Barack Obama). While that is a monumental accomplishment for our county, that is by no means the end game. Until the African-American community as a whole can improve it’s lot in life and it’s stake in the American Dream, we have a long way to go. While we all mourn the more than 600,000 men who gave their lives during the civil war to save and have a more perfect union, it was a step in the right direction to rid America bb guns for sale of it’s “Original Sin.”