Health Care Links

Since I’ve been staying very current on the health care reform debate, I thought I’d post some of the best articles I’ve found in my months of research on this subject. These articles prove to be much ammunition for those who are against HCR or those right wingers who think our system is better than single payer or socialized medicine country.

Oregon Live – Five Myths About Health Care Around The World – Probably one of the best articles I’ve ever read. It debunks the five biggest myths about single payer and socialized medicine.

Blast The Right – Transcript 152 – Debunking Conservative lies about the health care debate.

Blast The Right – Transcript 154 – Debunking more lies from the right about HCR.

Blast The Right – Transcript 155 – Part III of debunking the right on HCR.

ABC News – How Health Insurance Companies Hurt Policyholders – The real death panels of the health insurance industry, as told by an insider.

Newsweek – What’s Not To Like About Our Health Care System – A view of our current health care system.

Huffington Post – GOPers Decrying Socialized Medicine – Some Congressmen from the GOP have actually used government run hospitals for their surgery, yet they are against it.

US Health Crisis – What Real Canadians Think Of Their Health Care – A video of actual Canadians and what they think of their health care system.

IPPF – How Our Health System Screws Over Women – A look at what women are put through thanks to our messed up health system. Sheds some light on our shamefully high infant mortality rate.

Families USA – Dying For Coverage In Maryland – A PDF of the suffering Marylanders go through without insurance. Some good facts on why insurance matters.

Maybe reading these will convince some that a single payer system is the way to go… The very least being a public option.


Losing Hope

Of late I’ve been pretty depressed about the state of the US. I think I figured out why.

During the Bush years, I knew there was no hope in solving our big problems like global warming, health care, the national debt, the wars, etc. Bush did so much to hurt the United States. I genuinely believe him to be a “T” word (not “tyrant”, by the way).

When we overwhelmingly called for change and progress via electing Obama, I cried. I was so happy. I had so much hope for our country. It was finally going to turn around, I thought. The Democrats had won power back and now had an overwhelming majority. Nothing could stop the progressive movement… I thought.

Here we are entering October. Obama’s been in power eight months. Nothing major has changed.

My friend said go easy on Obama, give him some slack, he has a lot up against him. I can’t on major issues that need to be solved ASAP and bad Bush policies that he promised not to resume. He wants to be bipartisan when sometimes it’s not worth it.

Health Care. When a majority of the country wants a public option, Obama wants to try and be bipartisan on an issue all Republicans have stated they would not vote for. The Republicans have basically come out and said they’re not voting for anything health care related. Obama started with a compromise and look what we have now. A bill that probably won’t have apublic option. If he proposed universal single payer health care from the start, the compromise would have to be the public option. Obama needs to stop pandering to the Republicans. Get universal single payer health care enforced… or be a wimp and just have a public option. Honestly, I think they should resort to an old Bush tactic and call the bill something like the “Health Care Patriot Bill”. Just throw in that word “patriot”. Then if the Republicans don’t vote for it, Democrats can bring that up the next election and call them “unpatriotic”. The Republicans did the same things the last eight years.

Global Warming. Obama’s Clean Energy And Security Act Of 2009 is weak at best. It doesn’t stop the problem, rather it gives us reason to prolong the problem and tackle it another day. Scientists say we needed to stop pollution and reduce our greenhouse emissions yesterday. Read what Dennis Kucinich had to say about the bill. Obama should put harsh restrictions in place for polluters and give tax cuts to companies who go green. Start enforcement of restrictions sooner, not in 2016, now, cause we need it now. Be honest with the American people and tell them to sacrifice and do common sense things like recycle, buy fuel efficient cars, and eat less meat.

The Economy. Corporations and their strength and greed ruined our country and we let them get away with it. The richest 1% of Americans more than doubled their share from 8.5% to 22% from the early 80’s to 2006. CEO’s earn over 500 times what the average worker earns, versus 40 times more like in the past. Obama, I thought, was going to be a true leader and put corporations in their place and impose restrictions and not let them walk all over the American people and their government. Obama hasn’t done this. I want Obama to be a strong president, like (I hate to say it) Bush. Bush, for all the bad shit that he did, he was actually able to get what he wanted done… almost every time. Obama needs to impose and enforce restrictions on companies with strong penalties. We’re a year after the financial meltdown and not one restriction has been put on Wall Street. There is nothing stopping what happened last year from happening again. Business’s will continue to make risky ventures full well knowing if they fail, the government and us tax payers will back them up. We need Obama to stand up and send a clear message to Wall Street that we will not have their back anymore. Another idea would be to force a split of these big institutions that are too big to fail.

Torture. I voted to condemn the act of torture and to finally get justice and accountability in the United States. We signed the Geneva Conventions for a reason, to condemn torture. It was my hope that Obama would come through on this and investigate past acts of illegal activity by the previous administration. However, Obama has chosen not to look into past (proven) acts of torture and illegal activities. You prevent future torture by prosecuting past acts of torture. Obama needs to do this and hold everyone accountable as well as follow through on his closing of Guantanamo Bay.

Afghan & Iraq Wars. Obama needs to follow through on his promise to get us out of Iraq… that goes without saying. Bush put us in the middle of two big, useless wars. We don’t need to be over there, just like we don’t need to be in Germany and Japan anymore. Iraq and Afghanistan are two examples of the Military Industrial Complex at work in this country. Blackwater, Halliburton, Lockheed Martin, etc have made billions off of these wars. And they continue to be awarded no-bid contracts by our government. There once was a time in our history where being called a war profiteer was considered a bad thing. These contractors have literally gotten away with fraud, arms dealing, and murder. It started under Bush and, unfortunately, continues under Obama. Obama needs to get out of Iraq and Afghanistan as peacefully as possible. Since we shifted our focus to Afghanistan now, it has become more and more violent. Both countries don’t want us there and as long as we’re there, we’re wasting billions of dollars and lives. Also, Obama should bring charges against Blackwater, KBR, DynCorp, ArmorGroup for fraud, child prostitution, murder, etc.

Gay Marriage. I applaud states for finally standing up and admitting that it is unconstitutional to not allow same sex couples to wed. I really don’t think Obama has done much at all to advance the GLBT community. He hasn’t repealed Don’t Ask Don’t Tell like he promised. Obama should make a public statement about this and encourage more states to allow same sex marriage and repeal the Defense Of Marriage Act. Also, repeal Don’t Ask Don’t Tell so gays can openly serve in our military.

Iran. I am glad Obama is exercising diplomacy. However putting sanctions on a country that hasn’t launched an aggressive war in modern history is a little ridiculous. I have always said who are we to not allow another country to develop nuclear weapons? We have them, and we’ve waged a lot of wars, two very recently. Why do we feel the need to defend Israel anyway? They have nukes and can take care of themselves. Obama needs to leave Iran alone. Please, for Gods sake, don’t invade. Don’t start another costly war.

Leading The Country. Obama has not shown us that he is a strong leader. Not one president since JFK has asked us to do anything! I want Obama to step up and tell me to make sacrifices. Obama needs to tell us to eat healthier, cut out fast food, drive more fuel efficient cars, recycle, stop relying on credit cards, etc.

Granted, I’m also mad at Obama for a lot of other issues like the national debt. If I were to give Obama a grade, it would be a D. So far I think he and his Democratic Congress have failed to do what we gave them power to do. They actually listen to Republican nonsense and not rebut it. So lies (like the illegal immigration coverage and abortion field trips in the HCR bill) will fester and become widely known as fact.

Frankly, I don’t see how his administration is in any way a Democratic one. Obama and his Congress need to get their act together and fix the country. We elected them and gave them all the tools they need to do what we want. If they can’t do it by next year, I predict the Republicans will gain back a lot of power fairly easily.


Quickie Quote From Bill Maher I

Bill Maher was on the Jay Leno Show last night and said a pretty funny thing. It’s too long for Twitter or else I’d tweet it.

“If you’ve voted for a guy who wouldn’t give you health care, as opposed to one who would, you should have your head examined… Except you can’t afford to have your head examined because you don’t have health care.”

Just thought I’d share it.


Successful Government Programs

As some of you may have watched, Rush Limbaugh was on the Jay Leno show last night, talking nothing but trash. Leno got in there a few times to correct Rush on a few of his “misunderstandings”. Most of what he said, of course, were lies. I debunked a few as he was saying them on my twitter.

The one lie I loved the best was him claiming that there are no successful government run programs. I desperately wanted to tweet but, come on, my list would be well over the 140 character limit Twitter has.

I decided just to blog about it quickly here and list a few successful government programs. Some of these everyone uses in their day to day lives, without even realizing it:

Federal Highway Administration
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
Environmental Protection Agency
Tennessee Valley Authority
National Park Service
Medicaid
Medicare
National Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA)
Social Security
Family & Medical Leave Act
National Weather Service
Consumer Product Safety Commission
Centers for Disease Control & Prevention
Government Grants
Food & Drug Administration
Americans with Disabilities Act
Servicemen’s Readjustment Act (GI bill)
Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act (another GI bill)
Peace Corps
European Recovery Program (Marshall Plan)
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)
Car Allowance Rebate System (CARS or cash for clunkers)
Morrill Land-Grant Colleges Act
Public Broadcasting
Public Schools & Universities
Public Transportation (it has a lot of faults but a lot of people need it to get around)
Public Libraries
Fire Department
Workers’ Compensation (ex Sate Compensation Insurance Fund of California)
Rural Utilities Service
Federal Aviation Administration
Community Development Block Grant
Housing & Urban Development (HUD)

It turns out there are a lot of successful government run programs, making this list rather incomplete.


Quickie On Tort Reform

I was trying to remember the source… I believe it may have been Bill Maher or Chris Matthews… but I remember hearing how California and Texas both passed tort reform.

Some think that tort reform can solve this health care problem. Texas is a prime example that it can not.

Texas passed tort reform back in 2003 by capping payoffs from malpractice cases. One article said it increased doctors in the state. Yet today, Texas is the uninsured capital of the United States with 24.4% of Texans being uninsured.

What people think is tort reform encourages more doctors and lowers insurance costs. However, this data shows that tort reform does not work to lower costs. Insurance rates should have gone down, hence more people should afford to be insured.

If tort reform worked, Texas and California wouldn’t be that high on the list of uninsured states.


Debunking Public Vs Private

Side Note: Since this post will kind of be a health care debate post… sort of… and since I couldn’t digg the article yesterday since Digg was being stupid and not letting me submit it, I’ll link to an interesting article about how the health insurance companies hurt policyholders.

Now, I’ve heard a lot of arguments from the right (and some blue dogs on the left) these days of why a public option in health care would be a bad thing… like a healthy competition is a bad thing. It started me thinking of how public competes against private. Brian and I spent an hour coming up with a pretty good list of ways public competes with private:

  • Public vs Private mail – For example USPS vs FedEx.
  • Public vs Private schools – For example colleges can be public or private. Most private colleges (and schools) are more expensive. Wouldn’t private schools not be around at all if everyone put their kids in public since it’s cheaper? There are REALLY good public schools (example UMD)… yet there are still private schools out there… wonder why.
  • Public vs Private airports – Here’s a list of public and private airports in Maryland. I don’t hear any private airports (or conservatives) wining how the public ones take all the business away. Private airports are still in business, oddly enough.
  • Public vs Private space agencies – For example NASA vs Scaled Composites (which is a child of Northrup Grumman).
  • Pubic vs Private hospitals – Thinking there probably shouldn’t be any private hospitals still around… oh wait, there are.
  • Public vs Private radio – Ever heard of NPR? Nothing about the right crying “unfair” they’re competing with private radio stations.
  • Pubic vs Private banks – This one really gets me. I don’t hear anything about people being mad at government run banks or credit unions. You’d think they’d offer higher interest rates on savings accounts (you know, since they don’t have to worry about profit). Which in turn, you guessed it, causes the private to go out of business. But none of that happens. Public and private are just as competitive. In fact, I bank with ING Direct and I get a much better interest rate than if I banked with NFCU.
  • Public vs Private television – PBS versus almost anything else. How come PBS isn’t kicking butt on the ratings? Oh yeah, they suck. So people go to private… Hmm… apply that theory to healthcare… Case in point, if this public option sucks, people will flock back to private. Private just needs to be… what’s the word… oh yeah, COMPETITIVE.

Pretty sure this list is incomplete. Can you think of more?

Now, I don’t hear anyone on the right (or anyone for a “free market”) arguing against any of these. If public was so good, we wouldn’t be having this debate, would we? These major things would all be run by the government and there would be no private. And I’m guessing Obama’s socialism would be a much larger number than 0.21%.

And regarding the argument: “oh well when one of the companies doesn’t have to worry about a profit…” Honestly? If your life depended on a decision from someone NOT in it for the profit or someone IN it for the profit, I can’t imagine why anyone would put their life in the hands of someone who’s only looking out for their profit.


Debunking A Cash For Clunkers Article

I’m fairly certain this article is right leaning:

Five Reasons “Cash For Clunkers” Is A Joke

By now I’m sure you’ve heard Obama has passed a bill, Cash For Clunkers. I visited Yahoo news today like I usually do since Yahoo is my home page and I read this interesting, BS article.

  1. Not sure if the author of this article has ever traded in a car but you can’t get much for it. Nine out of ten times you’re better off trying to sell it on your own. Dealerships usually rip people off. In the article it even states that you’ll get MORE for it with the CFC bill than you would normally… Not really seeing why the bill won’t work if people are getting MORE MONEY from their cars.
  2. Yeah average price of a new car might be $24,000 but honestly, if you’re hurting for money and need a car, I’d go with a Rabbit or a Yaris. Even now with Ford and GM not doing so well, I’d go for a Focus. Much cheaper than the $24K this guy is saying a new car is. A Yaris costs $12,200 MSRP, negotiate a little, could get it down to $11,500 easy… CFC makes the car a whopping $8,000. Say you had to borrow $9K, that’s only $174 a month at 6%.
  3. Some people might not need their big SUV anymore, or their truck, or their minivan. And some trucks DO get better fuel efficiency than before. And if your truck is old and on its last leg, now could be the perfect opportunity. Furthermore, the bill states different qualifications for trucks.
  4. This argument is weak at best… and pretty funny. Don’t scrap your car because it MIGHT be a future classic? Pretty pathetic. Yeah, I’m going to hang on to my 1994 Chrysler cause it might be worth much more one day. And how do classic cars get value anyway? Because there are only A FEW LEFT. I honestly don’t think people are going to keep their junkers in hopes that one day (could be 20 years or 50 years down the road) it could be worth something. You know how much it costs to store a car? The guy who wrote this article certainly doesn’t.
  5. That’s a problem with Ford and GM, not with the CFC program. If they were hoping this bill provided a boost to the automotive business here, they would have put in the bill that the car must be traded in at a Ford or GM dealership.

Re People’s Participation: I actually know a few people that can benefit from this program. One of them is going to participate and trade his 1993 Mercedes in for either a Toyota Prius or a Toyota Yaris.


Debunking The Right About Higher Taxes In Maryland

I usually have some pretty good debates with my fathers lawyer who is a Republican. He always likes to blame Democrats for the problems we face in our state and in our country (like all good Republicans, right).

Anyway, so he recently said how one third of the rich people in this state have since moved or changed their permanent residences due to O’Malley hiking up their taxes. So, what the Right likes to think is that it drove out rich people and increased taxes on the working. They’re correct, but let’s take a look at the numbers:

The increase on the rich of they “grinned and bared it” would be another $106,000,000 revenue to the state.

In reality it put us in the hole -$100,000,000. (Figures from the Wall Street Journal.)

So that’s a -$206,000,000 swing that we have to make up to (baring that the tax increase on the rich would balance the budget) keep the budget balanced for the year. In other words, Maryland needs to make up $206,000,000 MORE than last year.

According to Wikipedia, the population of Maryland is 5,633,600 people. Assuming that only half pay taxes, which is more than fair in my opionion, that leaves us with 2,816,800 tax payers.

Doing our math on this:

$206,000,000/2,816,800 = $73.13 per tax payer

So, the Right (and some Democrats no doubt) lead you to believe that increasing taxes on the rich will drive them away leaving only the middle and lower classes to make up the difference. Sorry but I’m a lot happier paying barely $100 more A YEAR than other alternatives… look what California is facing. Also keep in mind that inflation is a little more than 4% a year so an extra $100 per tax payer may not be so bad.

Of course this blog is assuming the rich were driven out because of higher taxes. One article from the Baltimore Sun actually suggests it’s due to the estate tax being so high in Maryland.


Overeating & Weight Problems

I’ve always had a conspiracy theory about weight problems in our country.

I was watching Bill Maher last week, he had David Kessler on his show, talking about his new book The End Of Overeating… basically confirmed part of my theory.

My beliefs are that the food companies/restaurants are causing us to be obese.  They sell these huge portions figuring they can sell more food for more money. We don’t really have a choice in this matter. It’s not like I can go to one of the places at the mall and ask for half a serving, it’s all or nothing. We’ve become accustom to eating that much food. And when you buy a meal like that, not eating all of it is just a waste if you throw it away.

I’ve never had problems with my weight, however, but when I started to notice the scale going up to uncomfortable levels (155-160), I decided to cut back. I ditched the typical mall food ($6+ for more than a serving), and started to eat either a pretzel, a subway sandwich (6 inch), a steak sub, or an ice cream. (Also saved money too.) I also started doing a little exercising, but the big thing is cutting back. I think I’m a healthy weight now and tend to keep up with what I’m doing.

Stopping yourself from eating is always a hard thing to do but it needs to be done. I only eat until I’m completely full about once a week. Other than that, I really limit the amount of food I take. It takes a lot of discipline, but it is possible. Don’t eat until you’re full.


Obama’s Iraq Decision

News broke yesterday, right before Obama’s Congressional Speech, that a decision has been made about Iraq. Obama campaigned on a 16 month withdraw date. Since taking office, apparently, he feels that 16 months is too soon and wants to extend it to 19 months.

Some may think, oh it’s just three months, that’s fine. I don’t. Obama is going back on one of his campaign promises to get the troops out of there. Furthermore, Iraqi leaders have already agreed to Obama’s timetable (which no doubt gave him a lot of kudos). Obama is basically giving the same time of withdraw that Bush gave (2011).

I know not many liberals will get on him about this decision, but I feel he went back on his word, and he deserves flack for it. I understand that until he got in there could he fully understand the severity of the situation. However, I feel that since he is going back on his word, it brings us back. It brings us back to the Bush days of “oh a few more months”, “give it another six months”, “we’ll know by X date”.

Also, I would like to point out that even after “withdraw”, we will still have residual (“non combat”) forces there. Estimates are as much as 50,000 troops. In my opinion, this is completely unacceptable.

To me, this decision is major, as I’ve been strongly against the war since its beginning. I don’t want to go back to the days were our leaders keep pushing withdraw back and back. I want to see our troops come home. I voted for Obama to bring them home.

Let’s even forget about how us antiwar folks feel for a second. The Republicans are going to have a field day. Yes, they love the result (more time in Iraq) but the bottom line is it gives them ammunition against Obama saying he went back on his word.

I hope K O does a special comment or something about this news. I’m pretty mad right now. I hope others get mad about this decision as well. We need to hold Obama accountable. I know he can’t fulfill every campaign promise, but this one is major.


The Bush Presidency, The End Of An Error

Now that the Bush Presidency is FINALLY over, I thought I’d recap what’s probably the worst mistakes of the past eight years. Reflecting on these mistakes, I sincerely hope we can move past them with an Obama Administration and correct all the blunders that haave occured. It will take a long time but I am confident that our country will transend the past and become the nation we ought to be.

Undoing what Bush has done, some experts say, could take decades. Some of these errors alone may never be corrected. So much damage has been done.

Here are the twenty five things I feel were the worst things that went on during the Bush 43 Administration.

  • No Child Left Behind
  • Inaction On Illegal Immigration
  • Mission Accomplished
  • Inaction In Darfur
  • Budget Deficits – the souring national debt (now more than $10.6 trillion), taking a surplus and giving the top 10% tax cuts, billions needlessly spent in Iraq for contractors (Halliburton, Blackwater, etc)
  • End Of Tariffs – Free Trade which caused a lot of US companies to outsource and send jobs overseas
  • Handling Of North Korea – again a little foreign policy could have gone a long way
  • Handling Of Iran – the inability to exercise foreign policy, turning our backs, not willing to sit down and talk to other nations
  • Katrina
  • Valerie Plame Scandal
  • Alberto Gonzales Scandal
  • Treatment Of Our Veterans
  • The Patriot Act – warrantless wiretapping and civil liberties being taken away in the name of terror, spying on American citizens, the shredding of the Constitution (you know, that GD piece of paper)
  • Over 150 Signing Statements – more than any other president in history, did a lot of damage and pushed us back in such areas as the enviornment
  • Torture – Abu Ghraib, water boarding, violations of the Geneva Convention
  • Initiation And Mismanagement Of The Iraq War
  • Souring Energy Prices – really has hurt the middle class, a lot of people have not recovered, families suffered
  • Bush’s Supreme Court Justice Appointments – probably one of the worst things he has ever done, this country has regressed dramatically
  • America’s Image And The Exploitation Of September 11th – after 9/11 the world was behind us but this Administration resorted to scare tactics in order to push its own agenda, we have fallen as a leader in the world, the Bush Administration has used terror and the threat of another 9/11 to scare the American people
  • Inaction On The Healthcare Crisis – SCHIP vetoed (one of the most successful programs)
  • Lack Of Foresight On The Housing Crisis – a little Government regulation could have gone a long way towards stopping aggressive lending practices
  • Nievity On Economic Crisis – statements like “the fundamentals of our economy are strong”, the lack of government regulation and oversight
  • Millions Of Jobs Lost
  • Lack Of Government Accountability – from war crimes to warrentless wiretapping to the budget this administration has NOT been held accountable
  • Inaction Against Global Warming – Kyoto Accord not being signed, editing of scientific documents that prove Global Warming is happening, lying in speeches of how we need to move to alternative energy yet blocking legislation that calls for it

I Gotta Ask, What Do They Do?

Brian and I are in the process of buying our first house. My father once told me there are a lot of incentives for first time home buyers. After doing hours of research, I find there really aren’t any. There is actually only one we could find that we actually qualify for ($7,500 “loan” that we pay back through taxes). All the rest are for incomes less than what we’re making. Of course, we’re trying to find ones in Maryland and from Montgomery County. We make too much money! We make a little over the MEAN income in MoCo.

It blows my mind. One of the programs can give us a mortgage rate of some 5.5% (fixed). We just got approval from our bank at 4.75% (fixed). Yeah, who would go with that?

My question is, what the hell do these politicians do? They obviously just sit on their asses and not pass things that need to be passed. Or update laws and programs that need to catch up with the times. 5.5% would have been great a few years ago, but now it’s pretty high. All these programs we can’t qualify for because we make too much money, how come they haven’t been updated? Bri and I are a little below middle class. We don’t qualify for anything! Who does? We couldn’t afford a house if we made less. These programs need to be updated. I don’t know anyone who it applies to, they all make too much money! But we don’t make that much, honestly!

The lady who lives below me had her childrens school food benefit (where the state assists in school lunches) taken away from her because she got a little pay raise and now she doesn’t qualify anymore. She can’t afford not to have it.

I just want to know why these programs haven’t been updated for inflation. It took 10 years to increase minimum wage, it took 28 years to increase the FDIC insurance to $250,000. What the hell do these people do who should be passing laws to update these very important programs?


Get Out And Vote! Nov 4 2008

I’m not good at writing things that are inspirational and meaningful but I would like to take a minute to try to write how important it is to vote.

Like I was telling some of my friends who are not registered to vote and aren’t political: Voting gives us a say in our country. Voting gives us the power to choose our future. Thinking that the entire system is corrupt is no excuse. Many have fought (and still fight) and died for this right we have. Many in the world do not have the opportunity to decide anything in their country. We should take advantage of the rights we have.

The 2000 election was decided by some 537 votes. That’s it. Saying your opinion, your vote doesn’t matter simply isn’t true.

Please, get out and vote TOMORROW, NOVEMBER 4, 2008. If you’re not sure where you vote visit vote411.org for your location.

A quick note on voter fraud: No, the election for Democrats is not November 5, it’s November 4, like EVERYONE ELSE, on the SAME DAY, regardless. And no, you won’t get arrested for not paying child support or if you have a speeding ticket or whatever else you may have heard if you try to vote. They are Republican scare tactics and they are UNTRUE to try to get you not to vote. Don’t let that happen.

Another quick note, don’t let poll numbers discourage you to vote either. Get out to the polls no matter what. Even if you’re 100% confident your candidate will/will not win, still get out there. Your vote DOES matter.

Furthermore, don’t let long lines to vote discourage you. Please wait it out and get your say. Maybe try to coinvince your boss to let you go early so you can get there, or try to go in the morning or during lunch. But get out there regardless.


Got Another One…

You know, I’m really getting tired of getting emails and reading news articles and postings by people who are so ignorant. I just got another email today about how Obama said how the flag to some is “a symbol of oppression” and how “the anthem itself conveys a war-like message”. Of course snopes.com has this as false.

I read more and more how Obama is a Muslim or Arab, can’t be trusted, has terrorist ties, etc. Why don’t people fact check? Why are some people so ignorant? They say he’s a Muslim but then what’s all this controversy about a Christian Pastor? This is all stupid. And anyway, what’s wrong with believing in another religion? To steal a line from South Park, I thought this was America! Maybe people here are shocked and suprised that people have tolerance and acceptance towards other ideas. It’s like they woke up and said “Wow, I can’t believe it! America is actually how we imagined it!”

And I blame John McCain for not setting these people straight. If he says “I have repudiated every time someone’s been out of line, whether they’ve been part of my campaign or not, and I will continue to do that.” Then, tell me, how come he doesn’t come out about the people at Palin’s rally’s, shouting “terrorist” and “kill him”? How come Palin hasn’t come out and said anything about it? How come McCain’s own spokesperson, Nancy Pfotenhauer has said that parts of Virginia who are responsive to McCain are “real Virginia”, McCain hasn’t repudiated that? What about all the shouts of “kill him” and “terrorist” at Palin rally’s, McCain hasn’t repudiated that? How come McCain hasn’t repudiated his own VP pick for saying the “real America” and “pro-America” places of the United States? What about Rush Limbaugh’s reason of how Powell endorsed Obama because of race, yet McCain won’t repudiate it?

McCain seems to not repudiate anything. He’d rather sacrifice his integrity and support hatred than loose a campaign. Doesn’t he not want to be a part of this? If he doesn’t, I don’t see how.


Bri’s Idea Of How To Fix The Housing Market

As many of you know, Brian was running for House Of Representatives until my father passed away. Things got crazy (and it’s still crazy) so he decided to drop out. Before he did, he gathered a bunch of views and ideas he had and put them up on his website.

Since the idiots in Congress can’t get their act together and pass a bill that would try to save us all from hell, I persuaded Brian to start calling around and tell them his idea. This idea would fix the housing market which would lead to a more stable economy, thus saving us all from a recession or depression. Here’s his plan (from his website):

In the past couple of months many people have noticed mortgage companies and banks have been losing a lot of money and people are being forced out of their homes. It is terrible when people lose their life savings, their homes, and have their credit ruined all in one fell swoop. I think there are a couple of very simple steps to correct this situation so no more people will fall prey to this kind of lending again.

The first thing to do is save people who are in foreclosure or who are about to go into foreclosure. In order to do this, I propose that we use the HUD (Department of Housing and Urban Development) to refinance all the loans that are resetting to higher rates into fixed rate mortgages. I would also increase the amount of time that a family has to pay back the loan from a traditional 15 or 30 years so that they can spread out the payments to something that they can still afford today (say a 60 year mortgage) with no penalties for early payment. People can say in their homes with a mortgage that is manageable. Also, they should be able to pay towards the mortgage what they can afford to spare in order to pay the loan off faster without penalty.

The second step to saving the mortgage industry is to enact legislation that will stop predatory lending. This legislation should force mortgage companies and brokers to make potential buyers more aware of the consequences of the loans they sign.

Just wanted to put Brian’s idea out there. He already called a few of our Maryland congressmen and explained it. They probably won’t get back to him cause they don’t care.

Brian doesn’t care if he gets credit for this idea or not. He just wants a solution, as do I, as should all of us.

If you think this is a good idea, share it or whatever.


A Few Comments On The Economic Activity/Political News

Well since McCain “suspended” his campaign last Wednesday, I wonder if he bothered announcing that he unsuspended it. It seems his time in Washington is a complete waste as he said nothing and proposed nothing during the big White House meeting Thursday.

“I came back because I wasn’t going to phone it in.”

McCain said this week. However, he did just that with his time in Washington. He spent the weekend on the phone, something he could have done anywhere. I’m wondering, did he actually do ANYTHING helpful to solve this problem? I didn’t hear any proposals or anything from him. I thought his whole point of “suspending his campaign” was to get this thing fixed. Is it? No.

In other news, a lot of rally’s were held to protest the bailouts, which makes me happy. It’s good to see people taking time to gather and state what they believe in. We need more of this, we need more riots.

Barack Obama has gotten more of my vote (if that’s possible) for him wanting the FDIC to raise the limit. For years I’ve said the limit should be raised because $100,000 isn’t worth nearly as much as it was when the limit was set. It seems McCain is also for it, which also makes me happy.

Last comment, I find it really disgusting that the house Republicans would play politics and blame Pelosi for making a partisan speech (aren’t they all partisan?) that supposedly “poisoned” their position on the bill or whatever. The real reason, I’m sure, is that Republican’s don’t believe in bailouts, why they don’t state that’s the reason we’ll never know. However, to blame a speech… and not only that, saying a speech pissed you off so much so you don’t do what’s right for our country… that really says something.


It’s As Good A Thing To Bet On As Any

I’m trying to get people to join my pool of bets for the V P picks for the Presidential Nominees.

If you want in, it’s $20 for two picks (Democrat and Republican). Choose who you think McCain’s V P will be and who Obama’s V P will be. Get in soon by contacting me somehow.


McCain’s Support For Our Troops & The Media

It made me outraged that McCain released a load of garbage ad against Obama that’s full of nothing but falsehoods.

It is true that Obama cancelled his visit with the troops but not because the center “wouldn’t allow cameras”. Obama was afraid that visiting the troop hospital would make it look like a campaign prop. In fact the footage used in the ad was of Obama playing basketball WITH THE TROOPS. Chuck Hagel even thinks the ad is inappropriate!

The ad also states that Obama doesn’t support the troops and McCain does. Well I found an article that compiled all the work for me on that one.

The ads McCain releases and what McCain says totally contradicts truth in some matters. It seems the media is giving McCain free passes. They don’t bother to fact check him. He claims he supports the troops when it’s clear he doesn’t. Look at his record, it speaks for itself.

McCain is banking on the media not paying attention or waving off his little misspeaks and gaffes; and it’s worked out so far for him. I’m compiling a list of gaffes McCain has made since the start of his campaign. I will be posting it in the upcoming weeks, or I just might wait until the election since I’m sure there will be many many more up until then.

Bottom line, the media really needs to make more of this and not let McCain get away with whatever he says that is false. We need fact checking here. And people need to stop believing every word that comes out of these politicians mouths. Do your fact checks, the media obviously isn’t going to do it for you since they apparently have their own agenda.


McCain’s Recent Comments

Now, last week I gained respect for John McCain and what he came out and said about the New Yorker.

“I think it’s totally inappropriate and frankly I understand if Senator Obama and his supporters would find it offensive.”

Welp, this week, he lost what respect he gained with me by saying:

“I had the courage and political judgement to say that I would rather lose a political campaign than lose a war. It seems to me Senator Obama would rather lose a war in order to win a political campaign.”

I’m sorry but, how could anyone say that? I find that probably one of the rudest things I’ve heard in politics. It’s just down right dirty and wrong.

And about the surge, here’s my take: THE SURGE DIDN’T WORK. What was the surge supposed to do? Provide a secure environment so the Iraqi’s could set up their government and achieve POLITICAL RECONCILIATION. Did that happen? No.

Yes, yes, yes it is more secure in Iraq, but the goal of the surge was NOT MET. So how can you say that it worked?

Furthermore, if said surge “worked”, why aren’t we starting to withdraw then? All this “success” in Iraq, why haven’t we discussed a timeline for withdraw? The Iraqi Prime Minister and the Iraqi National Security Advisor both said this month that we need a timetable for withdraw.

No matter how you cut it, those troops need to come home now. Please, talk about a timeline or “time horizon”… however you want to call it. Just get them home, and soon!


So We Have A Few People With Us…

My coworker, Howard, forwarded me this email yesterday…

Some interesting thoughts!

Where Have All the Leaders Gone?
by Lee Iacocca  (Hardcover – April 17, 2007)

He’s not talking just about George Bush. It’s time to vote them all out. That includes Hillary and Barack and John and Nancy and Harry.

Remember Lee Iacocca, the man who rescued Chrysler Corporation from it’s death throes? He has a new book, and here are some excerpts. Lee Iacocca Says:

Am I the only guy in this country who’s fed up with what’s happening? Where the hell is our outrage? We should be screaming bloody murder. We’ve got a gang of clueless bozos steering our ship of state right over a cliff, we’ve got corporate gangsters stealing us blind, and we can’t even clean up after a hurricane much less build a hybrid car.

But instead of getting mad, everyone sits around and nods their heads when the politicians say, ‘Stay the course’.

Stay the course? You’ve got to be kidding. This is America , not the *darn* ‘Titanic’. I’ll give you a sound bite: ‘Throw all the bums out!’

You might think I’m getting senile, that I’ve gone off my rocker, and maybe I have. But someone has to speak up. I hardly recognize this country anymore.

The most famous business leaders are not the innovators but the guys in handcuffs. While we’re fiddling in Iraq , the Middle East is burning and nobody seems to know what to do. And the press is waving ‘pom -poms’ instead of asking hard questions. That’s not the promise of the ‘ America ‘ my parents and yours traveled across the ocean for.

I’ve had enough. How about you?

I’ll go a step further. You can’t call yourself a patriot if you’re not outraged. This is a fight I’m ready and willing to have. The Biggest ‘C’ is Crisis!

Leaders are made, not born… Leadership is forged in times of crisis. It’s easy to sit there with your feet up on the desk and talk theory. Or send someone else’s kids off to war when you’ve never seen a battlefield yourself. It’s another thing to lead when your world comes tumbling down.

On September 11, 2001, we needed a strong leader more than any other time in our history We needed a steady hand to guide us out of the ashes. A hell of a mess. So here’s where we stand. We’re immersed in a bloody war with no plan for winning and no plan for leaving. We’re running the biggest deficit in the history of the country. We’re losing the manufacturing edge to Asia , while our once-great companies are getting slaughtered by health care costs. Gas prices are skyrocketing, and nobody in power has a coherent energy policy. Our schools are in trouble. Our borders are like sieves The middle class is being squeezed every which way These are times that cry out for leadership.

When you look around, you’ve got to ask: ‘Where have all the leaders gone?’ Where are the curious, creative communicators? Where are the people of character, courage, conviction, omnipotence, and common sense? I may be a sucker for alliteration, but I think you get the point.

Name me a leader who has a better idea for homeland security than making us take off our shoes in airports and throw away our shampoo? We’ve spent billions of dollars building a huge new bureaucracy, and all we know how to do is react to things that have already happened.

Name me one leader who emerged from the crisis of Hurricane Katrina. Congress has yet to spend a single day evaluating the response to the hurricane, or demanding accountability for the decisions that were made in the crucial hours after the storm.

Everyone’s hunkering down, fingers crossed, hoping it doesn’t happen again. Now, that’s just crazy. Storms happen. Deal with it. Make a plan. Figure out what you’re going to do the next time.

Name me an industry leader who is thinking creatively about how we can restore our competitive edge in manufacturing. Who would have believed that there could ever be a time when ‘The Big Three’ referred to Japanese car companies? How did this happen, and more important, what are we going to do about it?

Name me a government leader who can articulate a plan for paying down the debit, or solving the energy crisis, or managing the health care problem. The silence is deafening. But these are the crises that are eating away at our country and milking the middle class dry.

I have news for the gang in Congress. We didn’t elect you to sit on your asses and do nothing and remain silent while our democracy is being hijacked and our greatness is being replaced with mediocrity.

What is everybody so afraid of? That some bonehead on Fox News will call them a name? Give me a break. Why don’t you guys show some spine for a change?

Had enough? Hey, I’m not trying to be the voice of gloom and doom here. I’m trying to light a fire. I’m speaking out because I have hope I believe in America… In my lifetime I’ve had the privilege of living through some of America’s greatest moments. I’ve also experienced some of our worst crises: the ‘Great Depression’, ‘World War II’, the ‘Korean War’, the ‘Kennedy Assassination’, the ‘Vietnam War’, the 1970s oil crisis, and the struggles of recent years culminating with 9/11. If I’ve learned one thing, it’s this: ‘You don’t get anywhere by standing on the sidelines waiting for somebody else to take action.

Whether it’s building a better car or building a better future for our children, we all have a role to play. That’s the challenge I’m raising in this book. It’s a call to ‘Action’ for people who, like me, believe in America. It’s not too late, but it’s getting pretty close. So let’s shake off the crap and go to work. Let’s tell ’em all we’ve had ‘enough.’