Obama Pay His Unions Dues?

Was Obama's appointment of a union official to run the Labor Relations Board his form of paying his union dues? Boeing would like to know.

Election Day In Kentucky

Tis election day, Rand Paul is the one to watch.

Polosi's Health Care Bill

Health Reform Cheat Sheet
The House of Representative’s version of health-care reform will cost more than the $894 bn 10-year price tag cited by the Congressional Budget Office.-

That’s because the CBO and Congress do not address human responses to legislation. Tax something more, you ultimately take in less in taxes. Penalize a company, and it finds ways to dodge the penalty.-

And lawmakers have put in this unintended consequence: The individual premium costs in public option to take care of the poor are actually higher than other offerings.-

That’s right, the CBO says the public plan’s premiums are higher than the premiums in the public exchanges, undermining the House’s claim that it will attract 9 mn enrollees by 2019 and result in a two-thirds decrease in the number of uninsured adults in the U.S.-

Use the following as a cheat sheet in coming days as the health-care reform bill wends its way through Congress. The cheat sheet provides an X-ray to this impenetrably dense bill and the CBO’s scoring. The unintended consequences from this bill will be manifold.-

You’ll see the CBO is struggling mightily to score these legislative phantasms, noting its work is not done and that its estimates are “subject to substantial uncertainty.”-

Watch for Congressional statements that, while technically accurate, will also keep you barefoot and clueless on health reform, as the layers upon layers of provisions make the reform bill as transparent as a bucket of tar. And which means the resulting deficit spending from this bill will only add to a U.S. debt load now big enough to block out the sun.-

Keep this in mind when you see the tax revenue the CBO and Congress claim the bill will raise to cover the costs. Both the CBO and Congress tend to not take into account the fact that individuals and companies reorganize their lives to avoid paying taxes.--

Health-care tax, or penalties, or whatever they call it will just mean people will carry on avoidance schemes, which means less revenues. Tax the rich, they’ll shelter it. Tax the Cadillac health insurance plans, insurers won’t offer them.-

Because the CBO and Congress generally do not take into account human behavior when scoring a bill (they use what’s called the “static,” not the “dynamic,” scoring model), the revenue estimates from the CBO and Congress on past tax legislation have been off by a factor of $150 bn or more.-

Also, the reform bill’s taxes are not indexed to inflation, so as more middle-class pay rises into those brackets, more middle- class people will be hurt.-

Here are the details:-

The New Spending-

It includes $1.1 tn in new spending over 10 years: $425 bn increases to Medicaid and SCHIP; $605 bn on subsidies for the poor to buy insurance; $57 bn in spending on primary care increases; and $34 bn in new spending on public health initiatives.-

The New Costs-

The bill’s costs are offset by a new tax surcharge on high-income individuals and other provisions estimated to increase federal revenues by $572 bn; and $168 bn in collections of penalties paid by individuals if they don't buy insurance ($33 bn estimated) and employers ($135 bn) if they don’t buy health insurance for their workers.-

To pay for the bill, the House is also counting on other undefined spending changes. That includes fee cuts for nonphysicians, meaning other health care providers, of $229 bn, and Medicare Advantage cuts of $170 bn ($245 bn in Medicare cuts to doctors over ten years has since been nixed; that cost is now moving into other government budget line items). It’s also counting on wringing tens of billions of dollars in waste and fraud out of the system to pay for the bill.-

The Reality Check That Bounced-

Ok, think this through. Higher taxes on the rich have historially not delivered the revenues promised because the rich shelter their income, IRS data show.-

And the pool of taxpayers that would supposedly toss off all this tax revenue is not that vast and deep--the 5.4% surtax on singles earnings $500,000 in the house bill, married couples earning $1 mn--is only 494,967, based on 2007 IRS data, the last year for which data is available, notes William Ahern of the Tax Foundation.-

Tax cuts can deliver revenues -- the Clinton tax cuts on estates and capital gains delivered more revenues than promised tax revenues from the tax hikes on the rich, according to IRS data.-

And do you really believe that future Congresses over the next 10 years will hang tough and make the $399 bn in total reimbursement cuts to hospitals, other providers, and Medicare Advantage, each year for 10 years straight?-

Remember, the 1997 Balanced Budget Act tried to chase down this exact strategy, but Congress undid those cuts and reimbursed providers anyway.-

And watch out for the promises to cut waste and fraud out of the system that the House is counting on from the American Medical Association and hospitals.-

You really think the AMA can corral the 135,000 active doctors in its membership to deliver on these promises? Or that the nation’s 5,700 hospitals will all fall in line?-

How Employers Will React-

The “play-or-pay” requirement on employers says they would either have to offer “qualifying” insurance to their employees and contribute a substantial share toward the premiums, or pay a fee to the federal government that would generally equal 8% of their payroll.-

It’s an easy choice for employers: Lay off and not hire workers if the insurance costs are too high, or just pay the extra 8% payroll tax and dump workers on the public plan. Which means more costs to the U.S. taxpayer.-

State Taxes May Rise-

Moreover, the federal funding for Medicaid to take care of extra enrollees will only cover 70% of the state’s costs. The rest the states have to pay for. That means state taxes rise.-

Public Option’s Not So Cheap Premiums-

The primary rationale espoused by Democrats for the government-run health care plan is that it would drive down costs by providing a lower cost option than private plans (and thus force the greedy insurance companies to lower their “exorbitant” rates to compete), notes Fox News analyst James Farrell.-

But will the poor really sign up for the public option since its premiums are higher than the average private industry plan in the new proposed insurance exchanges? How would the public option drive down insurance costs through competition if its premiums are higher than the average private industry plan in the exchanges?-

The CBO finds that under the House plan, the government-run plan would actually charge higher premiums:-

"That estimate of enrollment reflects CBO’s assessment that a public plan paying negotiated rates would attract a broad network of providers but would typically have premiums that are somewhat higher than the average premiums for the private plans in the exchanges."-
The Opt Out is Not an Option-

Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced the health-care bill will have a public option and a way for states to opt out of the public option (the House bill does not include an opt-out ).-

It’s a charade — taxpayers in states that opt out will get taxed anyway to pay for the bill. And who in each state gets to decide to trigger the opt out escape hatch? Voters? State legislators? -

The DMV?-

A churlish reaction would be this: couldn't the states turn around and say they want to opt out of the fed’s unfunded mandates —like the expansion of Medicaid to pay for the health reform bill, where they’ll have to pony up 30%?-

The Arizona Legislature already passed the Health Care Freedom Act, which places an initiative on the 2010 ballot allowing citizens to vote to decide whether the state should opt out of the entire health care reform bill, notes Darrell M. West, vice president and director of governance studies at the Brookings Institution. Other states are considering similar legislation, West says.-

And West wonders if unhealthy people will migrate to states with a public option if their own jurisdiction opts out of the national system. States may be tempted to establish residency requirements for health care the way they did for welfare, he says, possibly making it more difficult for the uninsured to get coverage in those areas.-

Also, if states don’t like congressional decisions on gun control, climate change or immigration, will state legislators demand an opt-out? “If this were 1965 and there were a Medicare opt-out, it is conceivable we would have ended up with two-thirds of the country having Medicare, while one-third did not,” West says.-

DEMOCRACY - SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT

Democracy: A process in which ruling power is given to whoever is most skillful at directing the herd instincts of the largest masses of their most ignorant citizens.

THEY ARE COMING

Hide your money, hide your guns, the US Wrecking Crew will be coming to your town soon.

AARP - ASSOCIATION AGAINST RETIRED PEOPLE

Have you really paid attention to the AARP TV ads. The part that picked up my ears was where AARP states they will even cover your visit to a specialist without prior approval. I have no doubt the will. But have you considered medicare. You go to see a medical specialist. AARP covers say $400.00. You are happy as a bug in the rug, but then bad news hits, medicare is not going to cover the specialist because you didn't get prior approval from them and if you did try they may turned you down and now you are on the hook for a few thousand dollars you have to pay. A little misleading ad don't you think?
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Two points to remember, first AARP is in for the high profits they make selling health insurance to those covered by medicare. So keep that in mind when you watch their ads, what are they really hiding? And secondly, don't just jump into anything until you really understand what it is, what it offers and how much it will cost. This is true for AARP and your friendly health care specialist at Capital Hill.
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People, despite what congress is telling you, in the end you will be stuck with a national health care plan you will not want and one that is going to cost you a lot. Already one part of all the health care plans being offered up by both the house and senate will head to the Supreme Court. A few states are already considering not making it mandatory for people to purchase health care. This flies in the face in what congress will be coming out with. I'll side on states rights on this one. Just remember, the states gave the federal government certain rights via the constitution. Anything not in the constitution is left for the individual states to deal with.

By DAVE COLLINS, Associated Press Writer Dave Collins, Associated Press Writer – Sun Oct 4, 3:14 pm ET
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HARTFORD, Conn. – The nation's nursing homes are perilously close to laying off workers, cutting services — possibly even closing — because of a perfect storm wallop from the recession and deep federal and state government spending cuts, industry experts say.
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A Medicare rate adjustment that cuts an estimated $16 billion in nursing home funding over the next 10 years was enacted at week's end by the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services — on top of state-level cuts or flat-funding that already had the industry reeling.
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And Congress is debating slashing billions more in Medicare funding as part of health care reform.
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Add it all up, and the nursing home industry is headed for a crisis, industry officials say.
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"We can foresee the possibility of nursing homes having to close their doors," said David Hebert, a senior vice president at the American Health Care Association. "I certainly foresee that we'll have to let staff go."
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The funding crisis comes as the nation's baby boomers age ever closer toward needing nursing home care. The nation's 16,000 nursing homes housed 1.85 million people last year, up from 1.79 million in 2007, U.S. Census Bureau figures show.
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Already this year, 24 states have cut funding for nursing home care and other health services needed by low-income people who are elderly or disabled, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a nonprofit research firm based in Washington, D.C.
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Some facilities are now closed because of money problems — including four in Connecticut — and others have laid off workers because of what industry officials say are inadequate Medicaid reimbursement rates. Medicare cuts are troubling, they say, because the higher Medicare reimbursements have been used to compensate for the lower Medicaid rates.
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In Griswold, Conn., the community's only nursing home shut down earlier this year because of rising costs and an inability to pay for $4.9 million in needed renovations for the 90-bed facility.
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"A 92-year-old woman was screaming and crying as she was loaded into the ambulance, saying 'This is my home,'" Griswold First Selectman Philip Anthony said. His 88-year-old mother was a resident of the same home at the time.
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Anthony sought and found a new facility for his mother, but she died of pneumonia before the Griswold Health and Rehabilitation Center closed in the spring.
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"To be hit with a sudden and deliberate closure like this, it just drained the heart right out of you," Anthony said.
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Connecticut Gov. M. Jodi Rell and state lawmakers gave no Medicaid rate increases to nursing homes in the state last fiscal year and kept the funding flat for the next two years.
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The Griswold home was one of four nursing homes in the state that have closed since December because of financial problems, a higher rate than usual, said Deborah Chernoff, a spokeswoman for District 1199 of the New England Health Care Employees Union in Connecticut, which represents more than 20,000 health care workers in the state.
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"We're really teetering on the edge of what we see as the collapse of the long-term care system," she said.
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Chernoff said many of Connecticut's 240 or so nursing homes have been reducing workers' hours to deal with money problems, while two are in bankruptcy now.
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Also this year across the country:
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• The Motion Picture & Television Fund said in January it would close a hospital and nursing home in Woodland Hills, Calif., founded to care for actors and other entertainment industry workers, because of financial losses.
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• The Westchester Medical Center in suburban New York said it would close a nursing home and cut 400 jobs to deal with Medicaid and other fund cuts.
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• The Dove Health Care nursing home in Glendale, Wis., near Milwaukee, closed this summer because of heavy debt.
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• Medicaid reimbursement rates to nursing homes were cut this year by Rhode Island (5 percent); Michigan (4 percent) and Florida (3 percent).
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• Washington state legislators whacked nursing home funding by $93 million for the next two fiscal years.
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Gary Weeks, executive director of the Washington Health Care Association, said some of the organization's 400 assisted living and nursing homes have laid off workers. Some will not survive, he said.
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At the request of Weeks' association, a federal judge in July issued a temporary restraining order blocking the cuts because state officials didn't do a required analysis of how the reductions would affect care quality and access.
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"There's a lot of pain going on everywhere, but it's clearly a crisis in long-term care," Weeks said.
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"You're going to find that some folks go out of business," he said. "Some will look for more Medicare patients — Medicare pays more than Medicaid."
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In Washington, D.C., health care interests are resisting President Barack Obama's plan to pay for his health care overhaul by slowing Medicaid and Medicare spending. Obama wants to trim $313 billion from the two programs over 10 years.
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It's not clear exactly how all the health spending cuts will affect nursing homes.
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A University of Pittsburgh study earlier this year found nearly 1,800 nursing homes nationwide closed from 1999 to 2005, about 2 percent each year.
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One of the study's authors, health policy and management professor Nick Castle, said the annual closure rate is rising, for reasons that include inadequate Medicaid reimbursement rates and the push for more home and community care.
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"It's come to a head recently with state budgets being in such jeopardy that they're cutting in all areas," Castle said.
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The federal stimulus package approved in February includes $87 billion in Medicaid funding to help states. But Connecticut and several other states are using a loophole in the legislation to divert the money to budget items unrelated to health care, according to a congressional study.
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On average, Medicaid payments by states to nursing homes fell short by $12 per patient, per day last year — nearly $4.2 billion in unreimbursed costs for Medicaid-allowed expenses, according to the AHCA.
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In New York City, the Metropolitan Jewish Health System laid off about 200 of its 1,000 employees at three nursing homes in Brooklyn because the state cut Medicaid funding by 10 percent to 14 percent, said President and Chief Executive Eli Feldman.

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"We understand there's a recession/depression," Feldman said. "But this is not health reform ... and the victims are basically the people who live in the facilities. The Legislature basically says, 'Too sick, too old, too bad."

OBAMACARE

Now that the various healthcare plans are being reduced to print, the financial details are emerging and with them a fundamental conclusion is becoming evident: The Obama plan is a giant tax increase for much of the American people (not just the rich).
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Start with the mandate that falls on those whose welfare is the supposed object of the entire program — the uninsured. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the average uninsured person or family will have to pay between 15 and 20 percent of his or their total income on health insurance (counting premiums, deductibles and co-payments) before any of the subsidy in the Baucus bill kicks in. Even in the more generous House bill, the tab that the uninsured must pay is very, very high.
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Most uninsured would likely be quite happy to avoid paying this much of their income for health insurance. But they will be forced to shell out the money under the program. Others would want catastrophic coverage (which for the young would likely not be too costly) but the Obama program requires comprehensive insurance that is costly to satisfy the government requirement.
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Having spent the entire campaign speaking about “affordable” coverage, it turns out the program is not at all affordable, but a massive new tax on the average uninsured American.
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Then there is the tax on health insurance premiums that is to finance about a quarter of the subsidy for the uninsured. This tax, billed as only to be levied on “gold-plated” policies, will, in fact, reach down to the average American. The Baucus bill specifies that the tax of 35 percent would be put on all premiums over $8,000 for an individual and on proportionately higher premiums for families. Current estimates are that about one-tenth of the current health insurance policies would be taxable. But the $8,000 premium level that will trigger coverage is not indexed for inflation, let alone for medical inflation, which typically runs twice as high. ObamaCare will take effect in 2013. By then, the percentage of Americans subject to the tax will doubtless expand dramatically. Indeed, this trigger is a new Alternative Minimum Tax waiting to happen. As inflation pushes more and more Americans into tax eligibility, it will become a universal health insurance excise tax of 35 percent. While the tax will be imposed on health insurers and employers, it will, obviously, be passed along to the policyholders.
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So if you are insured, you will increasingly have to pay 35 percent more for the privilege. And if you are uninsured, you will have to pay one-fifth of your income in premiums, deductibles and co-payments before any subsidy kicks in.
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And then there is the final piece of the puzzle — the $500 billion cut in Medicare that will pay for the bulk of the subsidy under the bill. We are literally slicing services to the elderly in order to transfer healthcare to others. Obama’s claim that only “waste and inefficiency” in Medicare will be cut is, at best, disingenuous. Most of the cuts will be in reimbursement for doctors and hospitals. That will lead to less care, shorter office visits, fewer tests, fewer surgeries and less care. And it will lead to fewer doctors. As a result, a survey by the Investor’s Business Daily indicates that 45 percent of all doctors would “consider retiring or closing their practices” if the Obama bill passes. The result will be a greater scarcity of medical services, even as the patient load expands by at least 30 million people.
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Each of these fiscal pieces is movable. The left will pressure Obama to increase the subsidy to the uninsured. But that will necessitate raising the Medicare cut borne by the elderly or increasing the tax on health insurance policies — or adding to the deficit. Any of these options will alienate moderate senators. Balancing these competing priorities only works if the taxpayers don’t know what is going on.
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If the average middle-income American family realizes that it will have to pay one-third more for health insurance or the uninsured learn that they will have to pay a fifth of their income to get insurance, they will make their dissatisfaction felt by their Democratic senators.
-All of which begs the fundamental question: How willing are Democratic congressmen to commit political suicide? Are they willing to lose the elderly and to antagonize the uninsured as the health insurance cops chase them around the block? When does JFK’s comment kick in: “Sometimes party loyalty asks too much”?

HARRY GIVING US THE FINGER AGAIN

Congress is on the verge of giving itself a bump in its annual budget — even as local governments, families and businesses across the country are tightening their belts in the worst recession in decades.
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Under a House-Senate conference measure, approved by the House last week and poised for passage in the Senate on Wednesday, spending for the legislative branch will increase 5.8 percent this year, boosting Capitol Hill’s annual budget to $4.7 billion.
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The measure includes a hodgepodge of new funding for lawmakers: a $500,000 pilot program for senators to send out postcards about their town hall meetings, $30,000 for receptions for foreign dignitaries and $4 million for consultants — with Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) getting up to nine each and Senate President Pro Tempore Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.) getting up to three more.
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There’s $15.8 million for salaries for the Senate Appropriations Committee — plus an extra $950,000 for the committee’s administrative expenses.
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Funding for House office buildings will jump a staggering 128 percent, to $84 million. Some of that money will go to replace a roof at the Rayburn House Office Building, and an additional $50 million is being allocated to renovate the Cannon House Office Building.
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The Architect of the Capitol will see a 17.8 percent hike to deal with infrastructure repairs, and the Government Printing Office’s revolving fund will increase a whopping 155 percent, to $12.7 million, to deal with technology upgrades and repairs, according to the conference report.
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The bill — which President Barack Obama could sign as soon as Wednesday — funds operations and staff salaries in the personal offices of the 535 members of Congress, dozens of legislative committees in the House and Senate, the GPO, the Office of the Architect of the Capitol, the Government Accountability Office and the Capitol Police.
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Supporters of the bill argue that they were relatively frugal this year. Last year, Congress increased its funding 10.9 percent over the fiscal 2008 level — and the $4.7 it’s appropriating to itself this year is less than the $5 billion Obama set forth in his budget earlier this year.
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“This is a fiscally responsible bill,” said Jake Thompson, spokesman for Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.), chairman of the Senate’s legislative branch appropriations subcommittee.
But not everyone agrees.
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“With an enormous deficit and rest of the country tightening their belts, Congress should be looking at doing the same,” said Steve Ellis, vice president of the Taxpayers for Common Sense.
Added Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.): “The growth of expenditures particularly in these times is terrible.”
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The Appropriations Committee disputes that funding increased by 5.8 percent, arguing that the real number is 3.5 percent — or $157 million — because of emergency spending and the $787 billion economic stimulus that added to Congress’s budget. But critics call the move a budget gimmick that does not represent a true apples-to-apples comparison of the amount of money Congress approved in last year’s spending bills versus the fiscal 2010 bills.
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The bill contains just one earmark — a $200,000 Nelson project for a museum in Omaha, Neb. — and it includes language added by Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) to force the Senate for the first time to put its expenses online.
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“We have not seen a significant increase in overall legislative branch expenditures since nearly 2001,” said Jonathan Beeton, a spokesman for Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.), Nelson’s counterpart in the House. “During this time, significant cost increases have occurred, and the Capitol complex has also seen significant deferred maintenance. Many of these maintenance expenses become much more expensive if they continue to be deferred.”
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Nelson’s office said the $500,000 “pilot program” for office mailings was included at the request of Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Pa.) and has been in place since 2004. It said the additional $950,000 for the Appropriations Committee accounts for telecommunications, hearing transcripts, and travel and office supplies and that the total for the GPO is far less than the $32.1 million the agency wanted.
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It also said that the 5.5 percent increase that will go in part to increasing aides’ salaries was derived from cost-of-living-adjustment projections.
“While the crisis is easing, we are still a nation in financial peril, and we believe it is necessary for the legislative branch to lead by example,” Nelson said last week. He said that, “with one notable but important exception” — a reference to the renovation of the Cannon building — “I think we have been successful.”
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Still, at a time when inflation remains low and the national debt is rising fast, leadership offices across the Capitol are expecting a bump in funding. Vice President Joe Biden, who also serves as president of the Senate, will see his budget increase 4.3 percent, to $2.5 million, under the measure. The offices of Reid and McConnell will each get a 4.3 percent increase from last year and will now each have $5.2 million; House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is seeing her budget jump 4.1 percent, to $5.1 million; the budget of House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) will rise 3.9 percent, to $2.5 million; the budget of House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) will increase 4 percent, to $4.5 million; and House Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.) and House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) each get a 3.7 percent increase, to $1.7 million and $2.2 million, respectively.
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Jim Manley, a spokesman for Reid, said the 4.3 percent increase for Reid and McConnell is calculated by the Senate financial office to maintain current staffing levels.
“It is a cap, which neither office will necessarily meet but cannot exceed,” Manley said. He added that the authorization of up to nine consultants “is a long-standing authority to ensure the leaders’ offices can fulfill their duties to the Senate and to their respective caucuses.” Aides stressed that the money will not go to political consultants but to staffers who work on a contractual basis rather than as Senate employees.
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The biggest hikes for the leadership offices went to the Senate whips — with Arizona Republican Jon Kyl and Illinois Democrat Dick Durbin each getting a 6.2 percent hike and each getting a new budget of $3.3 million. A spokesman for Durbin said that the hike accounts for annual cost-of-living increases, as well as the addition of new staff to oversee a more expanded Senate Democratic majority of 60 members. Even though Republicans have just 40 members, Kyl’s budget is the same as Durbin’s, but a Kyl spokesman said his office “always returns a large amount of funding” at the end of the fiscal year.
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The bill is now headed to the Senate floor — and senators will be hard-pressed to block it. With the fiscal year ending Wednesday, Congress needs to pass a short-term, stopgap resolution to keep the government funded through October — and that resolution is included in the legislative appropriations bill, meaning a defeat for the bill could shut the government down.
House Republicans protested the move, with 162 Republicans — including the subcommittee’s ranking member, Alabama Rep. Robert Aderholt — last week voting against the bill last week, which was sent to the Senate on a 217-190 vote.
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But the increase in funding has otherwise largely been a bipartisan affair. The Senate Appropriations Committee — where McConnell and 29 other appropriators sit — voted 30-0 in June to send the bill to the full Senate, which approved the bill in July by a 67-25 vote.

HARRY REID SAYS SCREW YOU AMERICA I'M GETTING RE-ELECTED

HARRY REID IS THE POST CHILD FOR WHAT A POLITICIAN IS ALL ABOUT.

Reid has just demonstrated that what ever it takes to get re-elected is fair even if it means that people in other states have to suffer for it. Reid has demonstrated that it's not about what is good for the country, but what is good for him politically.
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The Baucus Bill health care plan now includes an amendment at Reid's request that will exempt Nevada for 5 years from having to increase taxes to cover the cuts to medicaid that the Baucus Bill includes. Three other states had similar amendments made to the Baucus bill. The results of these amendments will mean greater cuts to the other 46 states which will mean high taxes in those states to maintain their current medicaid programs, this will raises taxes an additional 4% to cover the four states that are exempt.
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If the 2010 elections were held today, Reid would not return to office. He needs to boost his polls number. Being the scum politician he is, he's turning on the rest of the country causing increase in their taxes so that he can get his poll numbers up. Reid cares less about the country. It's more important for him to get elected no matter who he hurts in other states. If you are resident of Nevada you need to turn this self centered politician out of office. Don't suffer the embarrassment of voting him back into office. If Reid gives the finger to the rest of America what makes you think he won't turn on Nevada voters.

INDEPENDENT VOTERS CHANGE YOUR VOTING MIND SET

Our political world consists of Dems and Reps. Dems always vote for Dems and Reps always vote for Reps. It's the Independent voters that swing an election. It was the Independents that swung the last two presidential elections. That is all good and fine, but the independents are missing something greater than just swinging a vote. I suggest that independent voters vote for an independent. If the independent voters could elect 5 US senators just think how much power those 5 senators would have. Just think of 5 individuals not tied either party who looked at proposed legislation from a practical view point, what would proposed bills look like. Maybe they would be void of the pork that turns many us into prostitutes, that's what you call someone when they give favors for money or pork is it not. Just think of health care now loaded with over 500 amendments to the Baucus bill. How many of those amendments would have to be dropped if 5 independent senators refused to vote on the bill. Wouldn't it be wonderful to see new legislation being passed that didn't promote a politician's career but instead promoted what was good for the country.

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How many of you hardcore Dems and Reps would switch their vote to someone that wants nothing more than what is good for the country? Can you bring yourself to the point that maybe being a diehard party voter is not the best thing to be for the good of the country? Can you open your mind enough to see that maybe something better may be out there than just towing the party line? Remember one fact, our politicians are arrogant and we made them that way. Voting for the same politician time after time only breeds arrogance into them for they know that their diehard followers will never vote for anyone from the other party. That would mean being a traitor to the party, forget about the damage being done to the country. The party comes first and screw the country if that what it takes.

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Hit your keyboards, but before you fly off the handle think about loyalty to party and loyalty to the country, be an independent thinker. Being a hardcore party follower is the same as belonging to a religious cult is it not?

HUMANA LETTER

For those that wish to read the Humana letter that currently has congresss going off the deep end, here's a URL you can get it from. http://big.assets.huffingtonpost.com/humanamailer.pdf

MY COUNTRY DIED ON ME

Some facts that my help you decide on a government run health care plan. 45% of the doctors now practicing have stated that they will retire if a national health care plan is put in place. 50% of our doctors do not accept medicad. Dropping half a trillion dollars cut out of medicare will force rationed health care for our seniors.
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Texas, California and Mississippi have past tort reform which has had the effect of driving down health insurance premiums by 40%+, but due to the number of politicians in Washington being past lawyers and those that were not but having taken large sums of money from lawyers, there is no way for a national tort reform being enacted. Taking off interstate trade restrictions on health insurance companies to sell insurance across state lines would open the door to competition which always as the effect of driving down prices.
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There are many things that can be done to make health insurance affordable for everyone, but congress is bent on not listening to the major of people who do not want congress to pass a plan that will drive up health cost. Congress and the White House Palace thinks we cannot think for ourselves. It's a sign that our government has lost complete touch with those that elected them. One WWII vet I know said "I was willing to give up my life fighting for my country, but I never thought I would see the day my country died on me."

WHITE HOUSE PALACE

Obama, direct from the White House Palace, has asked the current governor of New York to not run for re-election. The reason given is that Obama feels that since the Governor's poll numbers are very low he would loose to a republican. It's not the right of an individual for running for any elected office, it's about the party. It's not about the country, it's about the party.

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From the White House Palace an order was issued to a private health insurance company of Kentucky, Humana, to not send out letters to its customers which explains that proposed changes to medicare will force rationed health care and drive up premiums. So much free enterprise expressing their concerns.

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Congress must approve all proposed cabinet members. The White House Palace understood this when proposed cabinet members were selected. Candidates were selected that the White House Palace knew would be approved. What congress did not know was that the White House Palace would be hiring Czars that did not have to be approved by congress. This is nothing new to past presidents, they all hired advisers. What congress didn't know was that White House Palace would inform the newly appointed cabinet members they would be working for a Czar and any major policy changes had to be approved by a Czar. What congress didn't know was the some of the Czars would be in control of billions of dollars and how it is to be spent, thus circumventing congress' control of spending which is in direct conflict with the Constitution.

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Folks, I'm one of the 80% of this country that does not approve in how government is being run and the direction it is taking us. Given enough time I'm positive that Obama will have his middle name changed to "Hugo"

NANCY PELOSI

Nancy Pelosi is at it again. She now says that those in the Tea Party demonstrations are violent. This on top her calling them terrorist. And she says these things while standing in front of the American Flag. I guess she finds it hard to argue her points and thus falls back to name calling. Poor woman, she knows not what she does.

BAUCUS HEALTH CARE PLAN

The Baucus health care plan will cost $856 billion over 10 years. It will be paid for by a half trillion dollar cut in medicare and taxes and penalties on insurance companies. In addition to this, any family that elects not to purchase any health care will be fined $3,800 per year. Illegal aliens will not be able join, individuals will have to provide a name and social security number which will be verified by the Social Security Administration. The plan provides tax credits to middle class and low income families to help purchase health care. These are the basics of the plan.

Now lets look at the basics and ask some questions. The cost, $856 billion dollars. What will the effect be on medicare where huge cuts will be made to help pay for the new plan? There is no mention of the effects. Will services be cut? Will premiums for medicare go up? Will co-pay go up? There is no mention of this. It's important that we now the effects on medicare that will affect you or your parents. Don't forget the babyboomers will not start hitting medicare until 2011. What will the new taxes and penalties do to existing health care we have? Like any business, any new costs are passed along to the consumers. Will there be enough taxes credits for the middle class to cover the increase in their existing health care? (Sidebar) insurance companies will have to accept new applicants regardless of pre-existing conditions, no language is given in the Baucus plan that says an insurance companies have to cover an existing conditions, the plan only says the insurance companies have to accept those with pre-existing conditions. And what stops an insurance company from denying treatment for an existing condition or any condition they feel was contributed by the existing condition? This in itself could make any insurance plan worthless.

Illegal aliens are not stupid. Keep in mind that any child born in the US becomes a citizen of the US and as such the illegal parents can get a social security number for their US born child and thus can get national health care. No mention if made of this.

If a family elects not to purchase health insurance they will be fined $3,800 per year. Does this include those that are currently without work and depend on unemployment and need every penny they have to just meet their basics needs? Something to think about. Or will it be better just to not purchase any health insurance and just pay the penalty while still getting health care services paid for via a government or state option that will cost more than $3,800? If given the choice I would rather take $3,800 out of my savings and pay that for back surgery in lieu of what my share would be after my insurance had paid.

Folks, an effort does need to be made to get everyone health care in some form, but we need to weigh all the options for doing so. Would it better for the government to step into the health care business or would it better for legislation be passed to change the existing health care industry? Here is a point to consider. The states of Texas and California passed tort reform, the effect on those in Texas was a 30% drop in premiums costs, in California it was 40%. Speaking for myself I would love to see a drop of 30-40% in what I pay on premiums. In New Jersey there basically is only one health company providing insurance. State employees are locked into this. What if those of New Jersey could cross state lines and obtain health insurance from a company located in another state that was just as good or better than what they currently have and cheaper? The US Government by the Constitution regulates interstate trade which health care companies would fall under if they provide insurance across state lines. Why does the government restrict health insurance companies from crossing state lines? A good question to ask your politicians. The more competition you have for anything, the cheaper the price will be. That's simple economics, it's what made WalMat so big. When WalMart started offering $4.00 prescriptions other stores followed with similar pricing. There are other things that can be changed by simple regulation and not a new government run system. One last point, once the government gets involved with anything, the cost go up which is ultimately passed down to us. Remember, politicians are not the sharpest pencils in the box.

What say you, hit the keyboard, but don't tell me, tell Washington how you feel. You do not have to agree with anything you read, but do need to sound off in how you feel.

ACORN

All those who support ACORN, there is no need for you to continue reading here. Nothing I will say here is going to change your mind.

ACORN is slowing coming to light. The recent videos on uTube is just another episode in how the organization functions. I suspect as time goes by a darker picture will evolve. The US Senate just voted 83 -7 to cut funding for ACORN. It's the right thing to do, at least until the full story comes out about ACORN. I don't believe the House will follow the Senate lead in that there are to many representatives connected to ACORN. It will be a hard blow to Polosi if the vote did take place in the House that barred funding, and Polosi will not let that happen.

Some people forget that an organization is only as good as those the lead it. If the bottom is corrupt then that means simply that the top is no better. Think in terms of the Mafia, a well run organization, but we all know how corrupt that organization is. At this moment in time ACORN is the same.

Let's hold congress accountable, let them know your concerns. You cannot blame congress for what they do if you do not voice your opinion. If you think your voice is not heard by congress, think again. Capital hill knows that one letter represents the same view of 5,000 other voters. So one letter does matter, one email matters, let your elected officials know what you think. Don't worry about what your friends think, be honest with yourself, sound off, do something other than watching the nightly news.

What say you folks, hit the keyboard, express yourself.

OPE

OPE - what is it? Simple, Out of Pocket Expense. When you get hit with a new tax, that's an increase in OPE. When you get hit with a utility increase, you have to add it to your OPE. OPE is a term that you should use when asking your elected official what will the effect of a new bill have on OPE. Of course you will have to explain to them first what OPE is. It will not be a term that politicians will want to address.





Example, Ben Chandler, Representative from Kentucky stated during his first campaign that he would never vote for any tax increases. To his credit he hasn't. But, he did vote for the Cap & Trade bill that passed the house which increases OPE by $4,300 a year for each household. Now that is a big increase in anyone's OPE. Of course Chandler will be the first to tell you that the increase is on business that have a poor track record when it comes to the environment, but we know that businesses only pass on any expense they have to the consumer.





Another Example in what OPE includes: The electrical utility companies in Kentucky have asked the state for rate increase, this due to the US Government regulations that mandate certain changes have to be made to power generating plants in order to meet new environmental laws. As you can see the utility companies are asking to pass the cost for improvements on to the consumers, that's the way business works. And when the state settles on a fair rate increase that effects your OPE.



So don't ask a politician about tax increases, ask about OPE increases. OPE can be increased in many ways and politicians are very good at hiding anything that affects OPE, and they are very good at pointing a finger at a utility company for wanting to raise rates, but never saying why they have to raise rates.





I think most people understand all this and it's why congress has a very poor approval rating. But of course your elected politicians treat you very good by buying your vote with pork they bring home.





Ok now what say you, step up to the keyboard and vent away, it's good for your health to blow off steam.

GOVERNMENT CANNOT STOP ACORN FRAUD

Many of you have seen the latest ACORN videos hitting uTube. The videos were taken undercover and show how ACORN reps are helping people defraud the government. This is not the first time that ACORN has manipulated the government or the polling booths. ACORN, when caught just fires the one or two individuals involved which is good enough for the government. Congress doesn't want to step in with an investigation since they gave ACORN millions of dollars.

Simply put ACORN is a good representation of how the government cannot and will not stop fraud and fraud will stay rampant in medicare. There will be not money coming from medicare to fund a national health care plan, in the end a national health care plan will be funded by more taxes. And when you couple this with the environment bill (cap and trade) that passed the house which will cost the average family $4,300 per year out their pockets, you will have the average income family falling to the poverty level.

When congress acts we pay. Congress says they didn't raise taxes, but what they do is to cause penalties paid by big companies which to passed down to us as higher prices and then congress points the finger at the big business for raising prices. Lets do away with the term taxes and replace it OPE. OPE being out Out of Pocket Expense. So the next time you write your senator or representative about a pending bill that may affect OPE ask them what the effect of the bill be on our OPE.

Health cost crisis | detnews.com | The Detroit News

Health cost crisis detnews.com The Detroit News

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