Republicans like to say they are defending marriage when they oppose giving gay and lesbians the same civil rights as everyone else. Looking at a history of marriage which “traditional” marriage are they defending?
The Hebrews believed in Polygamy and according to the bible King Solomon had hundreds of wives and hundreds of concubines. Polygamy was practiced in Africa, China, America and is still practiced in some Muslim cultures.
The First Marriages where over 4,000 years ago and where a way for the rich to keep their power or grow their empire. They would marry off daughters to forge alliances, acquire land. Even with the poor class women where not allowed to marry for love but where traded as property.
The church was not involved in marriage until they made et one of the seven sacraments and that wasn’t until 1215. It wasn’t until the 16th century that weddings involved a priest and witnesses. Even at this point marriage had nothing to do with love but as an exchange of property and to protect the ruling class.
It wasn’t till about 300 years ago that people started marrying for love and with the rise of unions based on love and not property divorce became common. Still Wives where considered property and not as equals and only people of the same race could marry.
If they are defending the Bible versions of marriage then why haven’t Newt Gingrich and Rush Limbaugh been stoned to death yet since both have been married multiple times? How many are willing to marry their brothers widow and raise his kids as their own?
Here is a fact you won’t hear from republicans, Gay Marriage dates back to before the 13th century when two men could go though the same bonding ceremony as a man and a women. It wasn’t until 1306 when these unions where considered “unchristian” that they stopped.
Marriage has changed hundreds of times over the last couple centuries but they are refusing to change it back to the 13th century version where 2 people in love could get married no matter the sex. Next time a republican tells you he’s defending the tradition of marriage by refusing to allow gays to get married ask him which tradition, then offer him two pieces of silver and a goat for his daughter.
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Mitt Romney the "Businessman" good for America?
Mitt Romney claims he is the best person to run America because he has run a business, lets take a look at how Mr. Romney runs business.
DAMON CLINIC LABORATORIES
In 1990 Bain bought a stake in this company and Mitt Romney took a seat on the board of directors, he is on the company’s “strategic Planning” committee. In 1992 Romney is told that the company may not be following government regulations and are using practices which may no be deemed appropriate. In 1993 Damon was sold to Corning with Romney voting to approve the takeover, Corning immediately closed the Massachusetts plant laying off the 115 workers.
Corning uncovers fraud and alerts authorities, The SEC filings made by Damon prior to the acquisition make no mention of any potential earnings write-downs or legal problems
Bain’s profits is over 7 million dollars. Damon is found to have committed over 40,000,000 dollars in Medicare Fraud between 1988 and 1993, Romney later claims to have uncovered the fraud and ask for an investigation but both Corning and the SEC dispute that.
STERICYCLE
Bain purchased a this company in 1999, it is believed they have made over 50,000,000.00 off this company and what is it they do? They are a medical waste company that includes incinerating fetuses after an abortion. That’s right Mr. Pro Life has made millions of dollars off of abortion which he claims to be against.
GRINDING SYSTEMS STEEL MILL
The company was bought by Mitt Romney and Bain in 1993, the company had been in business since 1888. The name was changed to GS Technologies but now for long as the company was closed and 750 people where locked out. Workers where denied severance pay and health care and their pensions where gutted. Bain made over 16,000,000.00 on the deal while the employees where out in the cold. The government had to step in and pony up 44,000,000.00 to bail out the pension fund.
BAIN
Mr. Romney’s own company was about to go under when a deal was struck with the FDIC to forgive 10 million dollars in debt. This wasn’t a loan but is sure sounds like a bailout to me, if the FDIC hadn’t forgiven the debt would Bain have went under?
This is just a few of the questionable deals made by Mitt Romney and his Bain Capital before he stepped down in 2002. This doesn’t even cover the jobs he invested in who shipped jobs overseas to save on Taxes and cheaper labor. Yes he has had a few successes but do they make up for his shady or even illegal business decisions or all the jobs he has costs Americans to benefit himself? Unless he releases his tax return and accounts for all his money being held offshore we may never know exactly how much Damage Mr. Romney has done to American business just to make a few dollars.
DAMON CLINIC LABORATORIES
In 1990 Bain bought a stake in this company and Mitt Romney took a seat on the board of directors, he is on the company’s “strategic Planning” committee. In 1992 Romney is told that the company may not be following government regulations and are using practices which may no be deemed appropriate. In 1993 Damon was sold to Corning with Romney voting to approve the takeover, Corning immediately closed the Massachusetts plant laying off the 115 workers.
Corning uncovers fraud and alerts authorities, The SEC filings made by Damon prior to the acquisition make no mention of any potential earnings write-downs or legal problems
Bain’s profits is over 7 million dollars. Damon is found to have committed over 40,000,000 dollars in Medicare Fraud between 1988 and 1993, Romney later claims to have uncovered the fraud and ask for an investigation but both Corning and the SEC dispute that.
STERICYCLE
Bain purchased a this company in 1999, it is believed they have made over 50,000,000.00 off this company and what is it they do? They are a medical waste company that includes incinerating fetuses after an abortion. That’s right Mr. Pro Life has made millions of dollars off of abortion which he claims to be against.
GRINDING SYSTEMS STEEL MILL
The company was bought by Mitt Romney and Bain in 1993, the company had been in business since 1888. The name was changed to GS Technologies but now for long as the company was closed and 750 people where locked out. Workers where denied severance pay and health care and their pensions where gutted. Bain made over 16,000,000.00 on the deal while the employees where out in the cold. The government had to step in and pony up 44,000,000.00 to bail out the pension fund.
BAIN
Mr. Romney’s own company was about to go under when a deal was struck with the FDIC to forgive 10 million dollars in debt. This wasn’t a loan but is sure sounds like a bailout to me, if the FDIC hadn’t forgiven the debt would Bain have went under?
This is just a few of the questionable deals made by Mitt Romney and his Bain Capital before he stepped down in 2002. This doesn’t even cover the jobs he invested in who shipped jobs overseas to save on Taxes and cheaper labor. Yes he has had a few successes but do they make up for his shady or even illegal business decisions or all the jobs he has costs Americans to benefit himself? Unless he releases his tax return and accounts for all his money being held offshore we may never know exactly how much Damage Mr. Romney has done to American business just to make a few dollars.
Sunday, July 1, 2012
Time for Universal Healthcare?
The debate on the affordable care act has got people talking again, republicans and tea party members are calling it socialized medicine and a government take over which is furthest from the truth. It forces people to buy private sector free market health insurance and if they can not afford it then they are fined, or taxed, depending on who you ask. The states are supposed to set up exchanges for people to choose their health care from like our politicians do.
While it’s a good step it’s the wrong one, our market based insurance has made America one of the most expensive and least efficient systems in the world and we rank behind countries like Saudi Arabia, Japan, Singapore and only rank 2 spots ahead of Cuba. The big difference is that most of these countries either have universal health care or a single payer plan. Both plans have been proven to be cheaper and more effective than what we have in America.
With all the evidence pointing to “socialized medicine” being the cheapest and most effective way to deliver care why hasn’t America decided to try this approach? The answer to that is money and power, we have for profit insurance companies spending billions of dollars to mislead the publican and to buy the votes of politicians. I’m going to argue it’s time that America steps into the 21st century and competes with other countries again.
Here are some of the benefits to a single payer health care system
1. Costs - every country that has a single payer system spends a lot less then America does for it’s outdated system and covers a lot more people. We currently pay more for Medicare and Medicaid to cover a few people then other countries spend to cover everyone. Having a single payer or Medicare for all will lower the costs to both the individual and the government.
Right now a person who doesn’t have insurance waits till they are really sick and goes to the emergency room, they are diagnosed with late stage cancer and given a few months to live. They choose to go through surgery, chemo and anything else that may extend their lives by a few months or even a year. This costs millions of dollars and since the patient has no insurance the costs are passed onto others who do have the luxury of insurance (that’s why it costs 40.00 for a piece of toilet paper). If we had a universal system this same person would have been able to visit a hospital when they first felt ill, had the cancer caught early and not only saved millions of dollars but would still be alive to raise their children. Since they had insurance the costs would have been paid by them and not absorbed by everyone else.
Costs are immediately brought down and instead of spending a fortune on end of life care a person can be diagnosed and treated early saving both money and their lives.
2. Benefits to business - If you pass a Medicare for all it can be paid with a 5% tax that everyone has to pay, this takes the burden off of corporations which currently pay millions of dollars a month to provide insurance for their employees. Lets say that Company A
Pays 2,000.00 a month per employee for healthcare coverage
Has 1,000 employees
That’s 2,000,000 dollars a month they are spending on health care coverage.
Imagine if they didn’t have to pay that money and could give raises, buy new machinery or hire more employees. The switch to a Medicare for all would not only lower health care costs but would be a huge benefit to the American business and would even allow companies to move back to America to save money.
3. And the most important - Life
If everyone had health care they could seek a doctor when they first got ill or felt a lump, they could be diagnosed with Cancer or Diabetes before it became life threatening and instead of spending years in a hospital and millions of dollars they could just take pills or have a simple surgery. The could spend decades with their family and not have to worry about who will take care of their kids or parents when they die.
A lot of people say they want universal care because they believe healthcare is a right and everyone should be entitled to it. I agree but as I pointed out it should not only be a right it is more cost effective than for profit care and would immediately cut the costs of medical care. If you ignore all the stories and lies and look at the facts - facts are every country that has went to a single payer or universal healthcare plan has seen costs lowered and care improve.
While it’s a good step it’s the wrong one, our market based insurance has made America one of the most expensive and least efficient systems in the world and we rank behind countries like Saudi Arabia, Japan, Singapore and only rank 2 spots ahead of Cuba. The big difference is that most of these countries either have universal health care or a single payer plan. Both plans have been proven to be cheaper and more effective than what we have in America.
With all the evidence pointing to “socialized medicine” being the cheapest and most effective way to deliver care why hasn’t America decided to try this approach? The answer to that is money and power, we have for profit insurance companies spending billions of dollars to mislead the publican and to buy the votes of politicians. I’m going to argue it’s time that America steps into the 21st century and competes with other countries again.
Here are some of the benefits to a single payer health care system
1. Costs - every country that has a single payer system spends a lot less then America does for it’s outdated system and covers a lot more people. We currently pay more for Medicare and Medicaid to cover a few people then other countries spend to cover everyone. Having a single payer or Medicare for all will lower the costs to both the individual and the government.
Right now a person who doesn’t have insurance waits till they are really sick and goes to the emergency room, they are diagnosed with late stage cancer and given a few months to live. They choose to go through surgery, chemo and anything else that may extend their lives by a few months or even a year. This costs millions of dollars and since the patient has no insurance the costs are passed onto others who do have the luxury of insurance (that’s why it costs 40.00 for a piece of toilet paper). If we had a universal system this same person would have been able to visit a hospital when they first felt ill, had the cancer caught early and not only saved millions of dollars but would still be alive to raise their children. Since they had insurance the costs would have been paid by them and not absorbed by everyone else.
Costs are immediately brought down and instead of spending a fortune on end of life care a person can be diagnosed and treated early saving both money and their lives.
2. Benefits to business - If you pass a Medicare for all it can be paid with a 5% tax that everyone has to pay, this takes the burden off of corporations which currently pay millions of dollars a month to provide insurance for their employees. Lets say that Company A
Pays 2,000.00 a month per employee for healthcare coverage
Has 1,000 employees
That’s 2,000,000 dollars a month they are spending on health care coverage.
Imagine if they didn’t have to pay that money and could give raises, buy new machinery or hire more employees. The switch to a Medicare for all would not only lower health care costs but would be a huge benefit to the American business and would even allow companies to move back to America to save money.
3. And the most important - Life
If everyone had health care they could seek a doctor when they first got ill or felt a lump, they could be diagnosed with Cancer or Diabetes before it became life threatening and instead of spending years in a hospital and millions of dollars they could just take pills or have a simple surgery. The could spend decades with their family and not have to worry about who will take care of their kids or parents when they die.
A lot of people say they want universal care because they believe healthcare is a right and everyone should be entitled to it. I agree but as I pointed out it should not only be a right it is more cost effective than for profit care and would immediately cut the costs of medical care. If you ignore all the stories and lies and look at the facts - facts are every country that has went to a single payer or universal healthcare plan has seen costs lowered and care improve.
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