After voting in every election for the past 50 years with the exception of when he was in Korea fight for the United States military my father now has to prove who he is before he can vote. A lot of people on both sides of the political spectrum see no problem with voter ID laws and assume that getting one is simple so I thought it would be fun to chronicle our quest to get him a photo ID to vote in Pennsylvania..
Background - He is currently in his mid 70’s and has never had the urge to drive or need a drivers license. My parents bought and moved into their first home in 2002 and in the process lost some information like their social security cards, birth certificates etc. It was simple for my mother to get new ones as she had a drivers license but my father having been retired with no use for a photo ID didn’t replace the lost items. Around 2005 he went into hospital for “routine” surgery and ended up disabled and in a wheel chair, after this my mother got power of attorney and had all the bills just put in her name.
Now - law is passed in Pennsylvania you need a current photo ID to vote so we go on the quest to get the required documents for his so he can vote.
Social Security card - You need a birth certificate and proof of identity that includes a drivers license, passport, even a health care card but NOT Medicare. So we need a photo ID to get a social security card but need a social security card to get a photo ID. While it doesn’t effect him you are only allowed 10 replacement cards in your lifetime so people who have reached that limit will not be able to get another one. They accepted certified medical records from the past 2 years for one of these after several failed attempts we finally got a new Social Security card.
Birth Certificate - This was a tough one as the court house were the records where stored was destroyed in a flood. We have someone we know trying to help us get a new one of these and the Department of Ageing is helping on this also.
Photo ID - since we don’t have a birth certificate we are unable to get one at this time. When/If we get the above we are left with one last problem and that is proof of residence since the bills are all in my mothers name my father has nothing that shows his name and current address he can use. I am working with someone on this who is trying to get me temporary power of attorney so I can have him put on our bank account and on the mortgage so he will have 2 pieces of appropriate mail with his name and current address on them.
I have less then 60 days to get this all done and as a last resort have a final option - I can get him a passport but it will cost 135.00 to get one before the election. I have found a photo ID for him that expired over 15 years ago and since the lady working at the post office knows him and his current address they can use the info they have to get him a passport.
The final hurdle if I get all that done is getting him all the way to the DMV to get his photo ID. I don’t drive (never have) and it’s almost ½ hour away and we are not counting on my mother ever being able to drive again when she gets out of the hospital.
It’s a shame when someone has served their country in what I consider War Time (but the VA doesn’t - they call Korea a police action) , worked and paid taxes for over 40 years and now they have to jump through hoops just to do something that they have fought and in some people cases died for. Voting should be a right especially to the great men and women who built this country. I only hope your state doesn’t pass these laws and suppress the vote of anyone you love and care about, there is no worse feeling then giving your life to the country only to have them tell you - you’re opinion doesn’t count.
Monday, September 10, 2012
Monday, September 3, 2012
The Real Mitt Romney
After seeing the success of the right wing propaganda movie “Obama 2016” which is based on very little facts but instead a look at what he might do according to the uber conservative director I thought I would look at who the real Mitt Romney is, not based on imagination but based on his real history.
1. MILITARY SERVICE
Lets start with his military service or lack there of, he was called to service four times during the Vietnam war but chose not to go fight for his country by either claiming school studies or ministry service in France. When asked about it in 2007 he wished he had served saying
“I longed in many respects to actually be in Vietnam and be representing our country there, and in some ways it was frustrating not to feel like I was there as part of the troops that were fighting in Vietnam.”
While it sounds good it is a far cry from what he stated in 1994 when his response was to the Boston Herald with
“It was not my desire to go off and serve in Vietnam, but nor did I take any actions to remove myself from the pool of young men who were eligible for the draft,” Romney told the newspaper.
This last statement is a flat out lie as the man got not one but four deferments to avoid service. He follows in a long history of Republicans running for office who support war while avoiding service themselves. Unlike most others though he protested in favor of the war he would not fight in. This man wants to be in charge of the largest military in the world and make it even bigger, even beating the war drums with Iran.
2. BUSINESS
His business career can be summed up as profit at all costs. While he claims to have left Bain Capital in 1999 he filed as the sole owner until 2002 with the SEC and had a large salary of over 100,000 a year until then so we will go with the SEC facts not Romney’s word.
While at Bain Mr. Romney bought Damon , while being at top executive and financial officer the company was making profits, in 1993 the company was bought by Corning and they immediately spotted a fraud. Turns out that while under the rule of Romney Damon was running a Medicare fraud and charging for tests they did not run. Mitt Romney originally claimed he was a proactive board member who helped uncover the fraud and took corrective actions to stop it. Court records released by the Globe show a different story and reveal that the fraud occurred right up to the time Bain sold the company to Corning and prosecutors gave sole credit to Corning for cleaning up the Fraud. Romney later admitted that the board did not report to federal investigators the findings from the alleged internal inquiry (which sounds like he’s admitting knowing about it but not reporting it). The company was fined over 100 million dollars.
While Mitt originally was pro choice he changed his stance while Governor of Mass to be pro life, this wouldn’t be a big story because people change their minds all the time but a story in Mother Jones makes this a big story. Now this depends on if you believe the words out of Mr. Romney’s mouth or the truth, In 1999 Bain Capital invested in a company called Stericycle which made money in medical waste disposal. Again not a big story except the company collected from family planning clinics which included aborted fetuses, so the pro life Romney is against abortion but all for making money off of it?
In the 2000’s Bain invested in many companies that outsourced jobs to China and India, Mitt claimed he left in 1999 and had nothing to do with that (even though his government filings say different) but even if you believe that story the facts again get in the way. While on the campaign trail he attacked China for stealing American jobs but on April 17,1998 a Bain affiliate filed a report with the SEC that it had acquired part of Hong Kong based Gobal Tech Appliances which makes household appliances in China. Mitt Romney was identified as the person in control of the investment and “sole shareholder”. According to Mother Jones the firm publicly acknowledged that it’s strategy was to profit from US companies outsourcing production abroad. So his denial of being involved in outsourcing is again a flat out lie.
Won’t even get into the FDIC 10 million in debt forgiveness that kept Bain from going bankrupt but what is obvious is every chance Mitt Romney had to make the choice between his morals and profit he always chose profit.
3. OLYMPICS
We often hear “Mitt Romney saved the Olympics”, first off you have to accept that the Olympics where in great danger at the time and needed saving. One of the first things Mr. Romney did was to register as a lobbyist and head to Washington for a bailout. As a registered lobbyist he brought in 1.3 billion dollars to help get the games back on track, it is still a record for government spending on the Olympics more then doubling the 600 million on the 96 Atlanta Olympics.
John McCain called complained at the time calling the federal spending “incredible pork-barrel project” a “rip-off to taxpayers” and even called for a federal investigation. The Salt Lake City Council insisted the federal funds went to legitimate purposes but also added the Olympics where an excuse to get a lot of things done for the city including new roads and bridges.
Sports Illustrated documented “shady” spending including a bridges to nowhere, a millionaire receiving cast to build a road and a billionaire ski resort owner got federal assistance to buy public land. He ended his lobbying career only after a second bribery-style Olympic scandal surfaced showing politicians where offered free tickets to events.
So did Romney “save” the Olympics? I would say no, the taxpayers saved the Olympics and we will never know how much Mr. Romney paid himself as a lobbyist since several of the financial documents have been destroyed.
4. SECRETS
The final thing is the fact that Mr. Romney will reveal nothing to the public, from his tax records which may hide a felony to his time as Governor when as they were leaving they took the hard drives with them hiding all the work that was done. Recently we found out that a lot of the financial and other records from the 2002 Olympics that Mr. Romney “saved” have been destroyed. While every candidate before him has released the names of their big money donors Willard Mitt Romney still refuses to tell us who is bundling money for him, is he doing this so he can give them all favors and jobs if he is elected and people won’t know it’s payback for bribes? What is this man hiding? He is the most secretive candidate in history and makes Richard Nixon seem open and honest.
1. MILITARY SERVICE
Lets start with his military service or lack there of, he was called to service four times during the Vietnam war but chose not to go fight for his country by either claiming school studies or ministry service in France. When asked about it in 2007 he wished he had served saying
“I longed in many respects to actually be in Vietnam and be representing our country there, and in some ways it was frustrating not to feel like I was there as part of the troops that were fighting in Vietnam.”
While it sounds good it is a far cry from what he stated in 1994 when his response was to the Boston Herald with
“It was not my desire to go off and serve in Vietnam, but nor did I take any actions to remove myself from the pool of young men who were eligible for the draft,” Romney told the newspaper.
This last statement is a flat out lie as the man got not one but four deferments to avoid service. He follows in a long history of Republicans running for office who support war while avoiding service themselves. Unlike most others though he protested in favor of the war he would not fight in. This man wants to be in charge of the largest military in the world and make it even bigger, even beating the war drums with Iran.
2. BUSINESS
His business career can be summed up as profit at all costs. While he claims to have left Bain Capital in 1999 he filed as the sole owner until 2002 with the SEC and had a large salary of over 100,000 a year until then so we will go with the SEC facts not Romney’s word.
While at Bain Mr. Romney bought Damon , while being at top executive and financial officer the company was making profits, in 1993 the company was bought by Corning and they immediately spotted a fraud. Turns out that while under the rule of Romney Damon was running a Medicare fraud and charging for tests they did not run. Mitt Romney originally claimed he was a proactive board member who helped uncover the fraud and took corrective actions to stop it. Court records released by the Globe show a different story and reveal that the fraud occurred right up to the time Bain sold the company to Corning and prosecutors gave sole credit to Corning for cleaning up the Fraud. Romney later admitted that the board did not report to federal investigators the findings from the alleged internal inquiry (which sounds like he’s admitting knowing about it but not reporting it). The company was fined over 100 million dollars.
While Mitt originally was pro choice he changed his stance while Governor of Mass to be pro life, this wouldn’t be a big story because people change their minds all the time but a story in Mother Jones makes this a big story. Now this depends on if you believe the words out of Mr. Romney’s mouth or the truth, In 1999 Bain Capital invested in a company called Stericycle which made money in medical waste disposal. Again not a big story except the company collected from family planning clinics which included aborted fetuses, so the pro life Romney is against abortion but all for making money off of it?
In the 2000’s Bain invested in many companies that outsourced jobs to China and India, Mitt claimed he left in 1999 and had nothing to do with that (even though his government filings say different) but even if you believe that story the facts again get in the way. While on the campaign trail he attacked China for stealing American jobs but on April 17,1998 a Bain affiliate filed a report with the SEC that it had acquired part of Hong Kong based Gobal Tech Appliances which makes household appliances in China. Mitt Romney was identified as the person in control of the investment and “sole shareholder”. According to Mother Jones the firm publicly acknowledged that it’s strategy was to profit from US companies outsourcing production abroad. So his denial of being involved in outsourcing is again a flat out lie.
Won’t even get into the FDIC 10 million in debt forgiveness that kept Bain from going bankrupt but what is obvious is every chance Mitt Romney had to make the choice between his morals and profit he always chose profit.
3. OLYMPICS
We often hear “Mitt Romney saved the Olympics”, first off you have to accept that the Olympics where in great danger at the time and needed saving. One of the first things Mr. Romney did was to register as a lobbyist and head to Washington for a bailout. As a registered lobbyist he brought in 1.3 billion dollars to help get the games back on track, it is still a record for government spending on the Olympics more then doubling the 600 million on the 96 Atlanta Olympics.
John McCain called complained at the time calling the federal spending “incredible pork-barrel project” a “rip-off to taxpayers” and even called for a federal investigation. The Salt Lake City Council insisted the federal funds went to legitimate purposes but also added the Olympics where an excuse to get a lot of things done for the city including new roads and bridges.
Sports Illustrated documented “shady” spending including a bridges to nowhere, a millionaire receiving cast to build a road and a billionaire ski resort owner got federal assistance to buy public land. He ended his lobbying career only after a second bribery-style Olympic scandal surfaced showing politicians where offered free tickets to events.
So did Romney “save” the Olympics? I would say no, the taxpayers saved the Olympics and we will never know how much Mr. Romney paid himself as a lobbyist since several of the financial documents have been destroyed.
4. SECRETS
The final thing is the fact that Mr. Romney will reveal nothing to the public, from his tax records which may hide a felony to his time as Governor when as they were leaving they took the hard drives with them hiding all the work that was done. Recently we found out that a lot of the financial and other records from the 2002 Olympics that Mr. Romney “saved” have been destroyed. While every candidate before him has released the names of their big money donors Willard Mitt Romney still refuses to tell us who is bundling money for him, is he doing this so he can give them all favors and jobs if he is elected and people won’t know it’s payback for bribes? What is this man hiding? He is the most secretive candidate in history and makes Richard Nixon seem open and honest.
Sunday, August 19, 2012
Cult of Celebrity
Watching the “news” do sports and on the bottom of the screen it scrolls that 3 Americans have been killed in Afghanistan. This is a great example of the cult of celebrity in America when a baseball game or a hockey strike is more news then young men and women losing their lives to protect our country.
Right now we have one political party blaming the financial problems of America on unions and their “over the top pension” . These same politicians who cry that we can not afford to pay retirement for teachers, police and firefighters are the first in line to hand out money to millionaires and billionaires for things like new sports arenas. I read that since 2000 there have been 28 new major sports stadiums built in this country with a total cost of over 9 billion dollars, as much as 5 billion of that was public dollars raised through taxes and fees. Take a minute to read that - we can not afford to keep schools staffed and are laying off first responders to save money and we have given billions of dollars to rich people for their shiny new stadium that a lot of hard working folks can not even afford to use. The best example of this is in Minnesota, when they broke ground on a new stadium paid for with millions in taxpayer dollars a bridge collapsed killing people because they didn’t have the money to make the necessary repairs to keep it safe.
With the NHL threatening to lose another season because they are fighting on how to split up 3 billion dollars and in Pittsburgh we have Mike Wallace sitting out because he things only getting paid 2 million dollars is an insult. I often hear “players careers are short and they could get injured anytime”, I have an argument for that - you are playing a game, those 3 guys who died in Afghanistan would have risk their lives for 70 years to make the money you think you are to good for. A rookie or average player makes as much sitting on the bench of most major sports teams as it would take a soldier, teacher, or first responder at least 5 years to make.
Next time you watch a war movie remember that guy on screen is making 100 to 1,000 times as much as a real soldier and he doesn’t even do his own stunts. These people aren’t bad, they get what someone will pay them but for gods sake please stop using the short career or might get injured excuse for why you are holding out for more money, it all comes down to greed.
I’m not saying celebrities or sports stars are bad, they provide a service and keep people entertained even during hard times. I’m just saying maybe instead of having role models with the title CEO, All Star, Super Bowl Champion or MVP maybe it’s time for role models with the title Private 1st class, Deputy or Fire Chief.
Right now we have one political party blaming the financial problems of America on unions and their “over the top pension” . These same politicians who cry that we can not afford to pay retirement for teachers, police and firefighters are the first in line to hand out money to millionaires and billionaires for things like new sports arenas. I read that since 2000 there have been 28 new major sports stadiums built in this country with a total cost of over 9 billion dollars, as much as 5 billion of that was public dollars raised through taxes and fees. Take a minute to read that - we can not afford to keep schools staffed and are laying off first responders to save money and we have given billions of dollars to rich people for their shiny new stadium that a lot of hard working folks can not even afford to use. The best example of this is in Minnesota, when they broke ground on a new stadium paid for with millions in taxpayer dollars a bridge collapsed killing people because they didn’t have the money to make the necessary repairs to keep it safe.
With the NHL threatening to lose another season because they are fighting on how to split up 3 billion dollars and in Pittsburgh we have Mike Wallace sitting out because he things only getting paid 2 million dollars is an insult. I often hear “players careers are short and they could get injured anytime”, I have an argument for that - you are playing a game, those 3 guys who died in Afghanistan would have risk their lives for 70 years to make the money you think you are to good for. A rookie or average player makes as much sitting on the bench of most major sports teams as it would take a soldier, teacher, or first responder at least 5 years to make.
Next time you watch a war movie remember that guy on screen is making 100 to 1,000 times as much as a real soldier and he doesn’t even do his own stunts. These people aren’t bad, they get what someone will pay them but for gods sake please stop using the short career or might get injured excuse for why you are holding out for more money, it all comes down to greed.
I’m not saying celebrities or sports stars are bad, they provide a service and keep people entertained even during hard times. I’m just saying maybe instead of having role models with the title CEO, All Star, Super Bowl Champion or MVP maybe it’s time for role models with the title Private 1st class, Deputy or Fire Chief.
Saturday, August 11, 2012
Welcome to Republican America
It’s not hard to figure out what America will look like if Mitt Romney becomes the next president of the United States and republicans keep control of the house and win the senate. With Paul Ryan as the Vice President the picture has become even more clearer. Here is what we can look forward to
Their plan for lowering healthcare costs are to go back to the “free” market and then make Medicare a voucher program giving seniors the money to buy their own private insurance. They are complaining about the price of Medicare right now but it is rising at a lower rate then private health insurance, adding millions of sick and elderly will need to be paid for somehow and that will be by the price of insurance going up at even faster paces. They plan to do away with Obamacare so now insurance companies will be able to drop people who get sick or have pre-existing conditions, that means they will not have to take sick seniors and it will leave us with two choices, we can either put them on a government program or let them die. If we put them on a government program it will be worse then Medicare because the health seniors will be on private insurance and only the sickest will be left on the Government dime. This plan will cost private insurance to skyrocket, increase the Debt and bankrupt seniors.
They want to take away birth control from health insurance policies, make abortion illegal and finally cut funding for food stamps and Medicaid. So if you young daughter is at a party and gets drunk, like say Bristol Palin, she will be forced to have the child. When the child is born she will be forced to either put it up for adoption or dropping out of school to get a job to support the child. Any job they can get will not pay very well and will not allow them to feed or cloth the child. This will lead to many more sick and starving children and we already have one of the worst infant mortality rates in the world. Not to mention who will pay for all the doctors visits and the hospital stay to give birth to your child?
My favorite is Sean Hannity crying that liberals say “conservatives want dirty water and dirty air”, they say it because it’s true Mr. Hannity In the first year that republicans took control of the house they voted 191 times to lower environmental standards They voted 27 times to overrule the EPA and say that global warming is not harmful human health or the environment. Republicans voted 77 times to gut the clean air act including to stop the EPA from regulating mercury as dangerous. Think clean water is important, they voted 28 times to gut the clean water act including blocking the EPA from regulating toxins companies could dump into the water. The final straw was when they voted to decide on a “cost benefits analysis” if allowing a company to pollute was worth the know health risks of people so a company can make profits.
They want to lower taxes and “expand the base” which is republican for charge poor people more taxes. They like to tell a lie that most Americans don’t pay taxes but they do pay their fair share in Payroll Tax, Gas Tax, Sales Tax, State Taxes, Property Taxes, School Taxes etc. The plan to lower the rates also includes getting rid of some “loopholes” but they voted against getting rid of the ones for oil companies and big business so that only leaves the ones for middle class like tax credit, marriage credit, mortgage deduction. While they won’t raise the rates of poor or middle class people they will raise the taxes and have to in order to pay for the rate cuts of the upper 10% and keep giving handouts to their friends at Exxon or Goldman Sachs.
This is just a sample of what they will do to America, look at Mississippi and imagine 49 more of them. We will drop even further in poverty, starvation, healthcare but will still have the strongest military in the world. Just don’t ask the rich to pay for the military or god forbid serve the country they got rich off of.
Their plan for lowering healthcare costs are to go back to the “free” market and then make Medicare a voucher program giving seniors the money to buy their own private insurance. They are complaining about the price of Medicare right now but it is rising at a lower rate then private health insurance, adding millions of sick and elderly will need to be paid for somehow and that will be by the price of insurance going up at even faster paces. They plan to do away with Obamacare so now insurance companies will be able to drop people who get sick or have pre-existing conditions, that means they will not have to take sick seniors and it will leave us with two choices, we can either put them on a government program or let them die. If we put them on a government program it will be worse then Medicare because the health seniors will be on private insurance and only the sickest will be left on the Government dime. This plan will cost private insurance to skyrocket, increase the Debt and bankrupt seniors.
They want to take away birth control from health insurance policies, make abortion illegal and finally cut funding for food stamps and Medicaid. So if you young daughter is at a party and gets drunk, like say Bristol Palin, she will be forced to have the child. When the child is born she will be forced to either put it up for adoption or dropping out of school to get a job to support the child. Any job they can get will not pay very well and will not allow them to feed or cloth the child. This will lead to many more sick and starving children and we already have one of the worst infant mortality rates in the world. Not to mention who will pay for all the doctors visits and the hospital stay to give birth to your child?
My favorite is Sean Hannity crying that liberals say “conservatives want dirty water and dirty air”, they say it because it’s true Mr. Hannity In the first year that republicans took control of the house they voted 191 times to lower environmental standards They voted 27 times to overrule the EPA and say that global warming is not harmful human health or the environment. Republicans voted 77 times to gut the clean air act including to stop the EPA from regulating mercury as dangerous. Think clean water is important, they voted 28 times to gut the clean water act including blocking the EPA from regulating toxins companies could dump into the water. The final straw was when they voted to decide on a “cost benefits analysis” if allowing a company to pollute was worth the know health risks of people so a company can make profits.
They want to lower taxes and “expand the base” which is republican for charge poor people more taxes. They like to tell a lie that most Americans don’t pay taxes but they do pay their fair share in Payroll Tax, Gas Tax, Sales Tax, State Taxes, Property Taxes, School Taxes etc. The plan to lower the rates also includes getting rid of some “loopholes” but they voted against getting rid of the ones for oil companies and big business so that only leaves the ones for middle class like tax credit, marriage credit, mortgage deduction. While they won’t raise the rates of poor or middle class people they will raise the taxes and have to in order to pay for the rate cuts of the upper 10% and keep giving handouts to their friends at Exxon or Goldman Sachs.
This is just a sample of what they will do to America, look at Mississippi and imagine 49 more of them. We will drop even further in poverty, starvation, healthcare but will still have the strongest military in the world. Just don’t ask the rich to pay for the military or god forbid serve the country they got rich off of.
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
What "Tradition" of Marriage are they talking about?
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.
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.
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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