I Challenge YOU to Educate the Low-Information Voters Who Are Hurting Themselves and the Rest Of The Country – Really, This is a Challenge, You Game?

Most of us wonder how people can vote in political candidates and incumbents into, or back into elected office that clearly do not represent their own personal interests. How do women vote for a Governor that clearly is attacking women’s rights? Like when a Governor wants to force any woman who wants an abortion to be raped by requiring them to endure a trans-vaginal ultrasound even though no medical doctor prescribed it, or even says that it is not necessary, or any of the other disgraceful ways the TeaPublicans have attacked women and their rights. How do people who don’t/didn’t have any healthcare, whose state already gets much more money from Washington D.C. then it sends to the government, vote for politicians who refuse to expand Medicaid (which wouldn’t cost their state a dime for the 1st 3 years and then only 5-10% percent of the costs after that) and/or refuse to set-up healthcare exchanges to help those who can’t afford reasonable healthcare get affordable healthcare? After speaking to many people and getting a lot of feedback from people who actually live in those areas, like the Southeast, I found that we don’t understand something. It reminds me of a story I saw on the news many years ago that I still can’t, or won’t, forget. There was a 14 year old boy, attending Public School, in New York City, it was discovered that his parents were making him live in a coffin, whenever he wasn’t in school he would have to stay in a coffin. When he returned from school he had to get into his coffin, he had to eat, wash, and yes defecate in the coffin! When it hit the news the first question was obvious, “Why didn’t you tell anyone?” His answer? He was surprised by the question, “I thought everyone lived the same way I did.” Understandably the child was severely introverted and had no friends so he really didn’t talk to anyone unless he had to. But it made me realize that if you brought up a son or daughter in a green room for 5 years and told that child the color of the room was blue, what do you think that child would say the color of a green traffic light was? That’s why people in areas that receive more in social welfare like disability, food stamps, Social Security, and so forth, vote for politicians that claim the government is a socialist one and is bad! So why don’t they just get smarter? Watch more news? Read more? Well, some of them do, but what they are seeing, hearing, and reading is total bullcrap because the ultra-rich are controlling what they see, hear, and read. Did you know that the Koch Brothers went as far as paying off a State College in Tallahassee, Florida (FSU) to have the final word of who the economics department hired! Yea, no lie! Charles Koch Buys Rights To Control Who Florida State University Hires in their Economic Dept. The amount of money being spent on corrupting our politicians, elections, and on media (written, TV, internet, and other outlets) is absolutely insane. Why do they spend this money? Because it gives the 1% power, power through influence. What can we do? We can make sure that those people who “only watch Fox (faux – false) news” and only see, hear, and read, the misinformation they are being fed, that are told that the room is blue, get the facts, the truth, that the light is GREEN! We must find a way to get the truth to the “low-information voters,” whom many are not to blame for being wrong, and we must do it without the advantage that the ultra-rich billionaires have, which is billions of dollars. I want to challenge each and everyone of you who actually read this post. I want to challenge you to start a massive information blitz telling the facts, the truth, and get it out there in every way you know, in hopes of some of the information getting to those people who are only being told the room is blue. I thought I would try something. We know that those low-information people see very limited information, they may not read a lot, or watch much other than a source that misleads them, so we have to do something that is simple, interesting, and will appeal to those who can’t be bothered researching information. The information must be served in a way that will catch their attention. If enough of the information makes it to these people, perhaps we can get them to see that they are hurting themselves. That’s why I’m asking you, challenging you in fact, to join me in an information campaign targeting those low-information voters. Whatever you create and get out there, remember that it must be something that the target audience will relate to. For instance, I want to target the red states (9 out of 10 of the poorest states are Republican states) in the Southeast, so I’m going to start making memes (pictures with something you write on them) and I’m going to use NASCAR pictures. Here’s my 1st idea on how to start getting information to these people: I challenge each and everyone of you to the make and distribute the best meme, to educate the misinformed, one that will get widespread attention and circulation, so much so that it will make it’s way into the areas where these voters are, and to get widespread distribution of that meme so that it will reach our target audience. Don’t know how to make a meme? “No problem it’s not only easy, it’s fun. Below, I give you a couple really easy ways of doing it, and showing your creativity and sense of humor. So what do you say? Hey, if you share this and my blog post and get others involved we could have millions of these target oriented information memes circulating everywhere! Some of them are bound to reach our target audience and change some minds, AND VOTES! O.K. Let’s see what we can do. Contact me if you have any questions, and please involve as many people as you can by sharing this. Thanks so much for your anticipated cooperation.

How to Make a Meme

There are numerous free sites to assist you in your quest to make a meme, whether you want to be funny, creative, a mix sending a serious message and being a creative, funny, teacher. The site I’m going to recommend here is one that I found to be the easiest and quickest. You will make a meme in a few minutes, I promise. Go to quickmeme by clicking on the colored word (link) quickmeme in this sentence. This is what you will see:

Quickmeme – A Meme Generator

Step 1: On the black on top, instead of seeing a picture of me you will see the word “Login.” You will need to click this and register/Login, if you are on Facebook you can just click Log in with Facebook, or simply type in whatever information you need to, to create an account.

Step 2: Your ready to make a meme. You can use any of the pictures you see, or you can browse the web, or your personal photos, and “upload” a picture (more on uploading in a minute.) Pick a picture by simply clicking on the picture you want to use. I’ve picked one as an example, I chose one that they call “Condescending Wonka” this is what you’ll see:

Condescending Wonka from quickmeme

Step 3: Your almost done! Now put your creative, humorous thinking cap on and fill in the prompts; 1st think of a title, the title will only be seen when your meme is listed with other memes for people to see. Then fill in the “Top Caption, this is what will appear at the top of the picture. Finally fill in the “Bottom Caption.” Suggestion: The Top Caption should be the set-up for the point you want to make, the Bottom Caption should be the punchline to drive your point home. See what I’ve done here (mind you, I never claimed to be good at humor.):

quickmeme instruction on filling in the content of a meme

Step 4: Click “Create” Congratulations! You just made your very first meme! Don’t leave yet, you need to save your work! You can click on “File” and save it, or you can share it to Twitter or Facebook and then “save it as a picture” from there. Done!

Now that your an expert you may want to try other meme generators that give you a little more control, like picking what size the text is, and other options. I suggest you try Imgur.

I promised to tell you about “uploading” your own pictures. It’s very simple. If you’ve ever saved a picture on your computer it was shared into a “file” the default file would be “pictures” or “My Pictures”. If you want to use your own picture, instead of clicking on one of the pictures the meme generator offers, like when I picked Wonka, simply click on “Upload” a picture. that will bring you to your files on your computer, one of which is where you saved your pictures. Simply navigate to the picture you want to use and double click on it, or click on a picture and then click on “save” or “open”, your picture will be uploaded to the meme generator like Wonka was and you can do the same steps as before to create a meme.

Finally, and this is the best, if you have an idea for a meme and have a picture in mind that you would like to use, type the topic into your “search” box on the top of your browser and then click images, it will give you a bunch of pictures to choose from, then save it. This is a picture of my browser:

Google Screenshot

You’ll notice in Google the big white bar near the top of the screen, that’s the address bar. To the right of that is the “search box”, you can type in there whatever you want to find a picture of, ex: fire engine and hit enter, that will give you a list of articles on fire engines, but above the list of articles you’ll see the word “images”, simply click on that and you will have a number of pictures of fire engines. Save one into “pictures by right clicking on the picture you want, then left click “Save Image As” and it will open up your library of folders. click on the “Pictures” folder to open it, then name the picture in the box that says “File Name” and then click “Save”. You then have a picture you can upload to use in a meme. Note: instead of the search box you can click on the word “images” on the google screen, it’s just below the search box, then click in what picture you want to find.

GOOD LUCK! ENJOY! And PLEASE join this challenge so we can educate those who are being fed the ultra-rich garbage so we can keep the Senate and take back the house. If you have any questions use the “Contact Me” button on my blog ay www.Medic3569.com thanks for helping take back our Republic.

Someone Please Tell Me Why People Vote Against Their Own Best Interest!

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2009 State Scorecard Summary of Health System Performance by http://www.commonwealthfund.org

Republicans say “Less Regulation is Needed”

 West Virginia (74%) and South Dakota (71%) is the best chance the Republicans have at gaining seats in the U.S. Senate on their way to getting the six seats they need to regain control of the Senate according to The Washington Post. How they can even put a percentage chance on whether the Republicans can win those seats this far out from the election is beyond the comprehension of this writer, and many others. Did the people already forget about the 300,000 people whose water was contaminated by Freedom Industries, an affiliate of Georgia-Pacific Chemical, a Koch Brothers company? Did they forget that House Speaker John Boehner immediately after the incident said “I think there are plenty of regulations in place”? Did they forget that the company almost immediately claimed bankruptcy protecting themselves from law suits and continued operating as if nothing happened?

Healthiest and Unhealthiest States – Forbes

Where are the Healthiest and Unhealthiest People in America?

Who has the Worst, or No, Health Insurance?

Red State Reality: Unhealthiest Residents, Worst Health Care
From: PERRspectives November 17, 2009

 Throughout their all-out campaign to stop health care reform, Republican leaders have relied on questionable forecasts from the Lewin Group, a subsidiary of insurer UnitedHealth Group. Now, another study funded by UnitedHealth has some unwelcome news for the GOP braintrust: the red states they represent are the unhealthiest in the nation. Following on the heels of the Commonwealth Fund’s 2009 Scorecard of state health care system performance, the United Health Foundation’s report is just the latest confirmation that health care is worst where Republicans poll best.

 Eight of the 10 bottom-ranked states are from the south, with Mississippi coming in dead last for the ninth consecutive year. Mississippi has a sky-high death rate from heart disease and high infant mortality. In general, residents of these states are more likely to be smokers or to be obese, the report found. They also have worse health insurance coverage, fewer physicians per capita and live in areas with high violent crime and more child poverty.

 So your in a state that has the unhealthiest people in the nation and your Representatives; Governors, Congressmen/women, and U.S. Senators, are lying to you to have you think “The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act” (Obamacare) which will expand Medicaid (at no cost to your state and only 10% of the cost after 3 years,) make insurance companies keep your children on your healthcare policies until they’re 26, and force insurance companies to actually use 80% of the premiums they collect for patient claims rather than give themselves outrageous bonuses and salaries, is a bad thing. Why would you vote for these obstructive, greedy, all for corporations and the “ultra-rich, and not interested in your best interests in the least, politicians?

“Obama is a Socialist, His Government is Socialistic,”they Say

But if it weren’t for the Social Programs that Exist Many Red States Would Be Bankrupt!

Red States on this Map Indicate States that are Taking More Money from the Federal Government than they Give in Taxes. by Ezra Klein

Although they constantly complain about the “Social Programs” and call President Obama the “President that wants to Give Stuff Away,” the Red States are the ones benefiting from the programs. The TeaPublicans have again denied to expand the Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) even after they were given everything they asked for:

“We’ve given them everything they wanted. Paid for,” said Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the majority leader, flashing his irritation at Republicans who blocked the bill.

 He said Democrats would keep pushing to extend the benefits, which expired at the end of last year, cutting off more than 1.3 million Americans. That number has since grown to more than 1.7 million. Read More of The New York Times article “Senate Fails to Pass 3-Month Extension of Jobless Aid”

 The first vote failed, 52 to 48, on a measure proposed by the Democratic leadership that would have extended benefits for 11 months. The extension would have been largely financed by continuing a 2 percent cut to Medicare health providers for an additional year, through 2024. The second vote, on the original bill, which would have extended benefits for three months at a cost of $6.4 billion, failed 55 to 45.

 So where are all the unemployed workers? In the “Blue” or “Democratic” states? Not quite!

Unemployment Rates by States – Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)

 Yet we have to wonder, will all those unemployed people in Republican states remember who wouldn’t extend the Emergency Unemployment Compensation (EUC) even after they got EVERYTHING they negotiated for?

Finally, Where is it Hardest to Escape From Poverty?

Escaping from Poverty by The Washington Post

 So how about if you are born into poverty, would you have a better chance in a Red State (Republican) or a Blue State (Democratic)? Are your U.S. Congressmen/women and U.S. Senators working to try to help your citizens living below the poverty line and the middle class? On this interactive map by The New York Times you can click on your location and see what chances your children have to escape poverty: In Climbing Income Ladder, Location Matters. Here are the Top Ten and the Bottom Ten cities/counties for upward mobility:

Upward Mobility in the 50 Biggest Metro Areas: The Top 10 and Bottom 10
	Rank		Odds of Reaching Top Fifth Starting from Bottom Fifth		Rank		Odds of Reaching Top Fifth Starting from Bottom Fifth
	1	San Jose, CA	12.9%		41	Cleveland, OH	5.1%
	2	San Francisco, CA	12.2%		42	St. Louis, MO	5.1%
	3	Washington DC, DC	11.0%		43	Raleigh, NC	5.0%
	4	Seattle, WA	10.9%		44	Jacksonville, FL	4.9%
	5	Salt Lake City, UT	10.8%		45	Columbus, OH	4.9%
	6	New York, NY	10.5%		46	Indianapolis, IN	4.9%
	7	Boston, MA	10.5%		47	Dayton, OH	4.9%
	8	San Diego, CA	10.4%		48	Atlanta, GA	4.5%
	9	Newark, NJ	10.2%		49	Milwaukee, WI	4.5%
	10	Manchester, NH	10.0%		50	Charlotte, NC	4.4%

 

Anyone Want to Explain Why People in Red States are Voting Republican or Even Worse, for Tea Party Members?

 I know one reason we have so many low-information voters, and it’s not all their fault. If you were born and put into a blue room until you were 5 years old, and the whole time your parents told you the color of the walls was green, what would you say the color was when someone showed you something blue? That’s the effect on many people in states where outside money, and dark money (the Koch Brothers favorite,) is used to get Tea Party members, and far right-wing candidates, elected. Probably the biggest problem in this country is the effect of the decision of the U.S. Supreme Court on June 21, 2010 when they sided with Citizens United which removed limits on corporations, unions, and organizations making campaign contributions. More than 80% of Americans believe that the Citizens United decision has caused far more corruption in our elections and in our politicians than ever before. We must remove money in politics because “Money is Not Speech” and “Corporations are Not People.”

Deregulation: The Republican/Tea Party members have blocked most of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. The February 3, 2013 Monthly Report showing the progress of the law signed by President Obama July 21, 2010.

• In the past month, no rulemaking requirement deadlines passed or were met with finalized rules, and no new rules were proposed that would meet rulemaking requirements.
• As of February 3, 2014, a total of 280 Dodd-Frank rulemaking requirement deadlines have passed. Of these 280 passed deadlines, 132 (47.1%) have been missed and 148 (52.9%) have been met with finalized rules.
• In addition, 201 (50.5%) of the 398 total required rulemakings have been finalized, while 110 (27.6%) rulemaking requirements have not yet been proposed.

 This law was passed to put back regulations that were removed by President George W. Bush and allowed Wall Street banks and institutions to almost collapse the world economy. But what did certainly is to make people lose their homes with mortgages that were never meant to be successful, wiped out Americans retirement funds through their 401k’s, took America’s middle net worth, and walked away with literally hundreds of billions  (yes, billions with a “B”) of dollars and no jail time. The Republicans have fought putting back those regulations that wouldn’t allow banks and institutions to become “Too Big To Fail” (TBTF) and cause the damage they did, laws that were in place since the 1920’s.

Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare): This one truly makes me think that either the Tea Party members and Republicans are magicians or the money in politics is working wonderfully for the ultra-rich and the corporations. How do you convince the unhealthiest people in the nation, with the worst healthcare systems in place, and people with no health insurance at all, that they don’t need healthcare? That’s magical!

Unemployment: They asked for 3 things, the least not being that the $6B to cover the extension of Emergency Unemployment Compensation for 3 months be covered with cuts somewhere else and all three were met. As you saw earlier in the article the bills failed in the Senate. By the way, one of the favorite sayings of the Republican Party is “We Support the Troops,” but, they cut food stamps, don’t extend unemployment benefits, and let the veteran’s disability claims lay idle for 18 months before they are even looked at, many of these veterans are suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD,) and 22 American veterans are committing suicide daily. What, or whose,  Troops are they supporting?

Unemployed Veterans by www hiringourheroes org

Poverty:  You saw above how hard it is to grow out of poverty above. Use the link for the interactive map that allows you to click on where you live to see exactly what your children’s chances are. Ask yourself, how well are your politicians fighting for the middle class and the poor? Then vote for the people who are fighting for you.

How the Heck Can Women Vote Republican?

 I didn’t even get a chance to start to discuss the “War on Women” that the TeaPublicans and Republicans have on women. There’s so much there that I’ll have to do a post just on that topic. I’ll just say “How could you vote for a party whose members pass laws that will force women who are requesting an abortion, to get raped with a “Trans-Vaginal Ultrasound” probe that NO medical doctor has deemed necessary, or prudent?

Original meme by http://www.Facebook.com/StoptheObstructionistTeaParty and http://www.Medic3569.wordpress.com

So get out there and tell everyone you can that just because they see a TV commercial, a news report (the ultra-rich, and corporations own the TV stations,) especially a Faux (Fox or False) News broadcast, don’t believe a single source! Also, and most importantly, use the page button (“Find/Track Politicians, Bills and Voting Records”) under the title of this blog to use one of the sites provided to find and contact your politicians to get the U.S. Congress to overturn Citizens United and get money out of politics and give control of our elections back to the people! A good link to use for nation politicians is GovTrack.gov .

PLEASE NOTE THAT WE ARE NOW PUBLISHING THIS BLOG ON WORDPRESS AT www.Medic3569.wordpress.com

We will continue to post all articles here as well until further notice, but the articles will be posted to Twitter, Facebook, and Google+ from WordPress. Thank you for subscribing to our blog.

Senator’s Daughter’s Life Saved by a Procedure Developed in Socialized Medicine and Performed in Gov’t Funded Facility – He then Totally Lies about it to Sway People Away From the ACA

Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) Has Daughter Whose Life was Saved at Government Funded Medical Institution, with a Procedure Performed Under the “Socialized” Healthcare Systems in Brazil and France

Senator Ron Johnson – My daughter’s life was saved by a procedure that was developed in a “socialized” medical system in Brazil and France. Dr. Foker performed my daughter’s surgery at a government funded medical institution, The University Of Minnesota’s Medical School. Thirty years later I completely lied and tried to sway voters away from Obamacare by saying my daughter’s life-saving surgery wouldn’t have been possible under the Affordable Care Act.

Republican Senator Ron Johnson (Wisconsin) has repeatedly told his followers that a reconstructive heart surgery saved his baby daughter’s life, 30 years ago.

Johnson claimed that his daughter’s heart surgery wouldn’t have been possible, under the ACA.  You see, he was trying to sway voters away from the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Johnson claimed that the ‘healthcare freedom’ he enjoyed when his daughter was born would soon be a thing of the past, thanks to Obamacare. “I would not have run for the U.S. Senate had Obamacare not been passed,” he told CNSnews.com. Johnson even claimed that the ACA was an attack on ‘healthcare freedom’, and it was that freedom that allowed his daughters surgery to have a happy outcome. he said:

“What this health care law is all about, it’s an assault on our freedom. It’s going to lower the quality of our care. It’s going to lead to rationing. The types of medical innovation that saved my daughter’s life [and] that saves millions of Americans — I won’t say it’s going to come to a grinding halt, but it’s going to be severely limited.”

There are a few problems with almost EVERYTHING you said Mr. Senator.

As it turns out, however, the doctor who performed his daughter’s surgery does not agree with Johnson’s false interpretation of the law. Not only that, but he provided the Uppity Wisconsin with a great deal of insight about the surgery, including how it was developed and where it was performed. Surprise, it’s not quite the way Senator Johnson made it sound.

By now you have probably figured out that much of what republicans say is simply not true. In this case, however, it turns out there’s more than the usual amount of manipulation of facts.

Doctor John Foker, the physician who performed the operation on Senator Johnson’s daughter  was recently interviewed by Jud Lounsbury, a reporter with Uppity Wisconsin. It turns out the doctor completely disagrees with Johnson’s statements regarding the Affordable Care Act. He said he’s “generally supportive” of the new healthcare law, but stressed that he also thinks it does not go far enough.

    “Unfortunately it was written by the insurance and drug companies, so not so great”

he told Lounsbury.

Foker also said that “Republican lawmakers should relish the ACA’s “private-solution” approach.

Dr. Foker does not appear to support the GOP.

Dr. Foker, the miracle doctor who Senator Johnson cited time and time again as the man who saved his daughter’s life, is none too happy with the way republicans are behaving. He openly criticized the GOP for obstructionist tactics, which have served to keep many citizens from receiving healthcare coverage . His final word on the subject of republicans?

    “They’re never happy.”

 Did Johnson lie about his own daughter’s surgery?

That’s not all. It also turns out that Dr. Foker performed Johnson’s daughter’s surgery at a government funded medical institution, The University Of Minnesota’s Medical School. And the surgery that was used to save the girl’s life was not even developed in United States, under the “freedom of healthcare” system that Johnson claimed was threatened by the ACA. The surgery was first performed under the socialized healthcare systems in Brazil and France.

One can only wonder if Senator Johnson was purposefully lying about his own daughter or if he simply doesn’t understand the healthcare law and the medical profession. He seems to have seriously misrepresented the feelings of the doctor whose ‘freedoms’ he claimed to be defending.

 Read More www.addictinginfo.org

THE DEFECTORS of HR 3350, Republicans concerned over Health Insurance Plans being Cancelled, Really?!

Did Your Congressman Defect? What Will Your Senators Do?

I thank Mike Allen of  Politico for listing THE DEFECTORS – of HR 3350 “Thirty-nine House Democrats, many from competitive districts, joined Republicans in voting for the ‘Keep Your Health Plan’ act sponsored by Energy and Commerce chairman Fred Upton [passed 261-157, over Obama veto threat ] … Ron Barber (Ariz.), John Barrow (Ga.), Ami Bera (Calif.), Tim Bishop (N.Y.), Bruce Braley (Iowa), Julia Brownley (Calif.), Cheri Bustos (Ill.), Jim Costa (Calif.), Peter DeFazio (Ore.), Suzan DelBene (Wash.), Tammy Duckworth (Ill.), Bill Enyart (Ill.), Elizabeth Esty (Conn.), Bill Foster (Ill.), Pete Gallego (Texas), John Garamendi (Calif.), Joe Garcia (Fla.), Ron Kind (Wis.), Ann McLane Kuster (N.H.), Dave Loebsack (Iowa)., Dan Maffei (N.Y.), Sean Patrick Maloney (N.Y.), Jim Matheson (Utah), Mike McIntyre (N.C.), Jerry McNerney (Calif.), Patrick Murphy (FL), Rick Nolan (Minn.), Bill Owens (N.Y.), Gary Peters (Mich.), Scott Peters (Calif.), Collin Peterson (Minn.), Nick Rahall (W. Va.), Raul Ruiz (Calif.), Brad Schneider (Ill.), Kurt Schrader (Ore.), Carol Shea-Porter (N.H.), Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.), Filemon Vela (Texas), Tim Walz (Minn.).”

I was extremely disappointed to see my Congressman’s name as one of the defectors. I have sent a letter to my Congressman explaining my disappointment and asking for his view. I also sent the letter to my Senators asking what their intentions are once the bill gets to the Senate. Letter sent to Congressman Bishop and Senators Schumer and Gillibrand

“Why Republicans Suddenly Care About Cancelled Health Policies”

“Why Republicans Suddenly Care About Cancelled Health Policies” Nation of Change Article reminds us that until insurance cancellations became a political embarrassment for President Barack Obama, the usual right-wing reaction was silence. (Except for that awkward and revealing outburst during the 2012 Republican debates when a live audience howled its approval for the “let him die” plan.) What is the Republicans plan? No one did nothing for decades about the healthcare crisis. What do the Republicans have to help the 40 million people on this country who couldn’t afford healthcare. And many people seem to forget how much the cost of health insurance was going up every year before the Affordable Care Act slowed the increases in the cost of insurance. The fact that insurance companies will need to spend 85% of the money they receive from premiums on actual benefits for the policy holders caused people to get refund checks from insurance companies, many of those people probably didn’t realize why they got those checks. People who are not losing their policies because they got sick should know that they only still have their policy because of the affordable Care Act. And those people getting cancellation letters should look at the policies they had and realize just what they covered, and the fact that they would have been cancelled the minute they got sick anyway, only they would of continued to pay the premiums as long as they stayed healthy and didn’t make claims on the policy.

Medic3569’s What’s News for October 26, 2013? JP Morgan, Rep. Marsha Blackburn/Congressman Frank Pallone, HIPAA and Don Yeltin and Racism

 Medic3569’s What’s News

for October 26, 2013

Firmwide Litigation Reserves

Analysis: Stop freaking out over $13B JPMorgan settlement

USA article about Analyst Freaking out About $13B Fine 

Being as JP Morgan Chase will be giving out about $10B in annual bonuses, and they stole many Americans self-worth, and took people’s homes and 401k’s, I don’t think  the fine is excessive at all. Let’s remember that they pushed out mortgages to anyone willing to take them, (people were wrong too for taking mortgages they couldn’t afford,) bundled them up into mutual funds and sold them worldwide by creating ab useless product called a “Credit Swap.” This caused many Americans to lose their retirement savings. They sold mortgages at such a frenzied to make the fees, that on many cases they didn’t even have the proper work, like a “Transfer of Deed.” When they went to foreclose later they needed paperwork,, the “Transfer of Deed” so they actually hired many people to forge these documents at $8.00/hr. This was discovered by an actual investigator whom the bank tried to foreclose on. She noticed there was no Transfer of Deed and they gave her a hard time until they finally produced one. She investigated that on the internet because she was wondering where they came up with the document all of a sudden. She found that the signature of the Vice-President of the bank that signed the “Transfer of Deed” was evidently the same Vice-President for at least 7 other banks. Investigating further she saw that these forged documents were being produced in bankruptcy courts all over the country. Evidently the employees hired at $8.00/hr had to sign at least 300 documents in an 8-hour w3ork day or they would be fired. Portrayed on a 60 minute episode this still didn’t stop the crimes, hard to believe, isn’t it?

Lynn Syzmoniak sued and won an $18M case against JP Morgan Chase and others for fraudulent and robo-signed documents used to  foreclose on people’s homes. She blew the whistle, claiming that the country’s four largest mortgage services had defrauded the federal government by creating fake documents to replace lost or nonexistent ones in order to receive government-funded payments. The government joined Syzmoniak’s complaint, and it was announced this week that those banks — Bank of America, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., Wells Fargo & Co, and Citigroup Inc. — settled the case for $95 million. Under law, the whistleblower is entitled to a share of the money recovered by the U.S. government, in this case $18 million.

Read More about Lynn Syzmoniak and the 60 Minutes report. 

NC GOPer Who Called Blacks ‘Lazy’ Uses N-Word To Defend Himself

Don Yeltin NC Republican Precinct Chairman and GOP Executive Committee Member photo by TPM

Republican Precinct Chairman in NC and GOP Executive Committee Member Don Yeltin has evidently been fired after an appearance on The Daily Show where he said “the voter ID law is not racist.” He also said “one of my best friends is black,” and when asked if he is racist he said “well, I have been called a bigot.”  Read More from TPM

The Monkey Court Is Now in Session

Monkey Court Now In Session!

Democratic Congressman Frank Pallone: I started out in my opening statements saying there was no legitimacy to this hearing, and the last line of questioning certainly confirms that. HIPAA only applies when there’s health information being provided. That’s not in play here today—no health information is required in the application process, and why is that? Because pre-existing conditions don’t matter! So once again, here we have my Republican colleagues trying to scare everybody—

Barton: Will the gentleman yield?

Pallone: No, I will not yield to this monkey court or whatever this thing is.

Barton: This is not a monkey court.

Pallone: Do whatever you want. I’m not yielding. I am trying to tell you—

Barton: Protecting American citizens is a legitimate concern of this committee.

Pallone: —the pre-existing conditions don’t matter. HIPAA doesn’t apply. There’s no health information in the process. You’re asked about your address, your date of birth, you’re not asked health information. So why are we going down this path? Because you are trying to scare people so they don’t apply!

Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) Doesn’t Know What She’s Talking About on CNN Live, She doesn’t Even  Speak Correctly

Representative Marsha Blackburn (R-TN)

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) was put in place to protect “Identifiable Health Information.” Privacy Rule provides federal protections for individually identifiable health information held by covered entities and their business associates and gives patients an array of rights with respect to that information. At the same time, the Privacy Rule is balanced so that it permits the disclosure of health information needed for patient care and other important purposes.

 The latest TeaPublican/Republican Party attempt to stop/defund/block/convince people not to sign up for has been rolling out for the past two days. Yesterday on CNN Live Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) said what they’ve all been saying for 2 days, “The Affordable Care Act violates HIPAA Laws! Simply put, in NO WAY does “The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act,” aka “Obamacare,” violate the law.

 When HIPAA was introduced in 1996 I was included in the “roll-outs” done by the government because I was an Instructor Coordinator for the NYC Emergency Medical Services (NYC*EMS,) Suffolk County EMS (SCEMS,) , and the NorthshoreLIJ Healthcare System. It was made very clear that “Protected Health Information” (PHI) and Protected Medical Information (PMI) was not to be exposed/divulged except to someone “Directly involved in Patient Care” and a few other situations.

  Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) on CNN LIVE was asked a very simple question; “What question, on the application are people asked that would cause the ACA to violate the HIPAA Law of 1996. She gave numerous non-answers like “it’s not the questions, it’s how they’re “transited”, she obviously meant “transmitted.” The correspondent said, “but the only question asked that is remotely medical information in nature is “Do you Smoke,” how is the law being violated. Rep. Blackburn kept saying stupid things and that it’s “how it’s transited.” Unbelievable stupidity, defiance, and rhetoric designed to attack the ACA and she didn’t know anything but the talking points, and didn’t even understand them. 

 If there are any great legal minds out there that can tell me something I can do to STOP TeaPublicans and Republicans from making things up and then going onto media and spreading misinformation, false rhetoric, and outright lies, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE tell me what to do to help expose this rhetoric for what it is.

The Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) Health Insurance Exchanges are OPEN, The Government is CLOSED!

October 1, 2013 HAPPY TUESDAY! from a sunny, Patchogue, NY where we’re going up to 70 degrees.

AWARENESS: To be happy is to become aware of oneself without fright. – WALTER BENJAMIN

INSIGHT: Sticking to your goals will pave the way to a satisfying and successful adult life.

SIGN UP FOR HEALTH INSURANCE ON HEALTHCARE.GOV TODAY. Encourage everyone that doesn’t have health insurance to sign up at Healthcare.gov, especially those ages 21 to 35. https://www.healthcare.gov/what-is-the-marketplace-in-my-state/#state=new-york

The Republicans have SHUT DOWN the GOVERNMENT!

Quinnipiac Poll: Government Shutdown to Oppose Affordable Care Act (Obamacare):
Support: 22%
Oppose: 72%

Quinnipiac Poll: Opinions of Republicans in Congress:
Approve: 17% (This is the lowest score they have EVER gotten)
Disapprove: 74%

I’d like to meet the 17% of Americans who approve paying Congressmen $170,000/yr to do little more than obstruct almost every bit of legislation including Jobs, Infrastructure, Education, Immigration, or anything that would help the country and the American people.

CNN/ORC Poll: Thoughts on Congress:
Approve: 10%
Disapprove: 87%

NBC/Kaiser Family Foundation Poll: Enthusiastic about Affordable Care Act (Obamacare):
Democrats: 44%
Independents: 18%
Republicans 5%

The Affordable Care Act Health Insurance Exchanges ARE OPEN! but the U. S. Government has been SHUT DOWN by the Republican Party. Don’t believe any lies about who is at fault for the government shutting down. All that had to be done to avoid the government shutting down is that a clean bill for a Continuing Resolution (CR) had to be passed. Passing a CR has always been done and is normal, to allow the country to have money to continue operation the government, EXCEPT now because the Republicans decided they wanted to hold the country hostage by attaching a provision to defund the Affordable Care Act as part of passing a continuing resolution. That’s it! plain and simple. It wasn’t enough that the House Republicans spent taxpayer money voting to repeal the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) law more than 40 times, knowing that it would not happen, now they have shut down the government in another attempt to defund a law that has been a law for three years. The “Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) was passed by both the House and the Senate, signed by the President, and upheld as being constitutional by the U. S. Supreme Court. This was all done in 2010. Today the health exchanges for people to sign up for healthcare open, even though the government is shut down. Yes, the 30 million Americans who could not afford healthcare insurance can sign up today to get affordable healthcare.

Government Shutdown Inevitable at Midnight Tonight?

 Passing a Continuing Resolution (CR) Simply Keeps the Government Functioning, It used to Be Normal to Pass a CR Without Holding a Law Hostage

There was a time that when the government needed to pass a continuing resolution, to keep the government funded, was just a formality. When it came to raising the debt, it too, was just a formality, but not since big money, the Koch brothers, and Citizen’s United came along with the obstructionist Tea Party.

U. S. Government Shutdown at Midnight tonight Inevitable

Tonight at midnight it seems inevitable that the U. S. Government will be shut down. There is only one reason this shutdown will take place. The Republican Party is broken. Many Republicans do not want a shutdown of the government but can’t convince the 45 or so Tea Party members that not holding a law (The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare) hostage, and shutting down the U. S. Government is not the right thing to do. Shutting down the government is not right for their party, and more important, the American people. Republicans are concerned with only two things, they’re getting wealthier, and how they can keep their elected offices by avoiding the Tea Party running someone in a primary election against them. That’s how the big money and the Tea works. The Koch brothers and all the other backers threaten to run a candidate against any Republican that doesn’t please them.  The House passed several things yesterday, knowing that there was no way they would pass the Senate. They do that a lot nowadays, like voting to repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (aka Obamacare) no less than 40 times. Talk about a waste money. Saturday’s late-night vote on a three-month $986 billion government funding bill that would delay Obamacare for a year, House Republicans also pushed through a bill funding U.S. troops in the event of a shutdown, adopted a repeal of a tax on medical devices and approved a conscience clause postponing a government mandate that employers cover the cost of birth control in their health insurance plans.

Who gets Hurt By a Shutdown?

Yesterday, I posted a story of a young military family with three children. The soldier served one tour in Iraq and two tours in Afghanistan.  The soldier is now serving here in the states. The wife said they got hurt when the government furloughed her husband, without pay on Fridays. They fell behind in their bills and have have yet to fully recover from that. Now, she says, she doesn’t know what they’re going to do as they won’t have any income as of midnight tonight. Do the Republicans care, maybe some of them, but not enough to go up against the Tea Party. The Tea Party obstructionist not only want for the 30 million uninsured Americans to get healthcare, they want to take away the benefits the Affordable Care Act has already provided millions of Americans. Hundreds of thousands of  “non-essential” government employees will be furloughed without pay as of midnight tonight. If the debt ceiling is not raised by October 17th doesn’t get raised things get much worse. The full faith and credit of the United States is put into jeopardy and we could, for the first time ever, default on our debt.

Holding the ACA hostage

Many people paid, whether through their employers or individually for health insurance and once they became seriously ill, were dropped by their insurance company. The insurance company would claim they had a pre-existing condition, or they would reach what the insurance company called “a lifetime limit.” The Affordable Care Act, Obamacare, stopped this. The insurance companies took hugh profits for themselves, and shareholders, in dividends and bonuses. The Affordable care Act made it so that the insurance companies had to actually spend 85% of all the money they receive from premiums and use it for the insured’s benefit, or return it to the insured person. This has resulted in millions of people getting rebates from the insurance companies already. The ACA also provides for parents to keep their children on their health insurance policies until they reach the age of 26. This provision immediately insured millions of young people whom didn’t have health insurance to be insured.

The Tea Party does Not Allow the Word “Compromise” into their Vocabulary

The Tea Party wants to take money away from food stamps which they don’t consider that the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) as a safety net, but an “entitlement. Many people with full time jobs live below the current poverty levels, making them eligible for the SNAP program. The fact that one of the largest employers in America pays it’s workers such a low wage, and offers no health insurance, that it cost taxpayers a great deal money. In California, it costs taxpayers $80 million dollars. We don’t subsidize American’s citizens in need, but we’re subsidizing companies like Walmart by paying for their employees healthcare and assisting some with food through SNAP. Actually only about half of those families that qualify for food stamps get them. California discourages needy from signing up for food stamps.The state’s participation rate is the lowest in the U.S. — only about half of those qualified get the aid — making it the envy of more-conservative states. Read more on this at: http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-california-food-stamps-20130818,0,3317166.story. 

Debt Ceiling Increases by President

Ronald Reagan raised the debt ceiling 199.5% (1981-1989,) George W. Bush raised the debt ceiling 90.2% (2001-2009,) and President Obama has raised it 26.3% (2009-Present.) What’s wrong with this picture? Read the “History of the Debt Ceiling and Recent Increases” in an article posted yesterday: http://medic3569.blogspot.com/2013/09/the-debt-limit-history-and-recent.html on this blog. This article uses a report by the Congressional Research Service (CRS) and the Congressional Budget Office (CBO.)

Will the Full Faith and Credit of the United States, and for that Matter, the World Economy Survive a Prolonged Shutdown?

Zachery A Goldfarb of the Washington Post writes “A prolonged government shutdown — followed by a potential default on the federal debt — would have economic ripple effects far beyond Washington, upending financial markets, sending the unemployment rate higher and slowing already tepid growth, according to a wide range of economists.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/danger-to-economy-worries-experts-weighing-potential-government-shutdown-default/2013/09/29/651b7e5c-2793-11e3-ad0d-b7c8d2a594b9_story.html?hpid=z2

Ben White of Politico writes “If a shutdown drags on longer than a couple of weeks, pushing close to the Oct. 17 deadline for raising the debt ceiling, it could be far more damaging, possibly even driving an already slow-growing economy back into recession. Combine a shutdown with a default or near-default, and the sluggish economy would almost certainly stall out.” Read more at:

http://www.politico.com/story/2013/09/government-shutdown-2013-economy-97541.html#ixzz2gNxns9AA 

Paul Lewis in Washington, for The Guardian, US Edition writes: “The impact of any federal shutdown would depend upon how long it lasts. Under contingency arrangements, essential services such as law enforcement, will be kept alive, although hundreds of thousands of federal workers would be placed on unpaid leave.

Social security and Medicare benefits would continue, and air traffic controllers would remain in place to ensure airports function. However museums, national parks and landmarks such as the Statue of Liberty and Washington Monument, would be closed. The military’s 1.4 million personnel active duty would remain in post, but their paychecks would be delayed. About half of the Defense Department’s civilian employees – about 800,000 people – would be furloughed, meaning they would be suspended from work without  pay.
Federal courts would continue to function as usual for around a fortnight, after which the judiciary would have to start shelving work that is not considered essential. The gridlock over the government budget could be just the prelude to an even more serious showdown expected in mid-October over the government debt ceiling.”

Read More at: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/29/us-government-shutdown-house-delay-obamacare?CMP=ema_565&et_cid=50962&et_rid=7955851&Linkid=http%3a%2f%2fwww.theguardian.com%2fworld%2f2013%2fsep%2f29%2fus-government-shutdown-house-delay-obamacare

What Can We Do?

When people get involved and food the offices of the Congressmen and Senators we can make a big difference. The “Fiscal Cliff” was averted on January 1, 2013 after President Obama called on the American people and the offices of Congressmen and Senators were flooded. President Obama is urging the American people to put pressure on their Congressmen and Senators. 

“Obama urges public pressure on Congress, Republicans” in a Capitol Hill Blue article by the Associated Press on September 21, 2013 says “President Barack Obama is appealing to the public anew to pressure Congress to stop undermining his health care law through measures that would threaten a government shutdown or a default on the government’s debts.

Read More: http://www.capitolhillblue.com/node/49149

When the public pressures their representatives it works. Now, more than ever we need to stick together and tell our politicians that they need to act in our best interests instead of their own. We must tell them that;

• A government shutdown is NOT acceptable.
• Holding a Law hostage to get a political argument across is not an acceptable tactic.
• They’ve wasted enough time and taxpayer money voting to repeal the Affordable Care Act 40 times, move on and, in fact obey the law that you took an oath to do and IMPLEMENT it. You took an oath!
• Start making progress on things like the infrastructure, jobs, education, immigration, and the many other things your getting paid to legislate. 
• If you are a House Republican and afraid the Tea Party and the Koch brothers money will run a primary election candidate against you if you choose to do the right thing by the people, DON’T WORRY! We, the people will FIRE YOUR ASS ourselves in the next election if you don’t start acting resposibly.

FIND AND CONTACT YOUR SENATORS HERE:
http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

FIND AND CONTACT YOUR CONGRESSMEN HERE:
http://www.house.gov/representatives/

TELL THEM A GOVERNMENT SHUT DOWN IS UNACCEPTABLE! DO IT NOW! THE GOVERNMENT SHUTS DOWN AT MIDNIGHT TONIGHT! THANK YOU

The Debt Limit: History and Recent Increases – A Government Shutdown is NOT the Answer

Debt Ceiling Increases by Presidents – Congressional Budget Office – Photo by Thinkprogress.org

The Debt Limit: History and Recent Increases

CRS Report for Congress

Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress 

This report, of which we are using excerpts was completed  by the Congressional Research Service.
 

In an effort to explain what the Debt Limit (or Ceiling) is, the history of  Debt Ceiling increases, why they are needed, and why they are normally a formality excepts of this report by the Congressional Research Service will be used.  In the chart above, prepared by the Congressional Budget Office, you can see that under President George W. Bush the debt ceiling was raised by 90.2%  for the years 2001-2009. President Obama has increased the debt ceiling  26.3% from 2009 until the present. But before we get to heavily into the numbers we will talk about the history.

Why Have a Debt Limit?

The debt limit can hinder the Treasury’s ability to manage the federal government’s finances. In extreme cases, when the federal debt is very near its statutory limit, the Treasury must take unusual and extraordinary measures to meet federal obligations. While the debt limit has never caused the federal government to default on its obligations, it has at times caused great inconvenience and has added uncertainty to Treasury operations. The debt limit also provides Congress with the strings to control the federal purse, allowing Congress to assert its constitutional prerogatives to control spending. The debt limit also imposes a form of fiscal accountability that compels Congress and the President to take visible action to allow further federal borrowing when the federal government spends more than it collects in revenues. In the words of one author, the debt limit “expresses a national devotion to the idea of thrift and to economical management of the fiscal affairs of the government.” On the other hand, some budget experts have advocated elimination of the debt limit, arguing that other controls provided by the modern congressional budget process established in 1974 have superseded the debt limit, and that the limit does little to alter spending and revenue policies that determine the size of the federal deficit.

A Brief History of the Federal Debt Limit

Origins of the Federal Debt Limit

The statutory limit on federal debt began with the Second Liberty Bond Act of 1917, which helped finance the United States’ entry into World War I. By allowing the Treasury to issue long-term Liberty Bonds, which were marketed to the public at large, the federal government held down its interest costs. Before World War I, Congress authorized specific loans, such as the Panama Canal loan, or allowed the Treasury to issue specific types of debt instruments, such as certificates of indebtedness, bills, notes and bonds. In other cases, Congress provided the Treasury with limited discretion to choose debt instruments. With the passage of the Second Liberty Bond Act, Congress enacted aggregate constraints on certificates of indebtedness and on bonds that allowed the Treasury greater ability to respond to changing conditions and more flexibility in financial management. Debt limit legislation in the following two decades also set separate limits for different categories of debt, such as bills, certificates, and bonds. In 1939, Congress eliminated separate limits on bonds and on other types of debt, which created. This measure gave the Treasury freer rein to manage the federal debt as it saw fit. Thus, the Treasury could issue debt instruments with maturities that would reduce interest costs and minimize financial risks stemming from future. On the other hand, although the Treasury was delegated greater independence of action, the debt limit on the eve of World War II was much closer to total federal debt than it had been at the end of World War I. For example, the 1919 Victory Liberty Bond Act (P.L. 65-328) raised the maximum allowable federal debt to $43 billion, far above the $25.5 By contrast, the debt limit in 1939 was $45 billion, only about 10% above the $40.4 billion total federal debt of that time.

World War II and After

The debt ceiling was raised to accommodate accumulating costs for World War II in each year

from 1941 through 1945, when it was set at $300 billion. After World War II ended, the debt limit was reduced to $275 billion. Because the Korean War was mostly financed by higher taxes rather than by increased debt, the limit remained at $275 billion until 1954. After 1954, the debt limit was reduced twice and increased seven times, until March 1962 when it again reached $300 billion, its level at the end of World War II. Since March 1962, Congress has enacted 74 separate measures that have altered the limit on federal debt. Most of these changes in the debt limit were, measured in percentage terms, small in comparison to changes adopted in wartime or during the Great Depression. Some recent increases in the debt limit,  however, were large in dollar terms. For instance, in May 2003, the debt limit increased by $984 billion. 

 

Summary of the Report

Total debt of the federal government can increase in two ways. First, debt increases when the government sells debt to the public to finance budget deficits and acquire the financial resources needed to meet its obligations. This increases debt held by the public. Second, debt increases when the federal government issues debt to certain government accounts, such as the Social Security, Medicare, and Transportation trust funds, in exchange for their reported surpluses. This increases debt held by government accounts. The sum of

debt held by the public and debt held by government accounts is the total federal debt. Surpluses generally reduce debt held by the public,while deficits raise it. 

 

The Debt Ceiling in the Last Decade

During the four years (FY1998-FY2001) the government ran surpluses, federal debt held by intergovernmental accounts grew by $855 billion and debt held by the public fell by almost $450 billion. Since FY2001, however, debt held by the public has grown due to persistent and substantial budget deficits. Debt held in government accounts also has grown, in large part because Social Security payroll taxes have exceeded payments of beneficiaries. Table 1 shows components of debt in current dollars and as percentages of gross domestic product (GDP).

Table 1. Components of Debt Subject to Limit, FY1996-FY2009 (in billions of current dollars and as percentage of GDP)

To see the entire report click this link: http://assets.opencrs.com/rpts/RL31967_20100128.pdf
 

Components of Federal Debt As a Percentage of GDP, FY1940-FY2000

Figure 1. Components of Federal Debt As a Percentage of GDP, FY1940-FY2009

The report then explains how debt limit issues from 2002-2007.  The table below shows increases in the debt limit since 2000.

Table 2. Increases in the Debt Limit Since January 2000

Concluding Comments

Since the late 1950s, the federal government increased its borrowing from the public in all years,

except in FY1969 following imposition of a war surcharge and in the period FY1997-FY2001.

The persistence of federal budget deficits has required the government to issue more and more

debt to the public. The accumulation of Social Security and other trust funds, particularly after

1983 when recommendations of the Greenspan Commission were implemented, led to sustained

growth in government-held debt subject to limit. The growth in federal debt held by the public

and in intergovernmental accounts, such as trust funds, has periodically obliged Congress to raise

the debt limit. Between August 1997, when the debt limit was raised to $5,950 billion, and the beginning of

FY2002 in October 2001, federal budget surpluses reduced debt held by the public. From the end

of FY2001, the last fiscal year with a surplus, until the end of FY2008, debt held by the public

subject to limit grew by $2,484 billion. Federal debt held in intergovernmental accounts grew

steadily throughout the period, rising by $1,743 billion since the beginning of FY 2002

The Bottom Line:

Raising the Debt Ceiling Should Not Be a Bargaining Chip and Held Hostage in Lieu of a Government Shutdown

The Republican controlled House of Representatives has now voted on bills to send to the Senate that include delaying the Affordable Care Act for one year, which President Obama has already said he would allow.

Senate Democratic leadership said they will not accept this language, pushing the federal government a step closer to a government shutdown on Oct. 1. The vote was 231-192 with 2 Republicans voting against and 2 Democrats voting for the measure.

Shutting down the government is not the answer, and most Republicans know that this will hurt their party but the extremist Tea Party members have tunnel-vision and simply, don’t care. Contact your Congressmen and Senators and tell them to work it out. Raising the debt ceiling does NOT give authority to spend more money, it only allows America to pay the bills it has already accrued.

To find and contact your Senators use this link: http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

To find and contact your Congressmen use this link: http://www.house.gov/representatives/

Do it now. Send an e-mail or make a call. People can get things done when they come together and make contact with their representatives.

The Money Runs Out at the End of September – Will This Inept Republican Congress Really Allow A Government Shutdown?!

Google Images

Money Runs Out at the End of September:

Tea Party members, Obstructionists, Extremists, think that if even a single nickle to fund The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, aka “Obamacare,” is appropriated, then the government of the United States of America should be shut down, REALLY?! Shut the government down? Many right wing conservatives follow these idiots because their worried that the Tea Party will run someone against them in a primary election. Other Republicans like House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH.) are trying to come up with something to get the obstructionist Tea Party to not close down the government. They remember how bad it was for them the last couple times they shut down the government. The House Republicans have actually taken the time, on a salary paid to them by taxpayers, to vote to repeal Obamacare forty times while doing little else but obstruct, try to appease their base, and do some fundraising for their next campaign. So, are we headed for yet another government shutdown and everything that comes with it?

In a post by the Center for American Progress “The Dirty Truth About Boehner’s ‘Clean’ Continuing Resolution” By Neera Tanden and Michael Linden http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/budget/report/2013/09/10/73749/the-dirty-truth-about-boehners-clean-continuing-resolution/  a number of actual facts are pointed out about the proposal of House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH.) He intended to press the House of Representatives, Thursday,  to pass what he calls a “clean” continuing resolution to avoid a government shutdown and to give his caucus more time to force another round of deep cuts to critical programs, services, and investments.

But in fact, a continuing resolution at the levels Speaker Boehner proposed—totaling approximately $988 billion in overall discretionary funding—would already include another round of spending cuts. The speaker’s plan would have Congress endorse 100 percent of next year’s sequester spending cuts for nondefense programs and services and about 60 percent of the automatic defense spending cuts. It is easy to see why this approach would be attractive to Speaker Boehner and the Tea Party; it is much harder to understand why any progressive or centrist would support such an approach says the article. Both the Senate Budget Resolution and the president’s budget proposal reject the additional cuts that are embedded in the speaker’s plan. They both call for funding levels that are consistent with the original deal embodied by the Budget Control Act. Congress must resist unreasonable demands to make further damaging cuts to important investments in our economic future, such as education and scientific research; basic public safety protections, such as food and drug inspections and law enforcement; or services that help support struggling families. These services, programs, and investments have already suffered from enormous cuts—and we are likely to feel the ramifications for years. Yet even more cuts are embedded within Speaker Boehner’s continuing-resolution proposal. At the end of September, the spending authority that Congress gave the government for fiscal year 2013 will run out. At some point before that, Congress must pass new legislation that sets funding levels for FY 2014, which begins on October 1 of this year. If Congress does not pass such a measure before that date, the federal government will shut down, bringing serious consequences for the economy and the American people.

AP Photo

Debt ceiling drama underway

During the debate, Republicans will be trying to please their base. A Politico.com article by Jake Sherman and John Bresnahan  http://www.politico.com/story/2013/08/debt-ceiling-95826.html stated “House Republicans have no idea how they’re going to lift the debt ceiling this fall — top aides and lawmakers freely admit it.” GOP leaders think that if they are able to lump the sequester and debt ceiling into one legislative fight, they will be able to extract some changes to entitlement programs from President Barack Obama and congressional Democrats. The article goes on to say Republicans will also aim to include other items to please the base, including the building of the Keystone XL pipeline, various energy policies and revising parts of Obamacare, including the individual mandate. A senior Obama administration official said there is nothing that will compel the White House to negotiate over the debt ceiling — including the sequester. The White House doesn’t believe the Republicans will push the nation into default if they don’t get their way. Over the next 90 days, government funding runs dry, the $16 trillion-plus debt ceiling needs to lifted, and elements of both parties will launch serious efforts to soften the blow of sequester cuts. In another Politico article by David Rogers and John Bresnahan http://www.politico.com/story/2013/09/house-gop-spending-bill-96393.html it is stated that “As a new stopgap spending bill takes shape in the House, President Barack Obama is paying a price for having dropped his guard in negotiations last spring over top domestic priorities.The White House caved early to pressure then from Republicans, who cut hundreds of millions from Obama’s appropriations requests to implement health care and Wall Street reforms. Those reductions were compounded by sequestration in March, and the draft CR or continuing resolution in the House extends this pattern into the first months of fiscal 2014 beginning Oct. 1.” The GOP leadership is still debating how to handle the pressure from conservatives for a vote on the CR to cut off all funding for health care reform. But the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which plays a major role in implementing the president’s initiative, is a prime example of the squeeze on Obama.

Photo by Eric Wolfson

Democrats Torn Over Strategy For Government Shutdown Fight 

In an article by Sam Stein in Huff Post Politics he points how House Republicans will target Obamacare. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/13/democrats-government-shutdown_n_3921034.html?1379092691 “As Democrats wait to see whether and how House Republicans will target the president’s health care law during ongoing budget negotiations, a fissure has developed within their own ranks over how hard to push back.” Democratic officials on the Hill say the current debate is less important than those that lie ahead, pointing to the bigger battles coming in a few months time the article goes on to say. The disagreement in the Republican Party is a big one. “GOP leadership has already had to pull a bill because conservative members didn’t think it sufficiently threatened the Affordable Care Act.” Sam Stein explains that “Understanding the dispute requires a bit of background. The Budget Control Act of 2011 established caps on how much the government could spend during a given fiscal year. In fiscal year 2013, that number was $1.043 trillion. In fiscal year 2014, which begins in October, that number will be $1.058 trillion. But sequestration effectively reduces those spending caps. In FY 2013, it lowered the $1.043 trillion spending cap to $988 billion. For FY 2014, it is set to decrease the $1.058 trillion spending cap to $967 billion. Since sequestration is unlikely to be replaced anytime soon, spending in the coming fiscal year will likely be capped at $967 billion. But if sequestration is canceled down the road, the baselines will become important once again.” The article goes on to explain clearly, what each side is looking for but the problem is that the Republican party doesn’t have a clue on what they want. Since the Republicans are so far apart within there own party they don’t even know what they should discuss with the Democrats or the administration.

Possible Effects of a Government Shutdown  

From an article originally posted by The Huffington Post on June 5, 2011: 

• The last shutdown cost taxpayers $800 million, including $400 million in wages to federal workers who did not report to work, according to About.com. However, during the first shutdown in 1995 800,000 non-essential workers were furloughed without pay for five days, according to AOL News.

•  A shutdown could delay social security claims and social security card issuing. Last time the government shut down 800,000 toll-free calls went unanswered, according to About.com.

• A shutdown would delay newly eligible recipients from applying, according to About.com.

• The 1995-1996 shutdown caused delays in case processing, recruitment, testing and hiring, and reportedly suspended cases involving bankruptcy and child-suport, according to About.com.

• A shutdown would result in the stoppage of many government programs involving the environment. During the last shutdown toxic waste clean-up was even suspended, according to About.com.

•  A government shutdown will cause national parks to close, turning away millions of visitors and result in a loss of revenue, according to AOL News. In addition, federally funded museums would also close as a result of the shutdown.

• If the government shuts down passport and visa applications will be delayed with a detrimental impact on the U.S. tourist and airlines industries, according to AOL News.

•  Veterans services including health and welfare programs to finance could be cut short in the event of a shut down, according to About.com.

• While the exact impact is unclear, a government shutdown could result in the delay of FHA mortgage loans that low-and-moderate-income families often depend on, according to About.com.
   The fact is that a government shutdown, along with not raising the debt ceiling, lowering America’s credit rating, and the numerous irreversible things that will happen in this fragile economy, may just be the last straw that breaks the camel’s back. And the scariest thing is that the only thing we have is this incompetent Congress. The same Congress that has lived up to their original goal of obstructing EVERYTHING that President Obama wants or says he agrees is good. The fact that the Tea Party, the best at obstructing any of of legislating has the Republicans totally baffled. The Republicans have no idea of how to get them to “compromise” on anything since the Tea Party doesn’t allow that word into their vocabulary. All we can hope for is that some of the Republicans will see the devastation that is about to be done and stand up against the extremist that don’t care if the country, or for that matter the world economy collapses and total devastation is realized.

  PLEASE TAKE TIME TO CONTACT BY PHONE, E-MAIL, SNAIL MAIL, OR ANY OTHER MEANS OF COMMUNICATION, YOUR CONGRESSMEN AND SENATORS AND TELL THEM THEY SHOULD FEAR YOU AND YOUR VOTE, NOT THE OBSTRUCTIONIST TEA PARTY!

Florida Insurers Are Now Free to Screw Consumers and Must, By Law, Blame Obamacare

Unfortunately Floridians can’t be protected from their own Governor Rick Scott. He refused money to implement the Affordable Care Act because he was sure the Republican US Supreme Court would defeat it. When they didn’t he did something even worse.

In an August 24, 2013 Huffington Posts The Blog article by Wendell Potter, Author, consultant; columnist at Center for Public Integrity and healthinsurance.org, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/wendell-potter/florida-insurers-are-now_b_3785206.html writes that the Governor signed into law a bill (SB 1842) that will cause Floridians to pay much higher premiums for health insurance. Last month, Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty’s office said insurance premiums for individuals in Florida would be significantly higher than they are now. And if that weren’t bad enough, insurers will actually be required by law to mislead their Florida customers about why they’re hiking their premiums.That’s right, insurers will, by law have to mislead their customers. 

As Florida CHAIN, a state advocacy group, pointed out when Scott signed SB 1842, the law not only blocks McCarty’s office from protecting consumers, a provision in the law actually requires insurers to send deceptive and misleading notices about rate increases to consumers — and to blame Obamacare for them.

“The only ‘public education’ of any sort authorized by the Legislature related to the ACA (Affordable Care Act) is a requirement … that insurers send extremely biased and incomplete notices this fall about the ACA and its effect on policyholders’ rates,” Florida CHAIN said in a statement.

This is exactly the kind of information that must be spread. This is why I started this blog http://www.Medic3569.blogspot.com and my Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/pages/Stop-the-Obstructionist-Tea-Party/1404191656471075 . People must be made aware what is really going on when stuff like this happens. Whether it be a Governor, Congressman, Senator, or even local politician, people MUST get the facts so they can go to the polls and FIRE  the people who are doing them harm. Maybe we should make all politicians state in their oath, when they take office, the part of the Hippocratic oath that doctors take, “DO NO HARM.”