Meet the Press with David Gregory

Tim Russet, he is not!  David Gregory is a shadow of what we are used to viewing on Meet the Press.  Having said that, here is my take on today’s broadcast…

David Gregory expects his guest to give him honest candid answers willingly… he might be able to accomplish that with the likes of Newt Gingrich, but McConnell is not Newt.  So he complains that his guest are not being straight-forward.  Notice when Gregory interrupts or attempts to interrupts – time and time again he will demure when he is attempting to interrupt a Republican guest, but persist when attempting to do so with a Democrat!

Gregory states that the President has not been serious about turning the economy around and addressing the deficit issues…  Please, Mr. Gregory, view the records for the first two years of Obama’s presidency.  Recall, please, the loss of jobs (seven hundred thousand a month) in September, 2010 and the turn-around in February, 2011 under Obama.  This President had so many alligators surrounding him the day he took office, I am impressed that he was able to do what he did!

On Medicare, the mere fact that no one currently in a position to receive Medicare ever elected to opt into Medicare!  We all were enrolled into a system that promised to be a safety net for us in our retirement.  Given those parameters, there is no way that you are going to take that program out of use simply because it is top-loaded!  Eisenhower said that any Party attempting to take away Social Security, Medicare, and other popular social programs will cease to exist as a viable political party.  I think that he was/is absolutely right!

When the Republicans decide to come to the table with everything on the table, there will be a meaningful debate with a fruitful outcome - hopefully.  Quite frankly, there are a few issues that the Republicans are asking that will never be considered…

1.       A continuance of the Bush tax cuts is ludicrous, considering that we can’t afford to ‘give away’ seven billion dollars a year for the next two years.  Those tax cuts would add up to 1.4 trillion dollars over their two year extension to the deficit.

2.      Loopholes in the tax code that allow big business to defer any profits that they make overseas.  Those same tax loopholes support the out-sourcing of jobs by allowing those losses overseas to be included in write-offs on their taxes here in the United States.  You simply can’t continue tax cuts to businesses that aren’t willingly to support the demand for jobs here in America.

3.      None of us has ever been able to make our house payments without income… the same is true for the United States Government – taxes are the revenue needed to sustain our government.  Obviously, spending cuts are required as well, but to balance the budget on the backs of fixed income Seniors is ‘never’ going to happen!

4.      Speculation in the Commodities vital to the economy should be banned – the price of gasoline at the pump is not because of the Oil Industries gouging prices.  The speculation is caused by buyers hoarding the oil on the market and driving the prices for that oil up before they sell to the processors of that oil into gasoline.  We can't afford such fluctuations in this shaky economy!

5.      We have to remove the Anti-Trust laws that allow the Insurance Industry to shape the price that consumers must pay to be insured.  Pharmaceutical companies have a choke hold on the American people as well; they should be placed under scrutiny for manipulation of the price of drugs.

Finally, let’s set the record straight!  We hear Republicans stating ‘falsely’, that Obama is the reason that we are in this deficit scenario:

1.      The Bush tax cuts are responsible for three and a half trillion dollars associated with the deficit.  Do the  math… seven billion dollars times five years!

2.      The war in Iraq added another two billion dollars per month to the deficit because that war was financed on credit – it was never included in the budget!

3.      De-regulation of Wall Street and the Real Estate Industry occurred as a result of the legislation ‘pushed’ by the Republicans to support practices that resulted in major defaults by borrowers.  The monkey is squarely on the back of those supporting these ridiculous changes to our economy.

In a democracy, silence is not golden; it is condonance in the face of injustices; it is fear, where the thought of reprisal fosters control – Rodney A. Davis

Paul Ryan and the Class Warfare Death Knell

Paul Ryan's budget for 2012 is doable; however, he has chosen to place the brunt of the budget cuts on the backs of the lower classes while the rich remained untouched - which makes it totally unacceptable!

This is totally unfair to the people whom, in no way, are responsible for the current deficits. Were he to make an equitable adjustment to his budget proposal by placing the cuts totally on the backs of those that received the benefits from the past ten years, then I would see no reasons why it can't be implemented.

The two year extension of tax cuts just granted to the rich would, in and of itself, remove more than 1.4 trillion from the deficit prior to proposing his budget in the first two years.

What is it that makes Mr. Ryan and the GOP believe that this is the best way to reduce the deficit… inquiring minds want to know?

In a democracy, silence is not golden; it is condonance in the face of injustices; it is fear, where the thought of reprisal fosters control – Rodney A. Davis

The Truth About 'ObamaCare''

FDR said "the only thing that we have to fear... is fear itself"

I said that, to say this, if you don't know what "ObamaCare" is, than it is natural to refuse to accept what you think is being 'forced' on you. I studied the legislation from its inception in Congress. I came away with the realization that it is good for a number of reasons, among them; this improved health care legislation eliminates fraud, it allows eligible individuals, and their families to have access to health care legitimately without subjecting the Health Care Industry to be burdened with cost overruns due to unpaid for Emergency Room visits.

What Republican legislators don't like about the Bill is the fact that it puts the feet of the Insurance Industry to the fire, in that it stops the Insurance Industry from denying coverage for pre-existing conditions, it allows the unemployed to buy health insurance at a price that will be subsidized by the taxes placed on the top three percent of taxpayers, and sets aside a fund to support the need of low income families to obtain health insurance.

One of the things that the Republicans have voiced, with the result being that the uninformed have championed the Republican outcry, is that everyone eligible is being 'forced' to buy this Health Care Plan. What the Republicans are telling everyone is that you will be fined, if you don't buy-in to the plan. The truth of the matter is, that for the plan to work, everybody must have some form of health insurance.

If you like the plan that your employee is offering - do nothing. If you think that you gain an advantage through the proposed changes to how we are all insured, buy-in to the plan that best fits your needs. Those not choosing either, and not having any form of insurance, will be fined the cost of what it takes to insure them with a basic plan that fits their basic needs. As a result, the hospital industry gets paid for patients who received services from them and no one goes bankrupt because of a catastrophic illness.

'ObamaCare' also increases the funding to Medicare and Medicaid by reducing the fraud and abuse. Fraud and abuse are the greatest liabilities of the above named health care entities because many doctors, hospitals, and pharmaceuticals are abusing the system to the tune of five hundred billion dollars a year! When fraud and abuse are taken out of the equation, you now have more money with which to increase the level of care to those eligible to receive it! No waste, no fraud, no abuse = a uniformed system of health care that denies no one.

President Obama and Attorney General Holder have launched an aggressive campaign to eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse within the Heath Care Industry.  Instead of supporting these types of initiatives to reduce/eliminate the factors that create huge profits at considerable cost to the American taxpayer, Republicans are trying to stymie any effort to protect the American consumer from a predator that feeds on a basic human need - access to good and efficient health care services that do not discriminate!  Senator McConnell (R-Ky) has repeatedly said, in recent days, that he will 'repeal' ObamaCare!

The biggest problem with this new health care legislation is that it was never explained properly to those whom it would affect the most - the American consumer!  I give all the props to President Obama for not having done so.

References:
http://cozumelianblogger.wordpress.com/2010/11/10/health-care-bill-what-does-it-mean-for-you-obama-to-sign-bill-tuesday-abc-news/


In a democracy, silence is not golden; it is condonance in the face of injustices; it is fear, where the thought of reprisal fosters control – Rodney A. Davis

Universal Healthcare Without the Hassles

In today’s workplace healthcare is offered for a price by less than sixty percent of businesses employing five hundred people, or more. The cost of healthcare is the prime reason why companies are opting not to offer healthcare to its employees. Hospitals are raising the cost of healthcare by five to six percent each year. Healthcare Administrators add to the cost of providing healthcare. Obviously we can’t continue to accept the spiraling cost of healthcare. Everyone is suffering from the cost and loss of healthcare.

The solution is easy! It is very easy, if you are into socialism. American is a melting pot of the world when it comes to the number of racially identifiable groups of people living in one country. So it stands to reason that socialism could survive within a democratic system of things if we all could agree that healthcare is in trouble and we all know that healthcare is in big trouble. We need to reduce cost, extend healthcare to ‘everyone’, no matter their status in life, and grandfather all healthcare issues particular to anyone needing healthcare.

How so we accomplish all of the above and keep the cost of healthcare down? How do we extend healthcare to all, no matter their status, without putting all of our hospitals out of business? The answer is simple – pool all of the money spent to buy healthcare into one massive healthcare system. Regulate all of the pharmaceutical companies. Regulate all of the fees for procedures performed by physicians. Limit the profits made by hospitals.

Here is how I envision the Healthcare System of the future…

1. Hospitals will accept all patients entering their doors. The quality of healthcare shall not diminish.

a. Liability for mal-practice will be set and uniform

b. Hospitals will be graded for healthcare nonconformance

c. The Healthcare System shall subsidize initial and continuing educational needs of the Medical professionals under contract to work for the Healthcare System.

2. Pharmaceutical companies will reduce the cost to hospitals for their products to standards set by the government.

a. Research for new pharmaceuticals will be subsidized by the healthcare system in conjunction with the government’s Department of Internal Revenue service.

b. Reduced prices for bulk orders of pharmaceuticals shall reflect the final cost to hospitals and consumers.

3. Healthcare Administrators shall administer the different healthcare plans as before, but be supervised and regulated by the Department of Health Care.

4. The Department of Health Care shall subsidize the operating cost of the Universal Healthcare System where necessary to stabilize the system.

How the new Healthcare System will work…

All companies currently providing healthcare to their employees will be given open-house to opt into the new system and receive the following reduction to their healthcare cost:

1. Employee participation fees will be collected and forwarded to the governing body that oversees the day-to-day operations of the healthcare Administrators.

2. All companies opting into the new system will pay a yearly fee based upon the number of employees on their payroll upon entry and at the end of their calendar. Only employees that have worked for six months, or more in that calendar year can be counted to calculate the company’s annual fee. The more employees working for the company, the greater reduction in the annual fee.

3. The Department of Health Care shall provide start-up cost for the transition from private healthcare to government over-sight healthcare.

Employees will have the choice of type of healthcare plan they wish to select. Employees will bear the cost of any plan selected over and above the standard healthcare plan normally provided by the Subsidized Healthcare System.

Those persons not gainfully employed shall received standard healthcare as provided by the healthcare System. Those persons whom are self-employed shall pay a fee for services in accordance with their annual income. No one can be denied healthcare for any reason.

Medicare and Medicaid shall be incorporated into the Healthcare System in accordance with the rules and directives that apply in the Employee/Employer relationship with providers taking on the responsibilities that an employer would have in each instance.

This system is self-sustaining if the unemployment rate remains low. The level of expertise is enhanced by encouraging all healthcare providers to upgrade the level of education of all healthcare workers.

I would encourage those reading this article to offer any advice that would enhance the probability of this type of healthcare plan actually succeeding if it were to be put in place. We thank you in advance…