When will we all wake up and see what is going on? We acknowledge the signs of what is happening but we really don’t connect the dots very well. We don’t connect one action with another let alone link three, four or five incidents together. We don’t want to believe our elected officials are really bad people. Oh, we will say they are inept or dumb or out of touch but we will not believe they would purposely hurt us. But they will.
I have written my Congressman and Senators and I’ve heard back from them. The bottom line is they don’t care about what we, the citizens want. I asked Senator Specter, last December, not to support the health care reform bill in front of him. He sent me a canned message three months later, just like Senator Casey and Congressman Doyle. His support for the current health care legislation is even more encompassing that what is already on the table. He looks at this legislation as only the beginning of health care reform. He believes that it may take a few more bills over the next few years to expand government health care and elevate it to a right of all citizens. That’s code for socialized medicine.
Senator Specter wants health care to become a right and he wants that health care to include abortion. That’s not all, by supporting the current legislation he supports reducing Medicare costs, that’s code for reducing benefits. That means take health care away from senior citizens. Senator Casey, in his response said the bill slashes hundreds of billions from Medicare to fund a new government program, cuts to hospitals, nursing homes, and hospices that care for senior citizens. That is code for euthanasia. He went on to say the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has estimated that health care reform will cost $871 billion over the next ten years and is projected to reduce the federal deficit by $132 billion during the same period. None of them mention the additional taxes we are going to pay to fund the trillion dollar cost.
I do not believe that abortion is health care and I do not believe euthanasia is health care. My representatives do not support my beliefs. My President wants a health care bill on his desk by the end of the week and insists he will get it.
I’ve got a suggestion for all those elected officials who say this health care bill will work as good as they say it will. If you are so sure that you can make our health care system better, start by; funding the already existing veterans hospitals so they can take care of all of our veterans, totally fund the Veterans Administration to take care of Gulf War Syndrome, totally fund the Veterans Administration to take care of our Atomic Vets, totally fund the Veterans Administration to take care of our Agent Orange Vets, totally fund Tri-Care (military health insurance) for active duty and retired veterans that can be used in any health care facility in the United States, and while you’re at it reduce the wait time for the 90,000 veterans still waiting for their cases to be rated.
It is time we all say no to socialism and let freedom ring. We need to take our country back from this type of politician. They are a cancer to our liberty and freedom. The door bell is ringing gentlemen, it’s time you get out of our house.
Showing posts with label Taxes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Taxes. Show all posts
Monday, March 15, 2010
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Mandated Health Care
It seems like this issue is talked about too much but we are on the verge of institutionalizing another benefit as an entitlement for some of our citizens. Since the Great Depression we have been instituting one entitlement after another. I don’t want to be misunderstood, I’m not opposed to helping others in a lot of ways including health care. I think churches and private social service agencies such as Lutheran Service Society, Catholic Charities, Brothers Brother, the V.F.W., American Legion and the Salvation Army do a good job already. And we can’t forget our hospitals and the Hill-Burton Act services they give to the poor. What I am not in favor of is the government getting involved by taxing one group of people so others don’t have to purchase health care, get a job, or pay their mortgage.
I know I’m not alone because the national polls say a majority of people are not in favor of the current health care reform being tossed around by Congress. If that is what the public believes why is Congress continuing to support and push through such legislation. I attended a Senator Spector town hall meeting, where Congressman Murphy was present but he was not given the opportunity to speak even though he tried to speak several times. I have called my congressman, written to my congressman and senators and they have not had the decency to respond and tell me “thanks but I don’t’ agree with you.” Well, I guess they have because they continue to drive on with their agenda.
Congressman Doyles recent newsletter says he is working hard to pass a bill that would “provide affordable, high quality health insurance coverage to millions of Americans who are currently uninsured.” Who says millions of uninsured Americans want health insurance? The Amish people are being excluded from the legislation on religious objection grounds because they take care of each other and they don’t want the government stepping into their affairs.
Young people don’t purchase insurance either, for a variety of reasons, but now they, or their parents, will have to spend money on health care. Even though they will want to spend their money on education bills, a new car, auto insurance, etc.. they will be forced to purchase health care or pay a fine.
Congressman Doyle also wants to “slow the growth of health care costs”. That’s nice but one of the big issues with rising health care costs is legal settlement costs. That’s what lawyers get for handling cases against doctors and hospitals. Most people call that tort reform but there is none of it in the health care reform bill.
He also wants to “increase competition in the health insurance market” and “get health care costs under control”, “to end the near-monopolies” in health care to “help consumers, businesses, and the federal government save money.” However the legislation doesn’t address the lack of portability of our Southwestern Pennsylvania health insurance to other parts of the country or vice-versa.
The problem then rests with the solution. Congressman Doyle wants to make sure that we “pay for these reforms in a fair and equitable fashion.” I say that “fair and equitable” is that I get to choose when I buy insurance and when I don’t. We already know that their fair and equitable fashion is to: force everyone to purchase insurance, fine anyone $750 if they don’t purchase health care insurance, tax existing health insurance plans, tax anyone who makes over $500,000 a year, and reduce or eliminate some already existing health care services from Medicare and Medicaid, unless you live in Nebraska. Oh, and grow the size of the government. Everything we don’t need. It’s time for change.
I know I’m not alone because the national polls say a majority of people are not in favor of the current health care reform being tossed around by Congress. If that is what the public believes why is Congress continuing to support and push through such legislation. I attended a Senator Spector town hall meeting, where Congressman Murphy was present but he was not given the opportunity to speak even though he tried to speak several times. I have called my congressman, written to my congressman and senators and they have not had the decency to respond and tell me “thanks but I don’t’ agree with you.” Well, I guess they have because they continue to drive on with their agenda.
Congressman Doyles recent newsletter says he is working hard to pass a bill that would “provide affordable, high quality health insurance coverage to millions of Americans who are currently uninsured.” Who says millions of uninsured Americans want health insurance? The Amish people are being excluded from the legislation on religious objection grounds because they take care of each other and they don’t want the government stepping into their affairs.
Young people don’t purchase insurance either, for a variety of reasons, but now they, or their parents, will have to spend money on health care. Even though they will want to spend their money on education bills, a new car, auto insurance, etc.. they will be forced to purchase health care or pay a fine.
Congressman Doyle also wants to “slow the growth of health care costs”. That’s nice but one of the big issues with rising health care costs is legal settlement costs. That’s what lawyers get for handling cases against doctors and hospitals. Most people call that tort reform but there is none of it in the health care reform bill.
He also wants to “increase competition in the health insurance market” and “get health care costs under control”, “to end the near-monopolies” in health care to “help consumers, businesses, and the federal government save money.” However the legislation doesn’t address the lack of portability of our Southwestern Pennsylvania health insurance to other parts of the country or vice-versa.
The problem then rests with the solution. Congressman Doyle wants to make sure that we “pay for these reforms in a fair and equitable fashion.” I say that “fair and equitable” is that I get to choose when I buy insurance and when I don’t. We already know that their fair and equitable fashion is to: force everyone to purchase insurance, fine anyone $750 if they don’t purchase health care insurance, tax existing health insurance plans, tax anyone who makes over $500,000 a year, and reduce or eliminate some already existing health care services from Medicare and Medicaid, unless you live in Nebraska. Oh, and grow the size of the government. Everything we don’t need. It’s time for change.
Monday, November 30, 2009
Tire Tax
Depending on whom you believe, the excise tax on tires is protecting American jobs or running up the cost of tires. President Obama imposed a 35 percent excise tax on foreign made tires, that took effect, in September to counteract the claim that about 5,000 U.S. workers have lost their jobs in the past five years due to imports.
The tax adds about $35 to the price of two $50 snow tires or $70 for a set of four tires. We are expecting to replace 210 million tires in the next year. Assuming that the price for a tire is $50, the price of two would be $100 with an add on that would be $135. The cost of domestic tires is going to increase also because of the shortage caused by the tax. With 105 million sets sold that would mean that we will pay 3.675 billion dollars in tax. That’s 735 thousand dollars annual tax per job lost in the domestic tire industry. I didn’t know tire workers made that much. How does that make any sense unless the government having a windfall in tax collection is the only goal?
I was talking to a friend who was upset that his medi-care premium was going up from 98 dollars a month to 150 dollars a month next year. That is a hefty increase. Are all senior citizens getting the same increase? I wonder if that increase was calculated by the same people who figured out that a 35 percent excise tax on tires would save jobs or that carbon emissions are causing global warming?
Cap and Trade is on the way to our neighborhood. That’s another word for a tax on any business or person who uses energy to live or work. You see, energy use causes carbon emission that is causing global warming, and the tax will save the world while destroying jobs in the United States. Don’t worry, that hoax you are hearing about being perpetrated on the world will be put to rest when the Copenhagen agreement is endorsed by the President next week. Ironically, on December 7th.
While this is going on the City of Pittsburgh is in a debate concerning taxing student tuition as a privilege. Mr. Motznik told the students that he hoped they were upset with the universities because they don’t pay their fair share of taxes. The audacity of elected officials, who forget what schools and non-profits do for our cities and the region, just so they can tax the public in a new way.
Wait until you see the VAT tax that comes with the health care legislation we are bound to get. Ah yes, a tax that is hidden and the people don’t realize they are paying, what a windfall for tax and spend officials. Another means, like those listed above to tax the public in a new way! I think it is time we all wake up and smell the coffee.
The tax adds about $35 to the price of two $50 snow tires or $70 for a set of four tires. We are expecting to replace 210 million tires in the next year. Assuming that the price for a tire is $50, the price of two would be $100 with an add on that would be $135. The cost of domestic tires is going to increase also because of the shortage caused by the tax. With 105 million sets sold that would mean that we will pay 3.675 billion dollars in tax. That’s 735 thousand dollars annual tax per job lost in the domestic tire industry. I didn’t know tire workers made that much. How does that make any sense unless the government having a windfall in tax collection is the only goal?
I was talking to a friend who was upset that his medi-care premium was going up from 98 dollars a month to 150 dollars a month next year. That is a hefty increase. Are all senior citizens getting the same increase? I wonder if that increase was calculated by the same people who figured out that a 35 percent excise tax on tires would save jobs or that carbon emissions are causing global warming?
Cap and Trade is on the way to our neighborhood. That’s another word for a tax on any business or person who uses energy to live or work. You see, energy use causes carbon emission that is causing global warming, and the tax will save the world while destroying jobs in the United States. Don’t worry, that hoax you are hearing about being perpetrated on the world will be put to rest when the Copenhagen agreement is endorsed by the President next week. Ironically, on December 7th.
While this is going on the City of Pittsburgh is in a debate concerning taxing student tuition as a privilege. Mr. Motznik told the students that he hoped they were upset with the universities because they don’t pay their fair share of taxes. The audacity of elected officials, who forget what schools and non-profits do for our cities and the region, just so they can tax the public in a new way.
Wait until you see the VAT tax that comes with the health care legislation we are bound to get. Ah yes, a tax that is hidden and the people don’t realize they are paying, what a windfall for tax and spend officials. Another means, like those listed above to tax the public in a new way! I think it is time we all wake up and smell the coffee.
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Municipal Budgets
We are lucky, Mayor Doscher presented a balanced budget for 2010, without a tax increase. With the current council we might just get the budget passed before the end of the year. Other municipalities aren’t so lucky. We have been in an economic down turn for over a year now and some elected officials just don’t get it.
Right next door Mayor Luke wants to tax post secondary school students, for the privilege of attending school in the city. When the Intergovernmental Cooperative Group said no to the tax the mayor immediately said he would have to stop the next class of police officer trainees, eliminate a firehouse and all school crossing guards. He even hired a $650 dollar an hour Philadelphia lawyer to get his way. Sounds like a joke doesn’t it?
I wonder why the first thing to go wouldn’t have been the 125 Citiparks Summer Food Service Program sites that “provides healthy and delicious breakfasts, lunches and snacks to all children up to 18 years old” seems like a luxury to me. I wonder how many other line items are less important than police, firemen and school crossing guards but they aren’t on the chopping block?
I’m guessing his threat was to scare the people of Pittsburgh into supporting a tax on all those outsiders who attend Pitt, CMU, Duquesne, Chatham, Carlow, Robert Morris and CCAC. Why should Pittsburgh stop at the post secondary schools? Why don’t they tax the grade school kids also? I mean, after all isn’t all education a privilege? Most of the people around the world would agree that all education is a privilege.
Now the city is calling for a study to see how many city services can be laid on the schools by calculating their property values. Following that logic does that mean that a million dollar home in Fox Chapel uses more services than a $50,000 walk-up in East Liberty? Remember, these people want to tax patients in hospitals like they do hotel guests to pay for government services.
We can’t rely on the property taxes paid by the residential and commercial property owners to pay for needed services. We can’t rely on wage taxes paid for by the residents who work. We can’t rely on the Emergency Services Tax paid for by workers in the community. We can’t rely on license fees, parking fees, enforcement fines or a sales tax to pay for our regional assests. We have to tax student tuition?. Why not go after EPA consent decrees that cause our storm water runoff to cost so much and government taxes on landfills that cause garbage collection costs to skyrocket?
Why is it that politicians go after the police and fire departments when they want to add a tax? Why is it that eliminating police officers and firefighters is what they go after to reduce budgets? Locally our police department takes less than 20% of the budget but I’ll bet somebody thinks that is a lot. But it’s not really how much emergency services cost, rather it’s that the topic scares people into supporting a new tax. While they look for recurring revenue they have failed to see their population has been cut in half over the past 30 years because of the taxes they believe give them recurring revenue.
Pay attention to what is going on next-door, because that type of politics is like a virus, it spreads. Watch and see if it spreads this way and if you see that bug step on it, and the politician who is carrying it.
OUTRAGEOUS NEWS
When questioned about discrepancies in the unemployment rate and the failure of the American Recovery Act, President Obama's Recovery Czar, Ed Pound, responded "Who knows man, who really knows?" 11/19/2009
Right next door Mayor Luke wants to tax post secondary school students, for the privilege of attending school in the city. When the Intergovernmental Cooperative Group said no to the tax the mayor immediately said he would have to stop the next class of police officer trainees, eliminate a firehouse and all school crossing guards. He even hired a $650 dollar an hour Philadelphia lawyer to get his way. Sounds like a joke doesn’t it?
I wonder why the first thing to go wouldn’t have been the 125 Citiparks Summer Food Service Program sites that “provides healthy and delicious breakfasts, lunches and snacks to all children up to 18 years old” seems like a luxury to me. I wonder how many other line items are less important than police, firemen and school crossing guards but they aren’t on the chopping block?
I’m guessing his threat was to scare the people of Pittsburgh into supporting a tax on all those outsiders who attend Pitt, CMU, Duquesne, Chatham, Carlow, Robert Morris and CCAC. Why should Pittsburgh stop at the post secondary schools? Why don’t they tax the grade school kids also? I mean, after all isn’t all education a privilege? Most of the people around the world would agree that all education is a privilege.
Now the city is calling for a study to see how many city services can be laid on the schools by calculating their property values. Following that logic does that mean that a million dollar home in Fox Chapel uses more services than a $50,000 walk-up in East Liberty? Remember, these people want to tax patients in hospitals like they do hotel guests to pay for government services.
We can’t rely on the property taxes paid by the residential and commercial property owners to pay for needed services. We can’t rely on wage taxes paid for by the residents who work. We can’t rely on the Emergency Services Tax paid for by workers in the community. We can’t rely on license fees, parking fees, enforcement fines or a sales tax to pay for our regional assests. We have to tax student tuition?. Why not go after EPA consent decrees that cause our storm water runoff to cost so much and government taxes on landfills that cause garbage collection costs to skyrocket?
Why is it that politicians go after the police and fire departments when they want to add a tax? Why is it that eliminating police officers and firefighters is what they go after to reduce budgets? Locally our police department takes less than 20% of the budget but I’ll bet somebody thinks that is a lot. But it’s not really how much emergency services cost, rather it’s that the topic scares people into supporting a new tax. While they look for recurring revenue they have failed to see their population has been cut in half over the past 30 years because of the taxes they believe give them recurring revenue.
Pay attention to what is going on next-door, because that type of politics is like a virus, it spreads. Watch and see if it spreads this way and if you see that bug step on it, and the politician who is carrying it.
OUTRAGEOUS NEWS
When questioned about discrepancies in the unemployment rate and the failure of the American Recovery Act, President Obama's Recovery Czar, Ed Pound, responded "Who knows man, who really knows?" 11/19/2009
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Health Care Reform
It appears that we are on the short side of getting the federal government involved in all of our health care plans. The debate over the last few months has the government health care supporters saying “the plan”, one of three now being talked about, will not involve all of us. It is only going to work to reduce the cost of health care insurance for all of us. Believe this because the President once told us that 47,000,000 people in the U.S. don’t have health insurance but in the last month he reduced that to 30,000,000. In a matter of two months his figures changed by 26 percent. Watch how long it takes to change the idea that “the plan” will reduce health care costs for all of us.
I’m sure you have heard that the national health care system in Canada and England is better than ours. Well trash that idea. Last week it was announced that UPMC entered in a three-year partnership with Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust, part of the United Kingdom’s National Health Service. Get this, UMPC is going to develop and expand cancer services offered by the Trust in Reading England. Yes, the UK came to Pittsburgh to improve their health care system. I guess that trashes the argument that socialized medicine is better than ours.
This weekend the America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), the health insurance companies' lobbying group, released a study it commissioned. The point of the AHIP study was that the health care reforms being considered would increase the cost of health care insurance. The White House naturally disagreed. The White House said that the AHIP released the report in an attempt to confuse the debate around health reform.
AHIP said that the added taxes and fees to support the plan that would be put on insurance companies, pharmaceutical manufacturers and device makers would be passed on to the consumer. The White House disagreed believing the added costs would be absorbed by the various companies. The White House said the costs for health care insurance would not go up because we are all paying about $1,000 a year in our health care insurance to pay for uncompensated care. That means services are being provided now to people who don’t have insurance and those who do pay have a little extra added to their bill to pay for the uninsured. I wonder if that covers the bill for 30 million uninsured.
Remember, this group is the same that doesn’t want to get flu shots. We also have the young parents who don’t get their children the required vaccinations shots. It was only a couple of weeks ago when 25 percent of the children in our area were being told not to come to school because their parents didn’t take them to get “free” mandatory inoculations. The way “the plan” is going to reduce the cost of health care insurance is by requiring all people to purchase health insurance. That means that all those young people who choose not to buy health care insurance will be forced to buy it. If you don’t buy insurance you will end up paying a fine or something similar.
That sounds good, except. We have a requirement now that everyone who owns a vehicle must purchase automobile insurance. If one doesn’t purchase auto insurance they can be charged with an offense, fined and maybe go to jail for a while. If we have mandatory auto insurance why do I have to purchase “uninsured motorist” insurance? Mandatory auto insurance has been around for a long time, and it still doesn’t work, ask any police officer.
The current health legislation has over 1,300 pages and it doesn’t include any health care, doesn’t include tort reform, doesn’t eliminate taxes on health care, doesn’t reduce the high cost of medical education, but it does increase costly government mandates on the health care industry. If Congress passes a health care bill what do you think we will have in a few years?
OUTRAGEOUS NEWS
"It could be that the 2016 Games are the last Olympics in the history of mankind. Global warming is getting worse. We have to come up with measures without which Olympic Games could not last long." --Tokyo governor Shintaro Ishihara 10/1/2009
I’m sure you have heard that the national health care system in Canada and England is better than ours. Well trash that idea. Last week it was announced that UPMC entered in a three-year partnership with Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust, part of the United Kingdom’s National Health Service. Get this, UMPC is going to develop and expand cancer services offered by the Trust in Reading England. Yes, the UK came to Pittsburgh to improve their health care system. I guess that trashes the argument that socialized medicine is better than ours.
This weekend the America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), the health insurance companies' lobbying group, released a study it commissioned. The point of the AHIP study was that the health care reforms being considered would increase the cost of health care insurance. The White House naturally disagreed. The White House said that the AHIP released the report in an attempt to confuse the debate around health reform.
AHIP said that the added taxes and fees to support the plan that would be put on insurance companies, pharmaceutical manufacturers and device makers would be passed on to the consumer. The White House disagreed believing the added costs would be absorbed by the various companies. The White House said the costs for health care insurance would not go up because we are all paying about $1,000 a year in our health care insurance to pay for uncompensated care. That means services are being provided now to people who don’t have insurance and those who do pay have a little extra added to their bill to pay for the uninsured. I wonder if that covers the bill for 30 million uninsured.
Remember, this group is the same that doesn’t want to get flu shots. We also have the young parents who don’t get their children the required vaccinations shots. It was only a couple of weeks ago when 25 percent of the children in our area were being told not to come to school because their parents didn’t take them to get “free” mandatory inoculations. The way “the plan” is going to reduce the cost of health care insurance is by requiring all people to purchase health insurance. That means that all those young people who choose not to buy health care insurance will be forced to buy it. If you don’t buy insurance you will end up paying a fine or something similar.
That sounds good, except. We have a requirement now that everyone who owns a vehicle must purchase automobile insurance. If one doesn’t purchase auto insurance they can be charged with an offense, fined and maybe go to jail for a while. If we have mandatory auto insurance why do I have to purchase “uninsured motorist” insurance? Mandatory auto insurance has been around for a long time, and it still doesn’t work, ask any police officer.
The current health legislation has over 1,300 pages and it doesn’t include any health care, doesn’t include tort reform, doesn’t eliminate taxes on health care, doesn’t reduce the high cost of medical education, but it does increase costly government mandates on the health care industry. If Congress passes a health care bill what do you think we will have in a few years?
OUTRAGEOUS NEWS
"It could be that the 2016 Games are the last Olympics in the history of mankind. Global warming is getting worse. We have to come up with measures without which Olympic Games could not last long." --Tokyo governor Shintaro Ishihara 10/1/2009
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Tax ‘em
We have just about taxed ourselves to such a degree on some fronts that we can’t tax anymore so we have to open a new frontier, soda. We spent 50 years demonizing tobacco, excuse me, cigarettes, adding taxes on the product to such a point that the tax is greater than the cost of the product. Now some have set their eye on soft drinks, watch, we are going to tax pop.
This reminds me of the play Music Man. “Oh we got trouble, right here in river city, trouble with a T that rhymes with P that stands for pool.” Yes, we will focus our attention on an innocuous product, demonize it, tax it, destroy the market for it, lose the jobs to produce it and move on to another taxable commodity. If you work for Pepsi or Coke look out
We got rid of DDT a long time ago because a group of people demonized the chemical. Not based on fact, as we find out today, but based on a story of how the birds will disappear some spring. Now that millions of people in Africa are dying from malaria the world is thinking of bringing DDT back.
But don’t let the soda tax get to you, Mayor Ravenstall wants to tax hospital rooms after all aren’t they just hotel rooms with extra services? What about the mayor’s tax on water? I guess the cost of EPA compliance isn’t enough to drive the price of water and sewage up, let’s put another tax on one of the necessities of life.
Don’t forget all those college students, tax ‘em. Come to the city and work all day, pay your all day parking tax in addition to the 50 percent parking tax, in addition to the right to work in the city tax. Go ahead, chase a few more businesses out of town or out of the county, Butler can use the business. Who needs those universities and hospitals?
The reason for all the additional taxes is to pay for the pension funding they should have been paying into for the past 30 years. I wonder what they have funded that was more important than employee pensions. That might be an interesting study.
Oh we got trouble, right here in river city, trouble with a T that rhymes with P and that stands for……POP!
This reminds me of the play Music Man. “Oh we got trouble, right here in river city, trouble with a T that rhymes with P that stands for pool.” Yes, we will focus our attention on an innocuous product, demonize it, tax it, destroy the market for it, lose the jobs to produce it and move on to another taxable commodity. If you work for Pepsi or Coke look out
We got rid of DDT a long time ago because a group of people demonized the chemical. Not based on fact, as we find out today, but based on a story of how the birds will disappear some spring. Now that millions of people in Africa are dying from malaria the world is thinking of bringing DDT back.
But don’t let the soda tax get to you, Mayor Ravenstall wants to tax hospital rooms after all aren’t they just hotel rooms with extra services? What about the mayor’s tax on water? I guess the cost of EPA compliance isn’t enough to drive the price of water and sewage up, let’s put another tax on one of the necessities of life.
Don’t forget all those college students, tax ‘em. Come to the city and work all day, pay your all day parking tax in addition to the 50 percent parking tax, in addition to the right to work in the city tax. Go ahead, chase a few more businesses out of town or out of the county, Butler can use the business. Who needs those universities and hospitals?
The reason for all the additional taxes is to pay for the pension funding they should have been paying into for the past 30 years. I wonder what they have funded that was more important than employee pensions. That might be an interesting study.
Oh we got trouble, right here in river city, trouble with a T that rhymes with P and that stands for……POP!
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Earmarks
It doesn’t seem to make any sense. We have used billions of dollars to have people buy new vehicles that will give them a few more miles per gallon of gas and we reduce the money available for the poor and senior citizens to pay winter heating bills. Last year the federal government gave Pennsylvania $308 million for LIHEAP, the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program; but this year, the state may get less than half of that money – just $143 million. Last year, a family of four with a maximum household income of $44,443 qualified for help; but this year, the income cutoff will be $33,075. I guess we are fixing those rich people.
One of the reasons this doesn’t make any sense is we have spent billions of dollars on nonsensical stimulus projects while cutting worthwhile programs such as LIHEAP. Cash for Clunkers isn’t the only “Makes ya wanna go huh?” moment. A small border checkpoint located in the town of Whitetail Montana serves about 3 people a day, they will receive $15 million for repairs through the stimulus plan. I see crossing guard shelters in West View that serve more people than that a day. Another checkpoint in Westhope North Dakota serves about 73 people a day and is also set to get $15 million for renovations. That’s 20% of the cut in Pennsylvania’s energy assistance program for two road check points. I would feel better if I thought the expenditures were to improve Homeland Security, but they weren’t, they were earmarks, political favors for elected officials.
In the past, Representative John Murtha obtained earmarks in excess of $200 million dollars for the construction of the Johnstown airport named after him. This year alone Murtha got an $800,000 dollar stimulus fund earmark to repave a runway at the airport because it was a shovel ready project, not because the airport project was worthy of stimulus spending. CNN reported there is an $8 million dollar air traffic radar system installed at the Murtha Airport in 2004 that is not being used or staffed.
Bloomberg recently sued the Federal Reserve to release information on where they sent TARP money. The reason Bloomberg sued was because the Federal Reserve didn’t want to make the information public. The courts have ordered the Federal Reserve to release the information on $700 billion plus in bailout loans by tomorrow, August 31st. Imagine, the FED doesn’t want to tell us where our money was sent because it may hurt businesses. $700 billion would go a long way to fund LIHEAP.
Earmarks do nothing to strengthen the United States or the Commonwealth, they only strengthen politicians. As citizens we have to stand up and take responsibility for these practices. We continue to vote for politicians like this because we believe we benefit in some manner, we don’t. The old adage “we don’t care what he does as long as he is our crook” has got to stop, with us. When it comes to public trust we should care.
One of the reasons this doesn’t make any sense is we have spent billions of dollars on nonsensical stimulus projects while cutting worthwhile programs such as LIHEAP. Cash for Clunkers isn’t the only “Makes ya wanna go huh?” moment. A small border checkpoint located in the town of Whitetail Montana serves about 3 people a day, they will receive $15 million for repairs through the stimulus plan. I see crossing guard shelters in West View that serve more people than that a day. Another checkpoint in Westhope North Dakota serves about 73 people a day and is also set to get $15 million for renovations. That’s 20% of the cut in Pennsylvania’s energy assistance program for two road check points. I would feel better if I thought the expenditures were to improve Homeland Security, but they weren’t, they were earmarks, political favors for elected officials.
In the past, Representative John Murtha obtained earmarks in excess of $200 million dollars for the construction of the Johnstown airport named after him. This year alone Murtha got an $800,000 dollar stimulus fund earmark to repave a runway at the airport because it was a shovel ready project, not because the airport project was worthy of stimulus spending. CNN reported there is an $8 million dollar air traffic radar system installed at the Murtha Airport in 2004 that is not being used or staffed.
Bloomberg recently sued the Federal Reserve to release information on where they sent TARP money. The reason Bloomberg sued was because the Federal Reserve didn’t want to make the information public. The courts have ordered the Federal Reserve to release the information on $700 billion plus in bailout loans by tomorrow, August 31st. Imagine, the FED doesn’t want to tell us where our money was sent because it may hurt businesses. $700 billion would go a long way to fund LIHEAP.
Earmarks do nothing to strengthen the United States or the Commonwealth, they only strengthen politicians. As citizens we have to stand up and take responsibility for these practices. We continue to vote for politicians like this because we believe we benefit in some manner, we don’t. The old adage “we don’t care what he does as long as he is our crook” has got to stop, with us. When it comes to public trust we should care.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
State Budget
As the governor refuses to compromise on the state budget impasse, he appears to be trying to save the people of the Commonwealth from the knife of the legislature. Nothing could be further from the truth. The governor did a lot of cutting before he sent the budget for approval and now everyone from school administrators to senior citizens are concerned about government budgets.
Scotland School for veterans’ children is due to be taken out of the state budget. That means it will close. Last year the school had 279 students this year they had 310, clearly a growing need. But veterans’ children don’t mean anything in the state budget fight because there aren’t many voices to yell one way or another, just veterans. Even though 90% of veterans’ children at Scotland School go on to attend college while the other 10% enroll in the military, we will throw these children away.
The state budget calls for a slow reduction in service to veterans in the Veterans Homes. Although our occupancy rate is consistently 15% above the national average for domiciliary care and 10% above for nursing care, we will cut the budget and no one will complain. The Commonwealth will save approximately 25% of the line item by cutting services to veterans and disadvantaged children of veterans. That means we save about 25 million dollars. We should be proud.
I’ll bet you don’t know much about the Civil Air Patrol. It really doesn’t make any difference because the 2009-10 budget eliminates it. No more volunteer air search and rescue program when airplanes go down in the Commonwealth, at least none subsidized by the Commonwealth.
Veterans Assistance programs are proposed to be cut by 75%. That’s wonderful! I guess we can just forget about PTSD and TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury) in our returning National Guard soldiers. I’ll bet the Pennsylvania 56th Stryker Brigade returning from Afghanistan in September will be happy to hear that.
I think it’s time we start looking at our budgets and see where all the money is going and start cutting out the waste. I’ll bet the majority of us can agree on a couple of billion dollars worth of fat. Maybe we could start by cutting our legislature in half.
OUTRAGEOUS NEWS
The Obama administration is blaming its inability to correctly calculate the size of projected federal deficits on what it terms "a numerical insufficiency."White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said today a panel of distinguished mathematicians will convene next month in Washington in hopes of devising a new number capable of quantifying the enormity of future deficits."The primary problem, as related to us by the Office of Management and Budget, is that there currently exists no known number that large," Gibbs said. "The president believes the most successful way to combat that problem is to invent one." August 28, 2009 Tribune Review
Scotland School for veterans’ children is due to be taken out of the state budget. That means it will close. Last year the school had 279 students this year they had 310, clearly a growing need. But veterans’ children don’t mean anything in the state budget fight because there aren’t many voices to yell one way or another, just veterans. Even though 90% of veterans’ children at Scotland School go on to attend college while the other 10% enroll in the military, we will throw these children away.
The state budget calls for a slow reduction in service to veterans in the Veterans Homes. Although our occupancy rate is consistently 15% above the national average for domiciliary care and 10% above for nursing care, we will cut the budget and no one will complain. The Commonwealth will save approximately 25% of the line item by cutting services to veterans and disadvantaged children of veterans. That means we save about 25 million dollars. We should be proud.
I’ll bet you don’t know much about the Civil Air Patrol. It really doesn’t make any difference because the 2009-10 budget eliminates it. No more volunteer air search and rescue program when airplanes go down in the Commonwealth, at least none subsidized by the Commonwealth.
Veterans Assistance programs are proposed to be cut by 75%. That’s wonderful! I guess we can just forget about PTSD and TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury) in our returning National Guard soldiers. I’ll bet the Pennsylvania 56th Stryker Brigade returning from Afghanistan in September will be happy to hear that.
I think it’s time we start looking at our budgets and see where all the money is going and start cutting out the waste. I’ll bet the majority of us can agree on a couple of billion dollars worth of fat. Maybe we could start by cutting our legislature in half.
OUTRAGEOUS NEWS
The Obama administration is blaming its inability to correctly calculate the size of projected federal deficits on what it terms "a numerical insufficiency."White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said today a panel of distinguished mathematicians will convene next month in Washington in hopes of devising a new number capable of quantifying the enormity of future deficits."The primary problem, as related to us by the Office of Management and Budget, is that there currently exists no known number that large," Gibbs said. "The president believes the most successful way to combat that problem is to invent one." August 28, 2009 Tribune Review
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Health Care
I am surprised by some people who support a National Health Care system who I believe should see it for what it is, the socialization of our health care industry. The health care system in the United States may need some tweaking but not a government take-over. As a matter of fact, the tweaking we need may be to get the government regulation and control out of the system we have now.
There aren’t many out there who believe the already existing national health care system we have is the best in the world. Think about it, is the Veteran’s Administration hospital system the best health care in the world? We formed that system to take care of those of us who were wounded in battle defending our country. And then we have the Medicare system that we designed to take care of our old people, after they have worked their whole life. How’s that working?
It’s not like we don’t have health care, we have the best private health care in the world, and we want to change that? Are we nuts or what? People from around the world come to the United States for the best health care in the world. The people in the U.S. don’t go to other countries and check in to the hospital because they can get better care. I’m guessing that since a national health care plan is better than what we have now our congressmen and senators will get the same health care they are planning for us. Don’t be silly they already have the best health care in the world and they know it. We’ll be allowed to keep ours also but we will have to pay our share of the health care tax to make Medicare solvent, after all we shouldn’t expect a national health care system for nothing.
But maybe we will lose our employer provided health care. A July 17 study by the Lewin Group that was commissioned by the Heritage Foundation projects that if the House bill becomes law, 83.4 million people—nearly half of those with private coverage—will lose private insurance as employers drop their plans. That means we will have the 47 million who supposedly don’t have health care now plus the 83 million who will have their employer bail on private insurance for a total of 130 million on the national health care rolls. That’s almost half of us folks.
Watching the President’s address on Wednesday night I was shocked when he said “end of life care” would be reduced in his plan. He said that we have to reduce the amount of money we spend at the end of one’s life. Will National Health Care encourage our parents to take their own lives? Do we get rid of nursing homes? Does it withhold medical care from the elderly based on a bureaucrat’s decision regarding “quality of life” issues? Does it encourage the rationing of medical services? The bottom line, is Euthanasia included in National Health Care Reform? Dr. Kevorkian, call your office.
While you are thinking about supporting national health care think about these facts from Scott W. Atlas, M.D., he is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution and a professor at the Stanford University Medical Center:
Fact No. 1: Americans have better survival rates than Europeans for common cancers. Breast cancer mortality is 52 percent higher in Germany than in the United States, and 88 percent higher in the United Kingdom. Prostate cancer mortality is 604 percent higher in the U.K. and 457 percent higher in Norway. The mortality rate for colorectal cancer among British men and women is about 40 percent higher.
Fact No. 2: Americans have lower cancer mortality rates than Canadians. Breast cancer mortality is 9 percent higher, prostate cancer is 184 percent higher and colon cancer mortality among men is about 10 percent higher than in the United States.
Fact No. 3: Americans have better access to treatment for chronic diseases than patients in other developed countries. Some 56 percent of Americans who could benefit are taking statins, which reduce cholesterol and protect against heart disease. By comparison, of those patients who could benefit from these drugs, only 36 percent of the Dutch, 29 percent of the Swiss, 26 percent of Germans, 23 percent of Britons and 17 percent of Italians receive them.
Fact No. 4: Americans have better access to preventive cancer screening than Canadians. Take the proportion of the appropriate-age population groups who have received recommended tests for breast, cervical, prostate and colon cancer:
• Nine of 10 middle-aged American women (89 percent) have had a mammogram, compared to less than three-fourths of Canadians (72 percent).
• Nearly all American women (96 percent) have had a pap smear, compared to less than 90 percent of Canadians.
• More than half of American men (54 percent) have had a PSA test, compared to less than 1 in 6 Canadians (16 percent).
• Nearly one-third of Americans (30 percent) have had a colonoscopy, compared with less than 1 in 20 Canadians (5 percent).
Fact No. 5: Lower income Americans are in better health than comparable Canadians. Twice as many American seniors with below-median incomes self-report "excellent" health compared to Canadian seniors (11.7 percent versus 5.8 percent). Conversely, white Canadian young adults with below-median incomes are 20 percent more likely than lower income Americans to describe their health as "fair or poor."
Fact No. 6: Americans spend less time waiting for care than patients in Canada and the U.K. Canadian and British patients wait about twice as long - sometimes more than a year - to see a specialist, to have elective surgery like hip replacements or to get radiation treatment for cancer. All told, 827,429 people are waiting for some type of procedure in Canada. In England, nearly 1.8 million people are waiting for a hospital admission or outpatient treatment.
Fact No. 7: People in countries with more government control of health care are highly dissatisfied and believe reform is needed. More than 70 percent of German, Canadian, Australian, New Zealand and British adults say their health system needs either "fundamental change" or "complete rebuilding."
Fact No. 8: Americans are more satisfied with the care they receive than Canadians. When asked about their own health care instead of the "health care system," more than half of Americans (51.3 percent) are very satisfied with their health care services, compared to only 41.5 percent of Canadians; a lower proportion of Americans are dissatisfied (6.8 percent) than Canadians (8.5 percent).
Fact No. 9: Americans have much better access to important new technologies like medical imaging than patients in Canada or the U.K. Maligned as a waste by economists and policymakers naïve to actual medical practice, an overwhelming majority of leading American physicians identified computerized tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) as the most important medical innovations for improving patient care during the previous decade. The United States has 34 CT scanners per million Americans, compared to 12 in Canada and eight in Britain. The United States has nearly 27 MRI machines per million compared to about 6 per million in Canada and Britain.
Fact No. 10: Americans are responsible for the vast majority of all health care innovations. The top five U.S. hospitals conduct more clinical trials than all the hospitals in any other single developed country. Since the mid-1970s, the Nobel Prize in medicine or physiology has gone to American residents more often than recipients from all other countries combined. In only five of the past 34 years did a scientist living in America not win or share in the prize. Most important recent medical innovations were developed in the United States.
And we want to change this system, why?
There aren’t many out there who believe the already existing national health care system we have is the best in the world. Think about it, is the Veteran’s Administration hospital system the best health care in the world? We formed that system to take care of those of us who were wounded in battle defending our country. And then we have the Medicare system that we designed to take care of our old people, after they have worked their whole life. How’s that working?
It’s not like we don’t have health care, we have the best private health care in the world, and we want to change that? Are we nuts or what? People from around the world come to the United States for the best health care in the world. The people in the U.S. don’t go to other countries and check in to the hospital because they can get better care. I’m guessing that since a national health care plan is better than what we have now our congressmen and senators will get the same health care they are planning for us. Don’t be silly they already have the best health care in the world and they know it. We’ll be allowed to keep ours also but we will have to pay our share of the health care tax to make Medicare solvent, after all we shouldn’t expect a national health care system for nothing.
But maybe we will lose our employer provided health care. A July 17 study by the Lewin Group that was commissioned by the Heritage Foundation projects that if the House bill becomes law, 83.4 million people—nearly half of those with private coverage—will lose private insurance as employers drop their plans. That means we will have the 47 million who supposedly don’t have health care now plus the 83 million who will have their employer bail on private insurance for a total of 130 million on the national health care rolls. That’s almost half of us folks.
Watching the President’s address on Wednesday night I was shocked when he said “end of life care” would be reduced in his plan. He said that we have to reduce the amount of money we spend at the end of one’s life. Will National Health Care encourage our parents to take their own lives? Do we get rid of nursing homes? Does it withhold medical care from the elderly based on a bureaucrat’s decision regarding “quality of life” issues? Does it encourage the rationing of medical services? The bottom line, is Euthanasia included in National Health Care Reform? Dr. Kevorkian, call your office.
While you are thinking about supporting national health care think about these facts from Scott W. Atlas, M.D., he is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution and a professor at the Stanford University Medical Center:
Fact No. 1: Americans have better survival rates than Europeans for common cancers. Breast cancer mortality is 52 percent higher in Germany than in the United States, and 88 percent higher in the United Kingdom. Prostate cancer mortality is 604 percent higher in the U.K. and 457 percent higher in Norway. The mortality rate for colorectal cancer among British men and women is about 40 percent higher.
Fact No. 2: Americans have lower cancer mortality rates than Canadians. Breast cancer mortality is 9 percent higher, prostate cancer is 184 percent higher and colon cancer mortality among men is about 10 percent higher than in the United States.
Fact No. 3: Americans have better access to treatment for chronic diseases than patients in other developed countries. Some 56 percent of Americans who could benefit are taking statins, which reduce cholesterol and protect against heart disease. By comparison, of those patients who could benefit from these drugs, only 36 percent of the Dutch, 29 percent of the Swiss, 26 percent of Germans, 23 percent of Britons and 17 percent of Italians receive them.
Fact No. 4: Americans have better access to preventive cancer screening than Canadians. Take the proportion of the appropriate-age population groups who have received recommended tests for breast, cervical, prostate and colon cancer:
• Nine of 10 middle-aged American women (89 percent) have had a mammogram, compared to less than three-fourths of Canadians (72 percent).
• Nearly all American women (96 percent) have had a pap smear, compared to less than 90 percent of Canadians.
• More than half of American men (54 percent) have had a PSA test, compared to less than 1 in 6 Canadians (16 percent).
• Nearly one-third of Americans (30 percent) have had a colonoscopy, compared with less than 1 in 20 Canadians (5 percent).
Fact No. 5: Lower income Americans are in better health than comparable Canadians. Twice as many American seniors with below-median incomes self-report "excellent" health compared to Canadian seniors (11.7 percent versus 5.8 percent). Conversely, white Canadian young adults with below-median incomes are 20 percent more likely than lower income Americans to describe their health as "fair or poor."
Fact No. 6: Americans spend less time waiting for care than patients in Canada and the U.K. Canadian and British patients wait about twice as long - sometimes more than a year - to see a specialist, to have elective surgery like hip replacements or to get radiation treatment for cancer. All told, 827,429 people are waiting for some type of procedure in Canada. In England, nearly 1.8 million people are waiting for a hospital admission or outpatient treatment.
Fact No. 7: People in countries with more government control of health care are highly dissatisfied and believe reform is needed. More than 70 percent of German, Canadian, Australian, New Zealand and British adults say their health system needs either "fundamental change" or "complete rebuilding."
Fact No. 8: Americans are more satisfied with the care they receive than Canadians. When asked about their own health care instead of the "health care system," more than half of Americans (51.3 percent) are very satisfied with their health care services, compared to only 41.5 percent of Canadians; a lower proportion of Americans are dissatisfied (6.8 percent) than Canadians (8.5 percent).
Fact No. 9: Americans have much better access to important new technologies like medical imaging than patients in Canada or the U.K. Maligned as a waste by economists and policymakers naïve to actual medical practice, an overwhelming majority of leading American physicians identified computerized tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) as the most important medical innovations for improving patient care during the previous decade. The United States has 34 CT scanners per million Americans, compared to 12 in Canada and eight in Britain. The United States has nearly 27 MRI machines per million compared to about 6 per million in Canada and Britain.
Fact No. 10: Americans are responsible for the vast majority of all health care innovations. The top five U.S. hospitals conduct more clinical trials than all the hospitals in any other single developed country. Since the mid-1970s, the Nobel Prize in medicine or physiology has gone to American residents more often than recipients from all other countries combined. In only five of the past 34 years did a scientist living in America not win or share in the prize. Most important recent medical innovations were developed in the United States.
And we want to change this system, why?
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