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health savings accounts and more…

25 Feb 2010 by admin

fucking ridiculous.  this is rep. bill cassidy’s plan to help solve health care issues-health savings accounts.   my family can barely pay the daily bills that we have to take care of let alone set a large portion aside for medical savings.  as democrats have said, these accounts are great for upper middle and high income families.  we’re middle income and it’s not feasible for us.

what i’ve noticed over and over again in the republican ideas are that they cater to the wealthy.  they favor business over consumer.  it’s hard to stomach.  it’s also hard to stomach the fact that republicans have spent years ignoring the problems with health care….and besides that even actively trying to do away with medicare and medicaid.  why should i believe that they will help me?  they’ve given me nothing in the way of proof to show that they would.

my family is full of preexisting conditions.  we’re fucked if my husband loses his job…absolutely fucked.  my husband and i dream of owning our own business.  we have, what we think, is a great idea and one that we talk about often.  we couldn’t ever do it though….due to preexisting conditions.

here how’s it shakes out in my family:

my husband: colon cancer, high cholesterol, osteopenia, compression fracture of vertebrae with repair
myself: bi-polar, asthma, migraines, hashimoto’s thyroiditis
kaitlyn: occasional thyroid issues but relatively healthy thank goodness
thomas: asthma but relatively healthy
tyler: pectorus carinatum but relatively healthy

so were does that leave us?  only tyler could get coverage for asthma, as long as he doesn’t develop it in middle school like i did.  kaitlyn and i can’t get coverage for thyroid issues.  my husband will most likely be denied coverage altogether.

i’m just so tired of worrying about this.  we keep talking about how america is the greatest country in the world.  it’s not anymore.  we’re delusional.  our health care is 37th in the world.  our education is far behind in all aspects.  our green policies lag far behind.  our public transportation system is non existent in most parts of the country.  our civil rights are starting to lag. we’re in two wars which are not going well.  our relations with nations around the world were damaged severely by the cowboy nature of the last regime.

i’ve never been so pessimistic about the future of america.  this is due squarely to the destruction wreaked between 2001 through 2008 and the above issues further harmed by bush/cheney.

why is it NOW that all these teabaggers want to remember life and liberty?  why NOW do they feel we need to reform government?  it’s disgusting.

watching the summit…getting more and more disgusted.  boehner, blackburn, mccain and mcconnell just seem interested in scoring political points.  kyl and coburn did have a bit more in the way of ideas but seem unwilling to meet half way.

as obama has said over and over, the democrats have included many republican ideas but that doesn’t mean that they will be added word for word.  that’s the idea of compromise….you don’t get your way entirely and we don’t get ours.

the repubs keep talking about the percentage of americans who are against these bills as put forward.  that masks the facts.  i’m against the bills as put forward…not because they’re bad but because they don’t go far enough!  i think a decent percentage of those people are like me.

argh!  enough for now…

Category: congress, family, healthcare, kaitlyn, medical, michael, opinions and thoughts, politics, repugs, senate, shannon, thomas, tyler  Tags: , , , , , , ,  Leave a Comment

the difference between the D’s and R’s in healthcare…

23 Feb 2010 by admin

this is the difference that i see between dems and repubs when it comes to healthcare:

the beginning of the president’s plan includes this quote:

“the President has now put forth a proposal that incorporates the work the House and the Senate have done and adds additional ideas from Republican members of Congress. The President has long said he is open to any good ideas for reforming our health care system, and he looks forward to discussing ideas for further improvements from Republicans and Democrats at an open, bipartisan meeting on Thursday. “

the beginning of the republicans plan (sort of) includes this quote:

“Americans want a step-by-step, common-sense approach to health care reform, not Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s costly, 1,990-page government takeover of our nation’s health care system.”

when you first read through both plans/summaries you’re not really thinking about much until you get to the proposals or at least that’s how it is for me.  today, when i received the links side by side on my twitter account, i opened both to have a look side by side.

after looking again, i noticed the statements that i included in bold italics above.  the difference between the two is the tone or rhetoric.  the president touts the fact that he’s gone back to the drawing board, included those ideas from democrats that he feels are worthwhile and included those ideas that he thought where worthwhile from republicans (what few they’ve put forth).  when you read the republicans’ statement they, once again, have to make it an attack and use negativity.

rather than put forth debate on the merits of the two plans, the republicans have to resort to these tactics and it again shows them as the party of no and negativity.  why, in the first sentence of your plan, must you attack?  the democrats’ statement is in the first paragraph and repeated in similar form later in the proposal.  not once is there an outright attack with nasty rhetoric such as the republican plan does in the first sentence of the first paragraph!

when you get to the table at the bottom of the republican plan it again uses nasty rhetoric to prove its point.  it’s not necessary.  if you have a good plan, lay it out and let people decide.  you don’t have to use the nasty language unless there isn’t much to stand on in the first place.

it’s clear that republicans are not interested in working with democrats.  they are like my kids were at the age of 2…they want what THEY want when THEY want it and nothing else will do.  i didn’t indulge them very often and i don’t think the republicans should be indulged either.

i’m being very generous in calling the republicans’ document that was released, a plan.  the president’s document is mainly just statements as well where as the senate’s and house’s versions are actual bills.  it’s easy to say ‘let’s sell insurance across state lines’ but it’s hard to spell out how that will work; how it would prevent insurance companies from picking the cheapest, least beneficial policies in lieu of what was required by their own home state.

so i guess the point of all of this was that the democrats, as they have since inauguration, have used less inflamatory rhetoric than republicans.  that’s not to say that dems haven’t used it but when you’re speaking to the public about a policy that you plan to enact, this sort of thing isn’t necessary.


Category: congress, healthcare, medical, opinions and thoughts, politics, repugs, senate  Tags: , , , , ,  Leave a Comment

skewed political health care stories…

21 Feb 2010 by admin

ok…a good riesling to start the rant…and off we go!

this is one thing that drives me crazy and i’m sure i’ve ranted about it before.  taking information that on it’s face value seems to support your point but which is really taken out of it’s context and true meaning.

there is a story about a poll that was analyzed.  it says that 70% of americans are behind the health care reform. that’s health care reform as a whole.  i can believe that.

republicans however keep trotting out the stale, tired statement that the overwhelming majority of the public is against health care reform.  if you look at certain poll numbers it looks that way.

however, this is different than the 70% above although they would seem to be conflicting.  it seems as if you cannot have the two side by side; either they’re for it or they’re against it.  right?

WRONG…if you look at the number of americans against health care reform right now, they form two distinct groups.  one group is opposed to it on it’s face.  they think health care in the US is fine…nothing broken…let us keep the status quo.  the other group believes the system is broken…our premiums are going up…our amount of care is going down…we need change.

so…what does this mean?

simply this, if you look at the path that this recent health care debate has taken it has taken the path to piss off the most people possible:

if you’re a conservative, you’re mad it started in the first place; after all, you hadn’t done anything in the previous 8 years to fix it and you wouldn’t be doing anything now if you were in charge.  you think that each state can handle it on their own.  you think that businesses need to be protected even at the cost of their employees.  overall, you think we should hold steady at our current place or even go backward; remove medicare entirely.  you’ve argued that insurance be able to be sold across state lines; a good idea.  but you are unwilling to allow there to be any central oversight; a bad idea.  you wish to include tort reform; a good idea.  but you think this is a central policy which it’s not.  tort reform has overwhelmingly been shown to be such a small portion of overall costs that this is like swatting at flies!  what are your other ideas…i’m not sure.  i haven’t been able to get any coherent list of conservative ideas that make any sense.  conservatives seem to be hinging it all on those two things.

now if you’re a liberal, you’re mad now that everything you thought was worth fighting for has been stripped from the bills presented.  i, as a liberal, would like to see one public option; one national health care system.  i think this best cares for the population as a whole.  that was dashed against the rocks very quickly.  ok…onto the public option.  this seems fantastic…the best of all worlds.  those that already have insurance through employers will stay with those policies.  those that can afford to purchase their own will keep those but for those who are such severe risks or financially incapable of buying their own insurance would be able to have government support.  awesome!  no…that wasn’t acceptable either.  ok, what next, here is where i’m unclear.  liberals want everyone to be covered.  we want preexisting condition policies off of the table (i’m a victim of that one).  we want straight forward care with no games.  but what have we gotten in the end?  i’m not sure, to be honest.  the final bill was so laden with holes that i can’t figure out what it would have done for me.

so with all of that being said, look at the poll numbers.  if you were to go deeper into what the majority means, you would find people on both sides.  it’s not that the overwhelming majority of americans are against health care reform.  it’s that the numbers are  split.  one portion doesn’t want reform at all and the other thinks the reform should be tougher.  i would like to see the pollsters cover this completely and fairly for once.  one number cannot be taken on face value.

so yes, i believe that 70% of americans want health care reform.  do i believe that a majority are against it…again, yes i do but that’s split into the gone to far and not far enough groups.

whew….i need another drink!

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my saturday…

30 Jan 2010 by admin

i love the idea of listing those things that i’m grateful for but i don’t want to make it an everyday thing. first of all it will be hard to be original and secondly it would probably get boring for the 2 other people that look at my blog. so i’ll add some of those things now and then amongst my other ravings.

today…i’m grateful for my mom who sews and who made me an awesome apron for christmas. (it came a bit late but that’s ok.) i’m a messy cook…a really really messy cook. i probably splash or splatter on myself everytime i cook. maybe that just means i’m really involved in it but none the less…i’m always a mess. the apron covers me enough that i don’t have to worry. i love the pockets too. i keep my blackberry in the pocket and usually a towel since it never stays on my shoulder.

what was the rest of my saturday like?

i have been down lately. california living can be stressful. it’s ridiculously expensive here. even groceries are more expensive. taxes are outrageous. home prices are outrageous. some days i just don’t know if sunshine and warm weather is enough to make up for the constant gouging of our budget.

finding out that jersey shore was renewed for another season didn’t help my mood. this show is pure trash as are the people on it. do they aspire to new lows? i’m a self-confessed tv addict. i watch often and i watch a variety of shows. but this…garbage…is disgusting. i rather be subjected to bill o’leilly than have to watch this stuff. people who know me know that that is saying something. i won’t say anymore as anything else would just be further insults to these sub-humans.

i was cheered up after watching a rerun of obama’s crushing of republicans friday. for republicans to say that they won this debate in anyway is a joke. they spent the meeting, for the most part, trying to score points. as the president said to jeb hensarling, his “question” was basically a soliloquy of talking points. few of the questions posed to the president seemed to be actual questions. they seemed to be framed as talking points which would score points with the base and then any answer after that didn’t really matter. i wish that the president’s message would resonate, especially with the average voter at home but i’m afraid with the 24 hour news cycle that is afraid to call a spade a spade, it won’t.

speaking of the news cycles…i’m so frustrated with the trend of the last decade or even two decades. this incessant need to be “fair”. this isn’t a bad idea…just watch fox and their supposed fair and balanced reporting. but fair doesn’t mean that both sides are correct. if a news organization truly wanted to be fair you should look at the issue and report the truth. don’t give both sides a fair shake if it isn’t warranted. if one side has lied or bent the truth or don’t something wrong, you don’t need to give them a fair shake. they were wrong…say that they’re wrong! don’t try and find something wrong on the other side to compare. just report the news. argh!

michael and i saw ‘legion’ today. i love paul bettany and he was in top physical form for this movie. wow! however, the movie itself was a let down. the trailers made it seems as if it was a high action movie but in reality there was very little. the story line could have been good but it was disappointing. i think they left it open for some sort of sequel too. we’ll see.

i’ve been feeling dizzy lately…maybe it’s an inner ear thing. i’m not sure. i was just sitting on the couch watching tv and all of the sudden…i was feeling dizzy. i think if i had been standing i would have starting listing to the right. it happens quiet a bit. the dr. told me on wednesday that this crazy ear thing that i keep having (swelling and pain of the whole ear and sometimes right side of my head) my be relapsing polychondritis and after looking that up, it says that it could affect the inner ear.

Category: california, house, michael, movies, politics, repugs, shannon, television  Tags: , , , , , ,  2 Comments

state of the union…

28 Jan 2010 by admin

it will come as no surprise that i felt obama did a fantastic job last night. he is such a great public speaker and so eloquent. it’s so refreshing after 8 years of dumb, plastic speeches from the dimiwtted dubya.

i think that he moved himself and his agenda toward the center. i’m not a center left person at all. i would say that i’m middle to far left. i’m not only honest about that but very proud of it. i think the left sincerely cares about the average american. the left’s agenda is focused squarely on making their lives better. taking a gamble that businesses and the wealthy might let their wealth trickle down to the lower classes is a gamble i’m not willing to endorse. it hasn’t worked in the past and i cannot figure out why the right continues to push this tired agenda.

i loved that obama called out the horrendous, dangerous, disastrous decision made by the supreme court with regards to business contributions. no business deserves the first ammendment right to freedom of speech. businesses are not people. any individual in any of the american businesses has the right to donate as they see fit at anytime. allowing a business entity to donate unlimited amounts will skew the political balance so far that it will be unrecognizable. it will irreparably damage our political system. to see alito mouthing “not true” was sickening. obviously this guy is not neutral as i would hope that a justice could at least pretend to be. alito and roberts are obviously just the two newest far right ideological members of the supreme court. this more than anything that bush/cheney did to the american people will have far reaching repercussions that will damage america for years to come.

it was very telling watching the right sit on their hands during even parts of obama’s speech that mentioned traditionally republican values. for these people then to come out in interview after interview and say that they aren’t the party of no, is a joke. eric cantor was interviewed on msnbc this morning and wouldn’t even answer the question directly about whether he would support these initiatives outright in themselves. he also refused to admit that he’s (and his right colleagues) unwilling to meet the democrats half way. chuck todd asked cantor this questions – that if the president (as he said in his speech) would be willing to look at offshore drilling and nuclear power plants would the right be willing to meet him halfway on cap and trade. the president has moved to the middle to cooperate. are the repubs willing? no, was the was what i gleaned from cantor’s waffling. he said cap and trade is bad and it will hurt job creation. so even the fact that obama has moved in the right’s direction in this matter, they are apparently unwilling to move the center.

to hear these far right guys say that the president paid lip service to jobs is disappointing. they are so unwilling to give this guy a thumbs up on ANYTHING. i guess it’s politically disastrous for a republican to agree with anything obama does.

it seems that the right would like for the president and their democratic colleagues to listen to their agenda (not a bad idea), accept the conservative agenda (often a bad idea) and forget about the democrats ideas (disastrous idea). this is what they consider working together. this is what they consider bipartisanship. we tried their ideas for 8 years and it led to the most disastrous presidency this country has possibly ever seen. we have the majority (not a super majority anymore). the public obviously liked our agenda in 2008. i don’t think that the waning popularity of government in the last year is because of the democratic agenda. i think it’s because government is gridlocked. you can’t say no all the time and expect anything to get done. the right needs to accept the fact that they ARE the minority. deal with it. we did when we were the minority back in the mid 00’s.

mitch mcconnell (referred to as the senate obstruction leader by some) has said that he is willing to require a 60 vote majority on everything. he said that this is the usual practice. in the words of rep. joe wilson “you lie!”. the republicans almost double the number of filibusters used in congress this last session. it went from 54 in the 110th congress to a whopping 104 in the 111th congress! wtf?!? and they say that they are not the party of no??

i thought the filibuster was wisely used to hold up the nominations of alito and roberts and their decisions on the supreme court have only served to strengthen my opinion on that. but these are extreme cases. using it to hold up anything and everything that your opposition proposes is an abuse of the system. i guess i’m leery of it going away completely but it might be necessary. i do like the proposal of some democrats that would allow a filibuster but we make it so that the actual number of senators needed to overcome a filibuster would lessen with each vote until the measure is dropped or passed. great idea there. it benefits both parties in the end and gets the government moving again. not a bad idea at all.

that’s my opinion on a few of the plans mentioned in the state of the union and the resulting interviews.

Category: congress, opinions and thoughts, politics, repugs, senate  Tags: , , , , ,  One Comment
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