"More Money Less Insurance"

Ah, if the ACA, better known as ObamaCare, hasn't totally made you sick yet, give it another few weeks and it will. Looking at the promises made and repeated time and time again, and looking at the numbers, there was never any way that the Affordable Care Act could float as promised.
Let's take a walk down memory lane;
     Obama promised that "If you like your health insurance, you can keep it." The fact is that from the time that the ACA was signed into law and companies started seeing the requirements and the number crunchers started crunching the numbers: companies have been cutting full-time employees to part-time status; companies have been limiting the hours that part-time employees are working; companies have informed employees that insurance benefits will be limited or dropped. It is estimated that 2 million Americans have lost the health care that they had. And there are more to follow, not to mention that for those 2 million most are finding that their premiums will increase by up to 50% over their lost benefits and that might not even mean similar coverage.
    Obama's stance was that the ACA was a way for those that currently did not have or could not afford health care to be covered. It was to catch those that had fallen through the cracks of the old system. The problem is that a significant number of those millions of uninsured Americans will not only still fall through the cracks they will also be punished for it. And the insurance companies are still making billions in profits every year, as they are raking in on this force purchase of their products.
   
If Obama wanted to really help out the poor and uninsured then he should have taken a very courageous approach to healthcare. He should have fought to make all hospitals and clinics and other health industries non-profits. He should have consolidated the health industry and imposed rules and regulations that insure that patients are put before profits. He should have developed a method by which medical students and others receiving a degree or certification in the health industry are required instead of paying back student loans, those individuals should commit to equal service to their length of education in the poorest and most in need areas of the country. There is even a bonus in this that maybe some of these persons that pursue a health care career for the primary purpose of monetary gain, might actually learn the real and true purpose of healing others. It is about giving and not receiving.

Now there are those that say the naysayers are just trying to scare people for political motives. And the supporters of ObamaCare can show figures for how many people have been helped by the ACA. But here is the bottom line, big business has more pull in Washington than any individual group of private citizens; therefore, the insurance and healthcare industry would have never allowed any law to be passed that would in any way diminish their profit margin.
The real losers here are future American citizens. The way to have a healthier public is to limit the greed of, not only, big business, but also, of the falsely entitled self: to reteach people to be active; to use common sense; to practice moderation; to be responsible for their own choices; to think about the ramifications of ALL their actions.

Working Full Time ......For What......

One of the most disturbing problems in the "richest" country in the world is the fact that working full time does not mean you make enough to live. And this statement is not having 1 full-time paycheck trying to support a whole family; it is speaking about supporting just the employee. The fact that someone working 40 hours per week cannot put a roof over their head or food on their table is a huge shame for this country. 
The current minimum wage for the U.S. is $7.25, there are 18 states and the District of Columbia that have minimum wages higher than the national minimum. This may sound like a good thing but the minimum wage does not equate to a living wage. “The idea of a living wage is that workers and their families should be able to afford a basic, but decent, life style that is considered acceptable by society at its current level of economic development,” This is a huge variable, however it is not an impossible accomplishment. In an MIT study it was determined that not a single state has a minimum wage that meets a living wage. There are 2 states that come close to providing a living wage, North and South Dakota, all other states are falling short.
Some may say that this issue is not major and shouldn't take up time when there are so many other 'more important' issues that need our attention. Really? The other 2 issues that might be more important would actually benefit from all workers earning a living wage, those issues being our educational system and our justice/prison system.
Congress has argued that the minimum wage was never intended to support a family, the issue is that in most cases the minimum wage as shown in the afore links does not only not provide for a family, it doesn't support an individual. This argument seems fraught with misconceptions and just something as simple as setting a minimum living wage would have ramifications that would benefit all aspects of society. Of course the effects of keeping a majority of people below a living wage benefits the leaders.....it is the same tactic used by war lords, dictators, and terror leaders and recruiters.
In 1968 the minimum wage was $1.60; however, that wage had the same buying power as earning $10.74 today. That might sound not that bad since some figures show that most American workers make that now or close. But the inflation numbers used are the government's and therefore, play down the rate of inflation and decreased buying power of the American worker. "According to Social Security Administration about 40% of American workers make less than $20,000; that means that 40% of American workers earn less than they would have in 1968."
Now there are arguments that increasing the minimum wage will not improve those living below the poverty level. Those against raising the minimum wage insist that only part time workers will benefit from a minimum wage increase, since they claim that most full-time workers make more than minimum wage. Their other argument is that less than 10% of those living at or below poverty are full-time minimum wage earners, that in fact almost 70% are not working at all. However, the point they miss is how broken our "welfare" system is that actually prevents people from moving from welfare effectively and efficiently to full-time work force participant. Again, this dependency on the government is of benefit to the government. It is never a good government that wants it people dependent.

The Government is ShutDown but Special Forces are Working Overtime.......

In the last couple days the headlines have been touting the successes of US Special Forces Operations in Africa. It is amazing that we have the money to fund more than the basic running of the military services while we are shut down. It is also amazing that there were Special Forces in Libya to take down a terror cell, which I hope was not in control in a government capacity else we have attacked the sovereignty of another country (oh wait we are the US we do not care about the independence of other nations if they are not following our demands): yet, we could not protect our own embassy staff while they were under attack for hours. Even under Clinton we showed more courage and selflessness.
But putting aside the distractions that the Administration is using to keep eyes off of Washington, Kerry's comments are priceless..... Al Qaeda “can run but they can’t hide,” U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Sunday; so does that mean that we will now support Syrian Government Forces and Al-Basad in their battle against terrorism and Al Qaeda? How is it that the US Government can condemn terrorists one day, wage war on the them next and supply them on the third day????? And lets not forget that in the beginning we trained them.
The US has lost all sense of honor and integrity. There is absolutely no moral basis left in Washington. It is all about money and power and politics. But the real tragedy isn't what is going on in DC, that is purely business as usual; the true tragedy is the acceptance of the American public in the light of such apathetic and appalling behavior as comes out of our government branches. You hear many complain about the situation but few are willing to do anything about it. Even something as simple as writing a blog is too much effort for most. But you have a duty as citizens to participate in your own government. You have a responsibility to your children to participate in your own government. You should have enough self respect to participate in your own government.

What the world needs.....

Today I'm not going to say much. What I have to say is short and sweet today..... What this world needs are more men like Immortal Technique.

You do not need to be a world famous rapper to make a difference, you just have to care enough to want to make a difference.