It looks like adding a "public option" to the heath care bill won't make it in the new bill that's going back to the Senate for a vote. The House and Seante reminds me of sales and accounting departments employed by the same comany... they are always at odds with one another.
It seems to me that the people who are saying “no” to the proposed Health Care Bill are those who currently have insurance in some fashion… either privately or through their employer and they fear loosing something or paying higher premiums. No one wants to pay more and no one wants the quality of their care to be less. I think I can safely remove those who have no health insurance from the argument. I will also guess that anyone without…would wish to have some kind of coverage.
Let me say before going on much further…that I have insurance provided through my employer and I pay a percentage of the coverage and of course co-pays for doctor visits, tests and prescriptions. Every year, our coverage degrades in order for the company to keep costs down. I’m envious of those who have much better coverage and less co-pays, even though; I don’t use the insurance as much as others do in my company. Having said this…I’m grateful for having the insurance. Some of my co-workers or their spouses have some very serious illnesses and I can’t imagine how they manage, even with coverage. I know that the healthier help carry the load for the less healthy and the younger help pay for the older employees. It’s the mix that makes it work.
As I understand the situation in California with health insurers is that they need a broader base of lower risk insureds in order to help pay for higher risk insureds. The problem is, that more and more lower risk insureds are dropping coverage, simply because they can no longer afford it, which reduces the pool of money available to pay for higher risk insureds… therefore the 39% increase. As we face more unemployment, we get a smaller pool. If rates continue to escalate, more employers drop coverage for their employees, which…you guessed it… reduces the pool. What did I read somewhere? …It’s a race to the bottom.
So…problems in California will be mirrored in other states soon enough and another downward spiral will begin.
I also do not understand why a public option is such a bone of contention. If you look at a public option as just another player in the market, the market will adjust for the new competition. Competition makes all us more honest (as if we shouldn’t be in the first place) and the pool of insurers will find ways to keep their piece of the pie, by lowering costs and/or deceptive practices. Insurance will get cheaper for all of us and cover those who aren't covered at all.
If we do nothing, we are all at risk of degrading or loosing what insurance we have.
A few questions:
· Aren’t we all paying a lot more for coverage every year?
· Do you/we think loosing coverage can’t happen to you?
· Does it make sense to help others and help and ourselves at the same time?
· Can we really afford to wait much longer for reform that includes a public option or single payer?
Handbags
Women love handbags, well at least I think they do. I kind of think they’re right up there with shoes. Okay, so maybe that’s a generalization. Many of us are in search of the perfect bag though, and I never seem to find it. I look and touch and open pockets, thinking how nice it would be to have a bag that will organize my life. I finally buy one and two weeks later, I’m dumping it for my old $2.00 yard-sale-find with one big receptacle and zero organizational pockets. Poof… there goes fifty bucks.
The one receptacle bag seems much easier to use. Yes, I have to feel around the bottom, looking for things that want to elude me, but is easier for me than looking through eight or so pockets and is ultimately the reason I leave the nicer looking, expensive bag hanging in the closet.
There’s just something about shoes and handbags. I have a closet full of shoes that I almost never wear. I wear the same two pairs, while the others collect dust. It’s the same with handbags. I keep looking at others, as if, I would abandon my one receptacle bag. I could have saved myself a lot of money.
The one receptacle bag seems much easier to use. Yes, I have to feel around the bottom, looking for things that want to elude me, but is easier for me than looking through eight or so pockets and is ultimately the reason I leave the nicer looking, expensive bag hanging in the closet.
There’s just something about shoes and handbags. I have a closet full of shoes that I almost never wear. I wear the same two pairs, while the others collect dust. It’s the same with handbags. I keep looking at others, as if, I would abandon my one receptacle bag. I could have saved myself a lot of money.
Democrats Are Good For Business
A tax benefit change for business enacted by Congress in late 2009… Oh wait… that’s right, during a Democratic Congress and Obama administration.
Dealer gets $21.1M alone from change in net operating loss rule
http://www.prosalesmagazine.com/industry-news.asp?sectionID=420&articleID=1201968
BlueLinx Rides Tax Benefit to $12M Net Profit in 4Q
http://www.prosalesmagazine.com/industry-news.asp?sectionID=420&articleID=1200507
Excerpt from ProSales Magazine Online
“The tax benefit stemmed from a change in the Net Operating Loss carryback provision. Put simply, a company used to be able to apply losses from one year against profits from the previous two years. But under a change that Congress enacted late in 2009, the carryback was extended to five years, back to the middle of the last decade. For many companies in the building material business, that was quite a profitable time.”
Dealer gets $21.1M alone from change in net operating loss rule
http://www.prosalesmagazine.com/industry-news.asp?sectionID=420&articleID=1201968
BlueLinx Rides Tax Benefit to $12M Net Profit in 4Q
http://www.prosalesmagazine.com/industry-news.asp?sectionID=420&articleID=1200507
Excerpt from ProSales Magazine Online
“The tax benefit stemmed from a change in the Net Operating Loss carryback provision. Put simply, a company used to be able to apply losses from one year against profits from the previous two years. But under a change that Congress enacted late in 2009, the carryback was extended to five years, back to the middle of the last decade. For many companies in the building material business, that was quite a profitable time.”
Lower Merion School District Spying on Students
Is it only me or does anyone else think there is something more sinister going on here?
I find it difficult to believe that the school district would have such an elaborate plan in place to monitor students after hours. What normal thinking person wouldn't think this was off-the-charts wrong?
When the cameras were on and auditing... could a video stream have been re-routed to a website for not-so-upstanding clients to watch?
Who was watching? A paid employee or a pedophile(s)?
Life is stranger than fiction but then again, maybe I'm reading too much into this.
Civility Out The Window
Each generation has their own view of troubled times. You know… “It was the best of times. It was the worst of times.” I try to keep those feelings balanced knowing that most people think their time, is or was, the worst of times. How are we to judge any other time’s difficulties while measuring with our own yardstick? Perhaps, our point in time just has the potential for being the worst of times. In any case I’m not sure I would choose to live in any other time line. Life is comparatively good for us here, even with all the angst of our time. Having said that… in my experience and my point of reference, there has never been so much ill will among ordinary citizens as there is now in this hyper political climate. Clearly, there is an opportunity for it being the best, and maybe it is. Up to now, I’ve been hopeful.
When I was young I didn’t involve myself in politics or debates. Sure, I was full of piss and vinegar and know-it-all attitudes… but basically; I trusted that the folks before me knew how to run the world. I certainly didn’t know any better not to trust them… whoever they were. Who was I to criticize? In my era we lived through protesting students shot on a university campus, the Vietnam War, and marches on the capitol. Civil rights activists were murdered and churches were fire bombed. Those were pretty bad times and scared the crap out of me. If you were black and living below the Mason Dixon line, you couldn’t do a lot of things that the rest of us just took for granted. Looking back, it’s hard to imagine anyone having to live with that kind of repression or culture. It was a frightening time but somehow we survived as a people.
For me at least, things seemed to settle down. The in-fighting was less noticeable. Maybe I’ve been asleep all these years, because this year feels more disquieting than even the last eight. Certainly, every one is free to have an opinion and express it, but is it necessary to do it with such hatred, animosity, disdain and rudeness?
Today, I had a customer tell me that our president was a “Commi”. I smiled through the phone, shaking my head, thinking I hadn’t heard that one… and replied, “Oh come on now, he is not”. This guy really meant it and was angry and went on to say some pretty ugly things. My intent was to stop his tirade and I mentioned that I was a supporter of our president, hoping that he would realize his blunder and give it up. His bitterness was overt. He claimed the president was “no good for business” and that I was just as bad and then he hung up on me. This came from a likeable, easy going, guy that I’ve known for years. Thank you very much, whoever wants to lay claim.
I did nothing to encourage the political comments. I try to avoid them at all costs, especially when I’m working: but should I be a dumping ground for every unhappy merchant who needs to blame someone else for the condition of the country that has been on a collision course for decades?
This escalating polarity has left civility behind. What have we reduced ourselves to? Is there no respect left, even among friends and family? This incident although mild, is disturbing and telling. There is no will of the people to say “no more!” The political assaults and bashings don’t stop at the end of an election. They continue to grow all year, dragging, what used to be, peaceful citizens into the fray. Most politicians claim they won’t stoop to running a negative campaign, yet it’s not long before they yield to it. Fighting each other only puts us further on the path of destruction.
This widening negative campaign snowball is moving into deeper realms. I‘ll be changing channels or muting on all political ads, regardless of party affiliations. I refuse to listen to any of it anymore and I won’t ratchet up and add to the discontent. I’ve had enough of this brutal, ongoing political garbage! Al-Qaeda won’t destroy us… we’ll do it ourselves.
When I was young I didn’t involve myself in politics or debates. Sure, I was full of piss and vinegar and know-it-all attitudes… but basically; I trusted that the folks before me knew how to run the world. I certainly didn’t know any better not to trust them… whoever they were. Who was I to criticize? In my era we lived through protesting students shot on a university campus, the Vietnam War, and marches on the capitol. Civil rights activists were murdered and churches were fire bombed. Those were pretty bad times and scared the crap out of me. If you were black and living below the Mason Dixon line, you couldn’t do a lot of things that the rest of us just took for granted. Looking back, it’s hard to imagine anyone having to live with that kind of repression or culture. It was a frightening time but somehow we survived as a people.
For me at least, things seemed to settle down. The in-fighting was less noticeable. Maybe I’ve been asleep all these years, because this year feels more disquieting than even the last eight. Certainly, every one is free to have an opinion and express it, but is it necessary to do it with such hatred, animosity, disdain and rudeness?
Today, I had a customer tell me that our president was a “Commi”. I smiled through the phone, shaking my head, thinking I hadn’t heard that one… and replied, “Oh come on now, he is not”. This guy really meant it and was angry and went on to say some pretty ugly things. My intent was to stop his tirade and I mentioned that I was a supporter of our president, hoping that he would realize his blunder and give it up. His bitterness was overt. He claimed the president was “no good for business” and that I was just as bad and then he hung up on me. This came from a likeable, easy going, guy that I’ve known for years. Thank you very much, whoever wants to lay claim.
I did nothing to encourage the political comments. I try to avoid them at all costs, especially when I’m working: but should I be a dumping ground for every unhappy merchant who needs to blame someone else for the condition of the country that has been on a collision course for decades?
This escalating polarity has left civility behind. What have we reduced ourselves to? Is there no respect left, even among friends and family? This incident although mild, is disturbing and telling. There is no will of the people to say “no more!” The political assaults and bashings don’t stop at the end of an election. They continue to grow all year, dragging, what used to be, peaceful citizens into the fray. Most politicians claim they won’t stoop to running a negative campaign, yet it’s not long before they yield to it. Fighting each other only puts us further on the path of destruction.
This widening negative campaign snowball is moving into deeper realms. I‘ll be changing channels or muting on all political ads, regardless of party affiliations. I refuse to listen to any of it anymore and I won’t ratchet up and add to the discontent. I’ve had enough of this brutal, ongoing political garbage! Al-Qaeda won’t destroy us… we’ll do it ourselves.
Sticks and Stones
We all grew up with that phrase. Truth of the matter is.. words can and do hurt. They don't harm us physically of course.. but emotional hurts are painful and can lead to physical issues as we know. So here we are...maybe on the brink of another Middle East conflict.. dare I say war ? Some insentive jerk draws a cartoon... another insensitive group of publishers print it.. and now the Iranians... are taking it up a notch.
In Yahoo! News : TEHRAN, Iran - A prominent Iranian newspaper said Tuesday it would hold a competition for cartoons on the Holocaust to test whether the West extends the principle of freedom of expression to the Nazi genocide as it did to the caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad. Hamshahri, one of Iran's largest papers, made clear the contest is a reaction to European newspapers' publication of Danish cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad, which have led to demonstrations, boycotts and attacks on European embassies across the Islamic world. Several people have been killed.
This is so far out of hand.. and threatens a world conflict. Can the world stop being so offended? Do we look for offence in everything? Is it possible for us to ignore someone who is trying to get our goat? I guess we shall see when the other cartoons appear. Would only that all we would draw cartoons at each other.. no bombs.. no bullets...no loss of life.. just cartoons.. no matter how offensive or in poor taste!
Where's my pencil?
Celiacs Disease and Down's Syndrome
My nephew was born with Down's Syndrome a little more than 15 years ago. Within 2 weeks of his birth.. he was given anitbioctics for an infection. Typically these kids have small sinus tubes and they are prone to infection. Poor David had been on one course of antibiotics after another for 13 of his 15 years. He had tubes put in his ears.. many times. He was always at the doctor's office and freaked out every time he saw someone in a white coat. His last round of drugs was issued by a pick line which became infected.
My sister.. desperate to find and answer.. took another path... ( the stronger and stronger drugs were not working and leaving him with nasty side effects). After alot of nutrition, which helped but didn't cure.. she stumbled on an article about Celiac's Disease, which mimics so many other diseases and auto immume problems. His doctor.. the premier doctor in the area for Down's children disagreed and didn't want to test for it. The test was then issued by the family doctor rather then the childs physician.
David was positive for Celiacs.
Joan removed all gluten from David's diet.. All gluten! Gluten is found in so many things.. it's hard to beleive. It's now 2 years since David has had an infection. No more antibiotics.. but he is left with permenent damage to one ear from a raging infection.
His Johns Hopkins doctor's reaction to this? Sorry Mrs. Scott, we can no longer treat your son... your insurance is no longer accepted. Not.. gee what did you do so that I can help other children... They were afraid of a law suit and anxiuos to get rid of the problem. What arrogance.
I doubt my sister will sue. She only ever wanted to see her son well. Isn't it bad enough to have a Down's Syndrome child?
If you know anyone with Down's they should be tested.. the chances are great that they have it. The only cure is to avoid gluten.
http://www.celiac.com/st_main.html?p_catid=87&sid=91hH9H1TwM7y8tv-32106278005.a3
