Post Scripts

Posted by Tina

We warned that the ACA was bad law that would not deliver as promised and that would be more costly and unworkable as it unfolded. An article over at TownHall features some of the latest information:

“What we’ve learned through the course of this program is that this is really not a sensible way for the health care system to be run.”

That was Gary Cohen, director of the Department of Health and Human Services’ Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight. He was talking about the apparently surprising need to halt enrollments in a program designed as a temporary bridge for people with pre-existing conditions who couldn’t wait to be covered by the Affordable Care Act (a.k.a. Obamacare) when it fully kicks in next year. The program was allocated $5 billion, but some estimate it would take $40 billion to fund the effort.

Small firms are opting out of Obamacare in favor of self-insurance to save money. The New York Times quotes Deborah J. Chollet of Mathematica Policy Research:

“This trend could destabilize small-group insurance markets and erode protections provided by the Affordable Care Act.”

The problem with progressive’s is that they treat people, free citizens, like cardboard cutouts or statistical units in a report rather than thinking adults who will change their behavior when challenged economically. The progressives base their notions about cost projections and participation on an egotistical assumption that they can control the situation with the carefully crafted (read complicated or conflicting)) rules. Remember all of the assurances that we could keep our insurance? (For what it’s worth, CBO projects 5 to 20 million people will lose their insurance)

Those progressives really know how to spin a fairy tale! Here’s another quote from the article:

The facade of objectivity (About the law) was often maintained by citing carefully crafted CBO projections that reflected political assumptions. Garbage in, garbage out.

Reality is teaching the propeller-heads a lesson. Despite President Obama’s promise that his plan would not add “one dime” to the deficit, the Government Accountability Office announced last week that it would more likely add 62,000,000,000,000 dimes (or $6.2 trillion) over 75 years.

I sense that the toxic fallout from the Obamacare bomb will be of the slow release variety creating havoc, bigger bills, shortages and a lot of confusion for as long as Obamacare is allowed to remain the law of the land.

by Jack

Dear Amigos, we are gathered here to say good-bye to Hugo Chavez who died after a long, lingering battle with cancer.  Hugo you became El Presidente’ of Venezuela where you ruled with an iron hand and chased away the competition.  You suppressed free speech your goons beat up dissenters.  You were a devout communist, supported by Fidel Castro.  We knew you better as a loud mouth bully who abused the podium at the UN and spewed hatred for America and now your dead.

I’m glad you were forced to turn to Cuba’s socialized medicine to save your life, that was nothing short of poetic justice.   Good riddance to Hugo.

Adios Hugo, que era un dictador, sus matones atacaron tus oponentes, aplastaste libertad de expresión, que odiaban a América y ahora está muerto. Nos complace que usted se ha ido. Enhorabuena.   Las personas que me encantó que son tontos y de idiotas!

by Jack

(Fictional story…written for my creative writing class at CSUC)

It’s Monday morning and I have an 8:30 doc appointment followed by 6 more, no make that 7 more… must do’s things written last night on piece of paper.   My first break won’t come until the whole morning is long gone.  

 For many of us in retirement this is not an uncommon scenario.  Somehow we wind up putting more on our calendar than we did when were actually working.   Back then we had a scheduled, now it’s more like managed chaos…such is retirement. 

 When I was employed I arrived every day at a given time, worked two hours, qualified for a 15 minute break, then I worked for 2 more hours until lunch, followed by an afternoon schedule that was exactly the same as the morning schedule.  

 Don’t get me wrong, I’m not in any way defending that routine,  give me managed chaos any day,  this is just a reflection on the [before] me and the me [now].

Here we go again, another fleeting day, that leads into another fleeting week, yadda, yadda…it seems that time accelerates exponentially with our advancing years.

On my way to the docs I’m left with my own thoughts… and I think back and wonder, for what great purpose in the scheme of things did I work away those decades of my life? Was it just to get the best space at the Seniors Only mobile home park?

As I wind my way through Philadelphia morning traffic and I wonder about this big question, why?  Why are we here, what’s it all about?  Was there any great meaning to the trials and tribulations of  years shuffling paper?  And now that I am retired, was it worth it?  What’s the pay off?

For those of us who are lucky enough to have survived to this age we must have done something right therefore there must be some kind of reward equal to efforts, right?  One troubling thought pops up.  In this society our seniority doesn’t even get you a free cup of coffee.  Elders and their hard won accumulated wisdom are more likely to invisible people meandering among the throngs of sparkling, brash newcomers.  Granted that’s just my somewhat jaded view, but I’ve got more than anecdotal evidence to support it.  Seniors really aren’t valued and that seems to be societies loss, another symptom to explain why things aren’t going as well as they could be.

8:34 a.m., I whip into the first available parking space.  Had I been on the job and it was 8:35 and one second I would’ve been required by the rules to provide a verbal explanation to my immediate supervisor and he would have been required to place a notation in my personnel file that I had received a verbal counseling for a tardy, an asinine waste of time.

Walking in to a former real estate office converted to a medical office, I run through the check in process with the usual good morning salutations.   I’m in the waiting room and the clock on the wall says 8:36.  Why am I looking at a clock, I’m retired?   Guess old habits are hard to break.  There I am, back in my own thoughts, wondering if I’m the first patient what’s the hold up?  It occurs to me, maybe the doctor is late?  Ha, I smile covertly as I may have just rolled in under the tardy radar. A few more minutes pass and a young lady in scrubs directs me to another room where I’m seated on the ubiquitous medical bench in green vinyl accented by roll of hygienic white paper that looks like a wide roll of toilet paper, it crunches as I plop down.  Unable to sit back or lay down, I lean forward, my legs dangle over the side like a kid in tall chair.

15 more minutes pass then my doctor enters the room and more routine salutations are exchanged.  “So, how are you?”  (He asks as he’s probably done with every patient, every day for, oh, I’m guessing, well over 30 years?)  I have anticipated his perfunctory question and I was thinking over any number of funny answers, and I want to say, “Well, was abducted by aliens last week…” but I defer to, “Fine I guess.”  I have to add the “I guess” part,  because why should I presume to know I’m absolutely fine, e I’m not the doctor.  And further, why would I be here if I were perfectly fine?  I’m not fine, I’m dying, maybe not today, but some day.   Actuarial charts say I have 12 years left.

We go through the traditional assessments, the blood pressure check, the stethoscope on the chest and again my thoughts turn back to that question of the day…why?

Hey, if anyone should have the answer, it ought to be my family doctor, he’s the guy sworn to protect and preserve life…he must have a clue?

I lead into this pending conversation by asking him if happened to read the Stanford Study on the declining intelligence of mankind?  He hadn’t, but he’s interested.  So proceed to I give him a brief synopsis.   As our conversation evolves is broadens into the subtopics and I’m working around to asking the big one, why?

Possibly because it’s a slow morning we have a chance to talk a little more than usual.  Good.  And I comment we’re living longer,  but are we living better?  The answer is not really.  We parry back and forth on this one until we not-so-coincidentally arrive at the [why].   My doctor pauses, chooses his words carefully and says, “Why indeed?  That’s a good question!”  I think, hey, that’s a cop out – I press for more.

The Stanford study says we peaked in our mental prowess about 2000 years ago and we’ve been on slow downhill drift ever since.  America as a country probably peaked somewhere around the 1960’s.  No more grand expansions, no more struggles to finish off railroads or the great freeways or eliminate racism by acts of  law.  We have, more or less, arrived at the big goals and now we’re resting, content to minimally manage our accomplishments as we reward ourselves with more leisure time.  The great struggles of the empire are over.  And just like Rome passing it’s heyday, it appears to me we’re now on the same path of decline.

We’re still talking, but my minds runs several moves ahead of the subject material.  This decline leads me to think, maybe our whole reason for being is to conquer great adversities, adversaries and challenges of life because without them, what’s left to do, just more leisure time?  Newton’s first law of motion says,  “An object in motion is prone to stay in motion.” And when an object is not in motion it’s probably on welfare.  Is this where we’re headed?  I’m on social security, I draw a retirement check and I don’t work…that’s welfare and I have lots of leisure time!   Before I freak myself out I rationalize, I do volunteer work now.  So much of my time is dedicated to others.  My new role is to volunteer, so I can stay in motion.  (Hmmm…this hints at an answer to the big why )

Doc and I reach a tepip consensus that probably our highest goal and why we’re here is to contribute something back to society, so we all stay in motion.  That sounds reasonable, it’s too bad the time doesn’t allow for more philosophizing on this because our conversation was just getting good!  But,  time’s up, and the big question still hangs there, why?  Maybe some day we will have the answer, but for now  I’ll have to be content with knowing enough just to ask the question.   We’ll leave it there, unless you have the answer?

http://www.psychologytoday.com/collections/201112/the-big-question-why-are-we-here

http://science.slashdot.org/story/12/11/13/191217/study-claims-human-intelligence-peaked-two-to-six-millennia-ago

http://io9.com/5960176/are-humans-getting-dumber

Posted by Tina

Jeb Bush, considered one of the likely contenders for the GOP for 2016, has co-authored a book addressing the illegal immigration problem. “Immigration Wars” is likely to stir the amnesty debate due to a shift in his position regarding immigration law. Bush originally supported amnesty for the millions of people that have entered the U.S. illegally. But in a decisive shift he now suggests an alternative solution.

Byron York at The Washington Examiner has the story:

Under Bush’s proposal, “those who entered our country illegally as adults and who have committed no additional crimes of significance” would be required to “plead guilty to having committed the crime of illegal entry.” Upon pleading guilty, they would be sentenced to a fine or community service. If anyone who is here illegally — even those who have not committed any “substantial crimes” — does not come forward, Bush and co-author Clint Bolick write, they would “be subject to automatic deportation, unless they choose to return voluntarily to their countries.”

Once an illegal immigrant has pleaded guilty to illegal entry and paid a fine or performed community service, Bush and Bolick write, “they will become eligible to start the process to earn permanent legal residency.” To do that, they will have to learn English, pay taxes, and again, commit no substantial crimes.

Then comes the surprise, at least a surprise coming from Jeb Bush: “Permanent residency in this context, however, should not lead to citizenship. It is absolutely vital to the integrity of our immigration system that actions have consequences — in this case, that those who violated the laws can remain but cannot obtain the cherished fruits of citizenship.” Even those immigrants who had a compelling reason to come to the U.S., Bush argues, “did so knowing that they were violating the law of the land.” Giving them a path to citizenship would be a “reward for conduct that we cannot afford to encourage.”

There are two exceptions to his plan. Those who agree to return to their native land and go through the normal process would be eligible for U.S. citizenship and those who came to the U.S under the age of 18 can be eligible for permanent legal status without pleading guilty to illegal entry if they finish high school or join the military.

York reports here that Bush has turned a bit squishy since the book hit the streets. Apparently his training as a politician has taught him to leave the door open for negotiations in case he does choose a run at the presidency.

His plan does address some of the big concerns that conservatives have voiced repeatedly through the years and for that I think he deserves big time KUDOS. The illegal aspect has been ignored and those concerned about law breaking have been maligned for their positions and that is not how we make progress to find what might work.

So, what do you think guys?

Posted by Tina

Andrea Tanteros of Fox, conducts a great interview with Harry C. Alford, President of the National Black Chamber of Commerce. Alford has a lot to say including a great suggestion for the GOP. See it on ou Tube here:

Tanteros Interview with Harry C. Alford

This is an honest man with an honest appraisal of the Obama presidency. Thank you, sir.

Thanks Harold, for the suggestion!

The Heritage Foundation is a wonderful organization dedicated to the heritage and preservation of America according to founding principles and ideals. Federal government excess and waste is one of the things they keep track of so we can be better informed. A few highlights from 2012:

Federal Spending by the Numbers 2012:

1. A reality TV show in India. The Department of Agriculture’s Market Access Program spends $200 million a year to help U.S. agricultural trade associations and cooperatives advertise their products in foreign markets. In 2011, it funded a reality TV show in India that advertised U.S. cotton.

2. Studying pig poop. The Environmental Protection Agency awarded a $141,450 grant under the Clean Air Act to fund a Chinese study on swine manure and a $1.2 million grant to the United Nations for clean fuel promotion.

3. Amtrak snacks. Federally subsidized Amtrak lost $84.5 million on its food and beverage services in 2011 and $833.8 million over the past 10 years. It has never broken even on these services.

4. Using military exercises to boost biofuels. The U.S. Navy bought 450,000 gallons of biofuels for $12 million—or almost $27 per gallon—to conduct exercises to showcase the fuel and bring it closer toward commercialization. It is the largest biofuel purchase ever made by the government.

5. Conferences for government employees. In 2008 and 2009 alone, the Department of Justice spent $121 million to host or participate in 1,832 conferences.

Waste Book 2012:

1. “RoboSquirrel.” $325,000 was spent on a robotic squirrel named “RoboSquirrel.” This National Science Foundation grant was used to create a realistic-looking robotic squirrel for the purpose of studying how a rattlesnake would react to it.

2. Cupcakes. In Washington, D.C., and elsewhere across the country, cupcake shops are trending. The 10 cupcake shop owners who received $2 million in Small Business Administration loan guarantees, however, can only boast so much of their entrepreneurial ingenuity, since taxpayers are backing them up.

3. Food stamps for alcohol and junk food. Though they were intended to ensure hungry children received healthy meals, taxpayer-funded food stamps were instead spent on fast food at Taco Bell and Burger King; on non-nutritious foods such as candy, ice cream, and soft drinks; and on some 2,000 deceased persons in New York and Massachusetts. Food stamp recipients spent $2 billion on sugary drinks alone. Improper SNAP payments accounted for $2.5 billion in waste, including to one exotic dancer who was making $85,000 per year.

4. Beer brewing in New Hampshire. Despite Smuttynose brewery’s financial success and popularity, it is still getting a $750,970 Community Development Block Grant to build a new brewery and restaurant facilities.

5. A covered bridge to nowhere. What list of government waste would be complete without a notorious “bridge to nowhere”? In this case, it’s $520,000 to fix the Stevenson Road Covered Bridge in Green County, Ohio, which was last used in 2003.

Shame, shame, shame on our lawmakers and in particular Harry Reid and the worst President since the Great Depression! We need budget legislation and strict reform to rid ourselves of this waste and excess. Reid hasn’t passed a budget in more than 1400 days!

by Jack  ( I had to do something different.  This is a much needed departure from politics)

For many years the king of the late night radio was Art Bell, who hosted the Coast to Coast show.  Bell built this show from nothing.  He was sharp and seemed to be able to carry on an intelligent conversation with any guest on any subject.   Then at the top of his career, Bell suddenly pulled the plug and retired.  He does an occasional show from his new home in the Philippines, but that’s very rare.

Bells successor was George Noory who really didn’t seem to understand what Bell’s show was all about, sure he understood that Bell built his success on UFO stories and nutty callers that claimed to be Satan or from another planet, but behind Bell’s inquiring mind there was a subtle skeptical that sometimes melded into a humorous sarcasm as Bell would probe the caller’s credentials.

That was Bell’s schitk and he was good at it, Noory on the other hand behaves like the character Gomer Pyle, if you are old enough to remember his?  Old George has never met a guest he didn’t agree with, be they from the Planet Zargon or a time traveler from the 5^th dimension.  No caller is too preposterous and no guest too crazy, even if they are totally fruit loops George never questions their authority to tell us about life on Zargon.   Noory just plays along, not once does he cry BS!   He’s all ears, acting the part of suck up who can’t wait to agree or add in his own ignorant exclamation point on the absurd commentary.   I swear…your average 6 year old doesn’t behave as gullible as Noory and on top of that act and I do mean act, because I still can’t believe anyone is that gullible and not wearing a straight jacket, Noory says the stupid things almost nightly.   His fans even have a name for these doosies, they’re called Nooryisms, here check it out:  George, “I would guess your mind is part of who you are.”  July 19, 2007.  Good call George!  Yes your mind is part of who you are alright.   How about this one…

George: “It would be great if Saddam just left Iraq, don’t you think?”

Guest Hal: “Yes, but he’s not going to do that. Like last time, he’s going to put his citizens in harm’s way, use them as human shields, and wreak destruction on the oil fields.”

George: “That’s kind of selfish, isn’t it?”

Noory’s intellectual prowess really gets exposed when he’s hosting a really accomplished guest like Astrophysicist Michio Kaku.   Bell and Kaku could carry on an entertaining conversation, but not Noory.  Paraphrasing now, George will cut into the professor’s comment because he thinks he has to interject something to show he’s actually following along, “And that would be a bad thing then, huh?” A dumbfounded, Michio would pause, and give Noory a gratuitous, “Yes, blowing up the world would be a bad thing…”  I bet I can guess what he was thinking…”I can’t believe you just said something that childlike, Noory you’re an idiot.”

Bell was not very political, but he was obviously conservative, in that context I mean he was logical and reasonable on when rare political issues would come up he was well balanced and thoughtful.   Noory on the other hand and I include his occasional substitute host George Knapp, also try to avoid politics like Bell.  However, neither can resist taking an occasional shot at the right.  Knapp refers to the 100 million plus republicans as simply right-wing boobs.  I get the strong feeling both a die-hard Obama supporters, which figures given their bumbling ineptness.  But, apparently there’s a lot of stupid listeners that love this show.  The ratings say Noory has about 15 million listeners now…pretty amazing and a real indictment of the typical voter/listener.

Art Bell built a great show that you could enjoy just before you nodded off, but not anymore, not with Noory.  The entertainment value has plummeted, well, at least in my eyes anyway.   I won’t listen to Coast to Coast anymore,  it’s just way too dumb.  Hey KPAY, isn’t there something else out there you could play after 10 pm?

by Jack

Are you still kickin?  The government is still operating after enduring two days of these nightmarish cuts.  The gloom and doom predicted by Obama hasn’t touched my household yet.  Life goes on as usual.  Amazing isn’t it?  Sure will be interesting to see dire results… haha

by Jack

I just came in from checking the sky…it’s not falling.   Then I heard President Obama’s speech and I’m thinking maybe I made a mistake?  All kinds of terrible things are about to beset us… and its all the Republican’s fault, sez the prez!

B.O. tells us, when your kids free school lunch is cancelled and they starve, because it’s their only nutritious meal of the day, you know who is to blame, its all the Republican’s fault!   When vicious criminals are set free to pillage because we can’t afford to keep them locked up, its all the Republican’s fault!   (insert malady here) its always going to be the Republican’s fault because they forced this nast sequester business on the Democrats who had everything working so perfectly!

To make matters worse, the cops and FBI are being furloughed and its all the Republican’s fault! !  And our aircraft carriers are coming back to port, because we can’t afford to fuel them…yes, and soldiers will be denied bullets too, just one bullet per Taliban… it’s all about to fall apart its all the Republican’s fault!   (Gee, hope you didn’t turn in your guns, you may need them! )

A black reign (no pun intended) of unholy terror is about to begin!  To quote the president, “Now, you may not notice it for a few days, a few weeks or even a few months, but it’s coming!”  And it’s all the Republicans fault, never lose sight of that!   Which brings up a question for Barry, how’s that bipartisan consensus building working out?  But, I digress.

I bet you never knew that a reduction of 1/2 of 1% of revenue increases could wreak so much destruction on our fragile society, right?  And the worst part is to the President’s legacy that will be damaged through no fault of his own.  Because all those wonderful advances in our personal wealth, that our Lord/Saviour (he sometimes called that)  gave us are now about to just go poof!   It will be as if they never really existed.  And it will seem like our robust economy was actually flat lined during his whole term in office.  We never quite recovered from the Great Recession under his magnificent leadership and that doesn’t seem fair to Barry, he’s done so much change America forever…., but remember whatever happens that’s bad, its all the Republican’s fault!

Now to another story that followed the Presidents speech today:

A Government Accountability  Office report reveals that the Justice Department  has spent $11.4 million to fly the Attorney General and FBI director on FBI luxury jets for travel unrelated to the agency’s  mission.

Iowa Republican and ranking judiciary committee member Sen. Chuck Grassley — who requested GAO look into  Justice Department aircraft being used to for “nonmission” reasons — released  the report Thursday.

“These luxury jets were supposedly needed for counterterrorism, but it turns  out that they were used almost two-thirds of the time for jet-setting executive  travel instead,” Grassley said. “Nobody disputes that the Attorney General and  the FBI Director should have access to the secure communications, but, for  instance, there’s no reason they can’t take a less expensive mode of  transportation, or cut their personal travel.”

Read more:  http://dailycaller.com/2013/02/28/doj-spends-millions-on-nonmission-luxury-travel-for-attorney-generals-fbi-director/#ixzz2MJa6qzpK

by Jack

One of the many hundreds of boards and commissions that were created by the State Legislature is the one that regulates the tax on gasoline.  Wait, did I just say tax?  My bad, according to Sacramento that’s a misnomer.  It’s not a tax… it’s a revenue neutral regulatory adjustment!   Back to the story,  so it seems that because California enjoys the highest pump prices in the nation, outside of Hawaii, there has been a drop in gasoline consumption and in turn a drop in tax revenue to the State.  (Duh-uh, imagine that)  This shocking revelation caused the gasoline tax board to spring into action:  Californian’s will see a rise in the cost of gallon of gasoline.  The non-elected board is adding on a 3.5 cent “revenue neutral” adjustment, not a tax, effective July 1, 2013.

If you continue to drive less or switch to a go kart sized hybrid to cut your personal consumption, your reward will be another revenue neutral adjustment because you can’t beat this system.   Only in Sacramento does this make a whit of sense and only government can defeat the first law of econ0mics that says supply and demand regulate the price of a thing.)

The current CA tax on a gallon of gasoline is 37 cents and the state wants to keep it around 10% of the pump price, so what they are telling us is, get used to paying $4 plus a gallon.