Morning Open Thread
Good morning.
President Barack Obama gestures during a meeting with Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa P. Jackson in the Oval Office, Feb. 16, 2010. Photo by Pete Souza.
Comments (51) «
The Scrotus should be replaced with progressives.
Did you hear about the demonstrations in Washington? They are going to do citizens' arrests of health insurance ceo's.
It seems that the rich insurance ceo's are having a conference in Washington to try to sink the health bill. I think we should put a stop to it.
No one is representing the American people. We are on our own and need to take whatever action necessary to make certain we get the health care bill passed.
We had a little snow last. Will it ever end?
Off to work.
Now WHY would Israel, continue to think that the USA should stand back, support them, send them billions of dollars of money and war equipment, join in any wars they start----AND continue to do this kind of provacative actions !!!
Biden's Disastrous Israel Trip
Rather than focus primarily on kickstarting a peace process Israelis consider badly broken, the vice president's visit was intended to reassure the Israeli public that the Obama administration takes the threat posed by Iran seriously, and emphasizing that the U.S. is absolutely committed to Israeli security. But just as Biden arrived in Israel, the Interior Ministry announced the construction of 1,600 new housing units for Jewish residents in East Jerusalem, a move many, including many in the Obama administration, have interpreted as a deliberate provocation. The vice president put geniality aside to issue a stern and unambiguous statement: "I condemn the decision by the government of Israel to advance planning for new housing units." The general consensus is that Prime Minister Netanyahu was discomfited by the timing, yet he has relatively little leverage over his right-of-center allies in his fractious coalition government. Though spokesmen for the Interior Ministry insist that the timing of the announcement had nothing to do with Biden's arrival, it's undoubtedly true that the move will enhance the nationalist 'street cred' of its architects. Moreover, East Jerusalem is viewed very differently from the West Bank and Gaza. A government announcement of a ten-month freeze on settlement construction did not include Jerusalem, and there is very little appetite for surrendering an inch of the city to a future Palestinian state.
good morning, everyone.
"Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash."
Matthew 7:24-27
Hi Johne,
There was a free bus going from CT to those protests in DC which I would have loved to go with, but I do babysitting for both my daughters and it would not have been easy to get out of it.
WHY would anyone, outside of greedy or stupid people, not want the uninsured to be insured? Would not want an insurance company to answer for pre-ex exclusions, for rewarding employees who deny claims? Who increase rates annually far out of sync of rising costs? WHY would anyone be on their side? Do they really think their own costs are gonna go up, should the uninsured get coverage? QUITE THE CONTRARY---insurance companies work on the 'law of large numbers". The more insureds----the more premiums----thus the ratio to claims is higher.
It is scary how easily some people are led. It explains why Hitler was so successful.
bbiab........
Good morning, all
Hi, Johne.
Sorry to hear about the snow. We're suppose to get up to 72 degrees today in the Mississippi Valley. It's spring break so I'm playing hooky with the kids. Sub sandwich picnic in the park and time to check out the snowdrops and crocuses.
PamB3 on March 10, 2010 at 08:50 AM
Why ideed, Pam? I don't understand the suicidal behavior of the neocons currently in power in Israel. They are setting themselves up for the kind of disaster that they say they want to prevent.
PamB3 on March 10, 2010 at 08:57 AM
I've always thought that those who are always against instead of for so many things in their communities unconsciously don't think they personally deserve anything in life...so why should others be happy either?
Where all that denial of self was fostered in their childhood would make a great research project. But I'd hate to have to interview so many Birthers and KKK members to find out.
Gotta run. later.
Sandy, I hope you are one of those being allowed in to See Obama today.
"Barack Obama comes to town hoping to sell health insurance overhaul"
See what I mean about Easily led Americans???? They don't care if Palin is wrong, if she is dumb, if she is lying !
Sarah Palin's recent statement that, presumably during her childhood, she and her family used to cross the border from Alaska to take advantage of Canada's health care system is not really a gaffe or a verbal slipup, but offers an interesting insight into Palin. It is not exactly surprising, or even"ironic," to use Palin's words, that somebody who has made a name, and a great deal of money, for herself by linking health care reform to some kind of socialist bogeyman, used to take advantage of socialized medicine.
Speaking to a Canadian audience and reminiscing about traveling to Canada for health care as a child is the kind of thing we might expect from a progressive supporter of health care seeking to stress the need for a better health care reform system in the US. Had, for example, Anthony Weiner made this comment while on the Canadian side of the border near New York, you can be sure that Fox News, Rush Limbaugh and, yes, Sarah Palin would be seeking to red bait him out of the congress. There will, of course, be no such consequence for Palin.
While it is easy to point out the absurdity of somebody who, as a child, was made aware of the shortcomings of the American health care system spending so much energy fighting against the need to change that system, or to mock Palin for seeming to be unaware of just how telling this statement is, it also suggests a few of her political strengths.
From the time she became a national figure slightly more than 30 months ago, Palin has been, political opinions aside, a confounding mix of political positives and negatives. She is clearly an effective communicator who is able to connect with audiences, albeit within a somewhat limited demographic bandwidth. She has been reasonably successful in turning her most glaring political weakness, her seeming lack of knowledge of public policy, into a strength. She has done this by constantly reasserting her identity as an outsider to explain this away. Like former President Bush, Palin is rarely burdened by any doubt or sense of nuance, so is able to appeal to voters seeking clear, concise and accessible explanations, regardless of if they are wrong.
Palin's ability to turn weaknesses into strengths makes her a potentially formidable politician, but she is weakened by an unwillingness to truly prepare, study or learn. She has been able to hide this by challenging her critics, but one wonders how much more effective she would be if she immersed herself in the study of even a small number of issues
A key to Palin's resilience may have been revealed in this latest comment. To Palin it was a throwaway line, good for building a folksy rapport with a Canadian audience. Referring to this as "ironic" is sufficiently cryptic that it is not clear what it even means, but it is clear from her lack of effort to distance herself from this remark that Palin is not really aware of how revealing this admission is. Palin is a complicated political figure, but she may be of less off an ideologue than first thought. Clearly, a true right wing ideologue would probably not have made this revelation. The informality of Palin's revelation, and her seeming lack of understanding of what it meant, suggests that for Palin, the right wing populism, while fun and easy, is not really grounded in anything other than the advancement of Sarah Palin
Isn't there a saying about trying to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear?????
gee---what a shame----Glenn Beck ended up with crow all over his face, having to apologize to his viewers for what he thought was gonna bbe a Democratic beat up session with Massa!!!! Instead Massa turned it around, so that it was Beck and Republicans who got beat-up!!
I LMAO over that repeat of his performance over and over on TV this morning!!!!!
Beck should just choke on some of his chalk!!!!!
OH----and Glen Beck---should you be reading this-----Know that that was not the First nor only time you wasted people's time for an hour!!!! Every time you open your pie hole in front of the camera----you do nothing but waste time !!!
NEW POLL = 55% APPROVE OF OBAMA !!! 36% APPROVE OF DEMOCRATS, AND ONLY 30% APPROVE OF REPUBLICANS----YET REPUBLICANS THINK SOMEHOW THAT IN NOVEMBER, PEOPLE ARE GONNA REPLACE DEMOCRATS WITH REPUGS??????? UH UH, NOT GONNA HAPPEN !!!!!
WASHINGTON – Americans have come to detest Congress ever more deeply as it nears the end of a nasty fight over health care. But more than half still back President Barack Obama, a bright spot for a Democratic Party counting on its leader to help stave off expected losses in elections this fall.
The latest Associated Press-GfK poll found that fewer people approve of Congress than at any point in Obama's presidency. Support has dropped significantly since January to a dismal 22 percent as the health care debate has roiled Capitol Hill. Neither Republicans nor Democrats are safe; half of all people say they want to fire their congressman.
Conversely, Obama's job-performance standing is holding fairly steady at 53 percent. And over the past two months, the Democrat has gained ground on national security issues, specifically the subsiding Iraq war and the escalating Afghanistan war, as he has spent most of his time — at least publicly — on domestic matters like the economy and health care. On those issues, he still has the support of about half the people.
"I agree with what Obama is trying to do, but nobody is listening to him," said Grace Pope of Waterville, Maine. But this 75-year-old Democrat added, "I don't think that the Congress is doing anything."
Such sentiments and the survey's results make clear that Obama remains far more popular than House and Senate members as he leads a Democratic Party facing a volatile election-year environment that, so far, seems to be trending in Republicans' favor. Judging by his standing at this point, Obama seems to be an asset for his rank and file.
Just 30 percent approve of how Republicans in Congress are doing their jobs compared with 36 percent for Democrats.
Republicans still trail Democrats on the question of who should win control of Congress come November; 44 percent say Democrats, 38 percent say Republicans.
And the GOP has a slight disadvantage on two issues that voters deem among the most important — the economy and health care.
http://www.flatheadbeacon.com/articles/article/ap_poll_obama_far_more_popular_than_congress/16497/
NOT TRUE: Reconciliation is "ramming" AND cheating.
Reconciliation is a Senate budget process instituted 30 years ago. Since reconciliation bills can't be filibustered, they need only 51 votes to pass -- so everybody uses them to get things done. A chart of 15 major reconciliation initiatives in last weekend's New York Times shows that Republicans have used the process many more times than Democrats. And we're not talking small ball. Republican presidents have signed reconciliation bills that, among other things, cut welfare benefits, expanded health coverage, raised taxes, reduced taxes and overhauled the student aid system. In this case, reconciliation will be used to amend a bill that's already passed the Senate with 60 votes. Cataclysmic, as Sen. John McCain put it? I think not.
The list of Republican uses of Reconcilliation !!!
http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2010/03/07/opinion/07opedchart_graphic.html
hmmmmmmm, I don't think ANY treaties signed back in the early 1950's, indicated that the US would bend over, grab it's ankles and allow Israel to ram us for all it could, as far as money from us, weapons from us, and going to war for them, all the time turning a blind eye while Israel raped the Palestinians of their land !!!!!
The days are gone of Israel wanting nothing but to live in peace---rather now it is the taking of all the land they can gather!!!
It is time for any treaties to be re-considered and I sure Hope Obama will make that a priority. If Israel does not want to work towards peace, then let them fight their own battles. Use that money for America.
LaHood to airlines: Get onboard the high-speed train
(The following story by Scott McCartney appeared on the Wall Street Journal website on March 10, 2010.)
NEW YORK — The airline industry was left fuming last year when some $8 billion on federal stimulus money was appropriated for high-speed rail while air-traffic control modernization got no new funds.
Airlines see high-speed trains as competition that could further erode their customer bases, and they were left befuddled how rail projects decades away could be “shovel ready’’ when the next-generation air-traffic control system that airlines say will reduce delays and boost air-travel capacity didn’t get any action from the Obama Administration.
And so when Transportation Sec. Ray LaHood addressed the Federal Aviation Administration’s annual forecasting conference in Washington, D.C., the first question from the airline industry audience was about trains. Why so much for trains and not for planes?
Mr. LaHood gave a politician’s answer about how important the NextGen air-traffic control modernization effort is to the Administration. Then he paused and went off-script.
“Let me give you a little bit of political advice: Don’t be against high-speed rail,’’ Sec. LaHood said. “It’s coming to America. This is the president’s vision, this is the vice president’s vision, this is America’s vision…. We’re going to get into the high-speed rail business.’’
In two or three decades, Mr. LaHood said, U.S. cities will be connected by high-speed rail – whether airlines like it or not.
“People want alternatives,’’ he said pointedly. “People are still going to fly, but we need alternatives. So get with the program.’’
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Unfortunetly, Chassie, the reason for all the discord in the Middle East, stems back to Israel, and I would not mind supporting them against countries that just do not like Jews, but if Israel had not become an Aggressive force, taking land that does not belong to them---using US weapons on Palestinians throwing rocks at them or even bombing themselves up in revenge for the atrocities, then the rest of the middle east would not hate them like they do. They should have settled down and learned to live in peace with their neighbors!! Instead, they chose to become tyrants.
I think some people missed this one!!!
Conversely, Obama's job-performance standing is holding fairly steady at 53 percent. And over the past two months, the Democrat has gained ground on national security issues, specifically the subsiding Iraq war and the escalating Afghanistan war, as he has spent most of his time — at least publicly — on domestic matters like the economy and health care. On those issues, he still has the support of about half the people
One can not go by Rassmusson , now that we have found he is a Right Wing tool!
"The falsity comes from Rasmussen’s official bio. But according to the non-partisan Center for Public Integrity, Rasmussen has in fact been a paid consultant for the RNC and President Bush’s 2004 campaign. He accepted $95,500 and $45,500from each, respectively, for “survey research.”
so disregard Rasmusson, Dems.... Doesn't mean a thing.
Dream on, Stevieboy, Dream on. Your wish for America and Americans to fail, just might come true, if you keep your grubby little fingers crossed hard enough!
Diggin up crapola from the bottom of the barrel, hardly is worth while. save your bad breath!
Dufus----do you even READ the crapola you post???
"defaulted loans and other debts more than a decade old."
"The Treasury currently withholds benefits"
Now if they currently withhold -----that means they have been doing this WAY BEFORE Obama and Dems took office!!! ALSO----THAT IS not a tax, if they merely take back money owed to them, freakazoid!
ps, I posted this yesterday----were you napping to make up for having to get up early for your new job? Is it newspapers---or donuts? Inquiring minds would like to know!!!
might as well save your typing fingers, Stevieboy, NOBODY and I mean NOBODY even looks at those Rasmusson bullshit, so stuff it. It would be like you were posting something by Cheney or Rove or Bachman or Palin-----all lies!!!
And I would say socialized programs have done pretty well by you ! How's that Property Tax Subsidy by the State of MN going these days? Now I will bet that was put in place for you by some liberal Democrat in MN, and you sure suck off that tit, doncha? I don't see you refusing that, on that dinky little $90,000 shack in the woods. Can't even pay your own taxes without help! What does that say?
well, looky here, that law goes back to 2005!!!!
Court: Disabled can't escape student loans
WASHINGTON (AP) — America's seniors and disabled cannot escape debts from old student loans, the Supreme Court ruled Wednesday, freeing the government to pursue Social Security benefits as part of an effort to collect billions in delinquent loans !!!
Now WHO was President and in charge of congress in 2005???? OH YEAH----it was Bush and his band of Shameful Repugs !!!!!
whewwwww, thank goodness. Tomass will be able to sit around on his lard butt for a longer time now, with extended Unemployment benefits ! I was worried he might have to actually get a job!!
WASHINGTON – The Senate voted Wednesday to extend a host of soon-to-expire elements of last year's economic stimulus measure, including help for the jobless and money to help financially strapped states pay for health care for the poor.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100310/ap_on_bi_ge/us_jobless_aid_taxes
A little–noticed law could soon result in smaller Social Security checks for hundreds of thousands of the elderly and disabled who owe the U.S. money from defaulted loans and other debts more than a decade old.
Social Security benefits are off–limits to creditors, such as credit–card companies and banks. But the U.S. can collect debts to federal agencies by "offsetting," or withholding Social Security and disability payments.
The Treasury currently withholds benefits of 3.1 million Social Security recipients to recover defaulted student–, farm– and small–business loans, unpaid income taxes, amounts veterans owe for health care, and other debts to the government.
Previously, the U.S. hasn't been able to withhold Social Security payments to recover most debts delinquent for more than ten years.
But a provision in the 2008 Farm Bill lifted the ten–year statute of limitations on the government's ability to withhold Social Security benefits in collecting debts other than student loans—for which the statute of limitations was lifted in 1997—and income taxes, where the limit remains 10 years.
This means that a person who defaulted on a small–business loan in 1995, for example, and who is receiving Social Security could be notified that his benefits may be reduced each month until the debt, with interest, fees, and penalties, is paid. The Treasury can withhold 15% of the benefit, though it can't be reduced to below $750. Tax debts have no floor.
The change will add more than $6 billion to the $75 billion in delinquent debt individuals owe the government, according to the Financial Management Service, the Treasury's debt collection unit.
A Treasury spokesman says the new legislation "allows Treasury's Financial Management Service to collect older debts and levels the playing field so that all eligible debts, regardless of age, are subject to debt collection. Treasury expects this legislation will result in increased collections of $10 million per year in delinquent federal non–tax debt."
Though no one argues that people shouldn't repay their debts, the change is coming at a challenging time for older Americans already pinched by mortgage woes, pension cuts and spiraling medical costs.
The shift applies to debtors of all ages, but Social Security recipients will bear much of the brunt. A Wall Street Journal analysis of Treasury Department data shows that Social Security recipients comprise a large and growing percentage of people from whom the Treasury recovers debts.
For years, most debt the Treasury collected through its "Offset Program," came from withholding income–tax refunds. But with an aging population and growing unemployment, roughly 10% of the $4.3 billion in debts collected by the Treasury came from Social Security benefits in 2008, the latest figures available. That's up from 1.6% in 2001, according to Journal computations that the Treasury confirms.
Though the law has expanded the age of debts that can be recovered, it hasn't addressed the sometimes–Kafkaesque process debtors can face when challenging the validity of a claim.
Consider the predicament of Dr. Robert Steinberg, the founder of Scharffen Berger chocolates, who spent more than six years and thousands of dollars in legal fees appealing the Social Security Administration's claim that he owed it more than $28,000.
Dr. Steinberg received disability benefits in the early 1990s while undergoing chemotherapy for lymphoma, a condition that ultimately claimed his life. Dr. Steinberg returned to work sporadically at a free clinic before co–founding the chocolate company.
Year later, the Social Security Administration notified Dr. Steinberg he was overpaid in the 1990s. In May 2002, with the matter still unresolved, the agency turned the debt over to the Treasury for collection.
In Oct. 2002, administrative law judge Gary Lee found that the Social Security Administration had never established the amount of the overpayment; had dismissed an earlier appeal "for spurious reasons"; had misinformed Dr. Steinberg and mishandled his later appeals; and had lost his file. He noted that Dr. Steinberg was "without fault," and told the agency to stop its collections efforts.
Dr. Steinberg died in 2008, at 61. His lawyer, Peter Young, a former staff attorney for the Social Security Administration, has handled more than 100 overpayment cases, "very few of which were accurate," he says. "Most people can't find or afford help, and give up very quickly and end up with painful offsets on a fixed budget."
An agency spokeswoman says mistakes can happen, but "over all, the process works."
A Treasury spokesman says the new regulations require agencies seeking to recover debts more than a decade old to give debtors the right to review and copy their files, make payment arrangements, and apply for disability and hardship waivers.
But a recent dispute about a student loan shows that even with these rights, a person challenging an old debt can face hurdles similar to homeowners in foreclosure trying to modify a loan that has been resold.
In 2003, the U.S. began withholding $173 a month in Social Security benefits from Annie Brown, a paralyzed 75–year–old widow living in a nursing home to repay a defaulted $8,823 student loan the Education Department says she took out in 1989. The offset reduced Mrs. Brown's benefit to about $980 a month.
Mrs. Brown said a granddaughter had forged her signature on a loan application. Her daughter and a lawyer spent more than four years disputing the debt with the owner of the loan, United Student Aid Funds, a student–loan guarantor that also was acting as one of the Education Department's 21 debt collectors. USA Funds itself farms out various debt–collection activities to others, which it did in Mrs. Brown's case.
Between 2003 and 2008, Mrs. Brown's daughter and Lynn Drysdale, a legal–aid lawyer in Jacksonville, Fla., corresponded numerous times with USA Funds and two other debt–collection companies it hired. One letter from USA Funds warned that unless documents were received "within 30 days from the date this letter was generated...your case will be closed." The letter was undated. Another letter required Mrs. Brown to refer to an attached document. There was no attachment. "I don't know how a lay person could maneuver through this process," says Ms. Drysdale. "Nobody seemed to know what was needed."
In 2007, USA Funds denied Mrs. Brown's claim, citing a recently passed federal rule requiring people claiming identity theft on student loans to obtain a criminal court verdict of the crime. That was impossible for Mrs. Brown; a statute of limitations for bringing a case had passed years earlier. In any case, she wasn't alleging identity theft, but forgery.
Robert Murray, a spokesman for USA Funds, agrees that Mrs. Brown's signature was forged. "It's absolutely a forgery," he says, "It \[the loan\] should never have been made."
But he says that USA Funds couldn't discharge the loan as a forgery because Mrs. Brown didn't return a required form in 2005, and that USA Funds must rigorously defend claims. "There are borrowers who want to get out of a legitimate debt," he says. "By the same token, we want to work with individuals who have a legitimate issue."
Ms. Drysdale, the legal–aid lawyer, finally sought to obtain a disability waiver for her client. That process took more than a year, and was achieved only after Ms. Drysdale asked for help from the Social Security Administration's ombudsman, who declined to comment.
In August 2009, the Education Department agreed that Mrs. Brown is permanently disabled, and discharged her obligation to repay the loan she never took out. The Treasury returned her withheld benefits in December.
......................................................................................................
Whats the matter Danny Boy did you take out a farm loan on your hog farm, that you never paid back? And now they are taking a portion of your S.S. For the loan, and Veterans, Health Care that you was suppose to pay out of your pocket.
Is this the reason you had to go back to work? You seem to be awfully worried about it.
well, you see dufus danny, my husband and I have no worries about our SS being attached! You see we have never defaulted on any money owed, unlike you----who seems to have a Great fear of this! Just keep that job you had to go and get----you should be ok. BTW, is that under or over the table????? Do you pay taxes on it? I bet I know the answer to that one!
washingtonpost.com > Nation Farm Bill Passes by Veto-Proof Margin
By Dan Morgan
Special to The Washington Post
Thursday, May 15, 2008
The House yesterday passed a final version of a new five-year farm bill by a vote of 318 to 106, a margin large enough to override President Bush's promised veto of the nearly $300 billion measure.
The bipartisan show of support came after intense lobbying by a coalition that included farm groups, anti-hunger advocates, environmental organizations and the biofuels industry. While continuing traditional farm subsidy programs, the bill increases spending on nutrition programs such as food stamps by $10.4 billion.
Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer released a statement saying the vote "sends the wrong message to the rest of the country who are not experiencing the boom of the agriculture sector," and, "This bill is loaded with taxpayer funded pet projects at a time when Americans are struggling to buy groceries and afford gas to get to work."
Bush has charged that the bill allows payments to wealthy individuals. He has also criticized restrictions on the use of food aid dollars in the midst of food shortages abroad, and he said that protectionist provisions, including "an egregious new sugar subsidy program," could worsen trade relations.
Congressional backers were elated by the 3 to 1 vote ratio. "After this vote, it's pretty much clear that we can override," said House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin C. Peterson (D-Minn.).
Morgan is a contract writer for The Post and a fellow at the German Marshall Fund, a nonpartisan public policy institute
////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Defying President Bush, Senate Passes Farm Bill
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CloseLinkedinDiggFacebookMixxMySpaceYahoo! BuzzPermalink By DAVID M. HERSZENHORN and DAVID STOUT
Published: May 15, 2008
WASHINGTON — The Senate voted overwhelmingly on Thursday to approve a five-year, $307 billion farm bill, sending it to President Bush for what is expected to be his futile veto.
The 81-to-15 Senate vote, like the 318-to-106 House vote on Wednesday, attracted broad bipartisan support and received far more than the two-thirds that would be needed to override Mr. Bush’s veto, should he keep his pledge to wield his pen.
Mr. Bush has said he wants to sharply limit government subsidies to farmers at a time of near-record commodity prices and soaring global demand for grain. Most legislators were not swayed by Mr. Bush’s description of the bill as bloated, expensive and packed with “a variety of gimmicks.”
Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the Democratic majority leader, defended the measure as “one of compromise.”
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Read and weep Danny Boy, liberals didn't do this in 2008 both parties did so quit your bitchng.
GET THE REAL FACTS ABOUT HEALTH REFORM ! DON'T LET THE REPUGS SPREAD LIES, DEMS........
It's time to show the insurance lobbyists that no smear campaign can match
the power of millions of regular citizens who are ready for change and
committed to the truth.
Congress must understand that if they pass reform, their constituents will
know the truth about what we've finally achieved.
UNDER THE PRESIDENT'S PLAN FOR REFORM:
• If you have health insurance through your employer and you like your plan, you can keep it
• If you're a small business owner, you'll receive new tax credits that make it easier for you to
provide coverage for employees if you choose to do so
• If you have Medicare, the President's plan guarantees that your benefits will not be cut, and
the Medicare Trust Fund will be extended for more than 9 years
• If you're uninsured, you could receive a tax credit to help pay for coverage if needed — part
of the largest middle class tax cut for health care in history
• Even if you currently have health insurance, there will be new protections from insurance
company abuses, and tax credits will make coverage more affordable
THE PRESIDENT'S PLAN GUARANTEES THAT:
• You will never be denied coverage because of pre-existing conditions
• You will never again be hit with arbitrary health insurance premium hikes
IF WE DO NOT PASS REFORM:
• Up to 17 million more people will be uninsured by 2019
• Insurers can continue their massive and arbitrary premium rate increases — such as Anthem
Blue Cross raising rates for customers in California by nearly 40%, and rates in Illinois going
up by as much as 60%
• As many as 275,000 people could die prematurely over the next 10 years because they don't
have health insurance
• The average family's health care costs will nearly double by 2020, from $13,000 to $24,000
ss reform, their constituents will
know the truth about what we've finally achieved.
(guys like dufus and stevie and thomass don't care that their kids and grandkids will be facing catastrophic costs for health care in the future, if they are able to get health care at all!!! That is because Dufus and Stevie and thomass are afraid they will have to pay an extra nickel towards it !)
"It is power NO president should have!"
WELL YOU SHOULD HAVE BITCHED AND COMPLAINED ABOUT IT BACK IN 2005 WHEN BUSH WAS PRESIDENT, POS ! FUNNY HOW THAT IS WORKING NOW FOR YOU REPUGS, HUH???? ALL THE THINGS YOU ARE BITCHING AND MOANING AND PISSING ABOUT-----WERE ALL BUSH'S ALBATROSS AROUND OUR NECKS !!!!
Did you read this part Dan????
The 81-to-15 Senate vote, like the 318-to-106 House vote on Wednesday, attracted broad bipartisan support and received far more than the two-thirds that would be needed to override Mr. Bush’s veto, should he keep his pledge to wield his pen.
//////////////////////////////////////////////
So again you have been proved wrong o.
Dufus you just can't get nothing right when your blaming Dems, for everything.
The 2008 Farm Bill, is squarely on the shoulders of both parties.
Your dog don't hunt Danny Boy.
Chassie----to argue with Dufus is futile. He is perhaps the most ignorant man I have ever come across. Even when it is spelled out for him----he cannot grasp it. very very low IQ.
That is why at his current old age-----he is back out at work ! UNDER THE TABLE, OF COURSE !!! Makes me LOL during the days he is not on here, and we know he has to work! Oh those days of enjoying his retirement are all gone!
ahahahahahahahahahaha.
I have read it, and i understand it, idiot.
You sure are slow.
You said the liberals did it, and i have proven without a showdow of a doubt that your wrong-o.
DEMOCRATS ARE LIBERALS, DUFUS----GET OVER IT.
EVEN THE CENTRISTS ARE MORE LIBERAL THAN YOU LIKE TO THINK.
TOO BAD---- JFK WAS OUR FINEST LIBERAL! HAD HE LIVED, IMAGINE HOW MANY MORE THINGS WITH THE GOVERNMENT YOU WOULD BE SUCKING AT THE TEET OF !
38PamB3 on March 10, 2010 at 06:36 PM
Pam most likely old man Dufus, has not paid his out of pocket expenses to the Veterans Administration, for Health Care. And is the reason he is pissed. You know how hard headed he is, i can just imagine him telling them i seved my country and i ain't paying you a GD. penny.
So now they are taking up to 15 percent of his monthly check, and had to find a little job to make up the difference.
The 2008 Farm Bill, is squarely on the shoulders of both parties.
Your dog don't hunt Danny Boy.
34
chassie321 on March 10, 2010 at 06:19 PM
Give up, Chassie. It's like describing "purple" to a blind man.
Sane, literate DEM (read:human): "It's NOT red, but it's half red..."
Moron illiterate sub-human Pug (read: Dufus): Duuuuh, what's red?"
"Its' not blue, but it's half blue..."
"Duuuuh, what's blue?"
Same thing. Dufus Danny (a.k.a. SOCKPUPPET) is too stupid to use a calendar.
Passed the House of Representatives May 22, 2008.Attest:
Clerk.
110th CONGRESS2d Session
H. R. 6124
_______________________________________________________________________
AN ACT
To provide for the continuation of agricultural and other programs of
the Department of Agriculture through fiscal year 2012, and for other
purposes."
SIGNED INTO LAW BY CHIMPY THE CRACK HEAD.
Have fun, Sock Puppet. It contains words and stuff.
You moron.
Dec. 27, 2005 =======
Court: Disabled can't escape student loans
WASHINGTON (AP) — America's seniors and disabled cannot escape debts from old student loans, the Supreme Court ruled Wednesday, freeing the government to pursue Social Security benefits as part of an effort to collect billions in delinquent loans.
The Bush administration had argued that the ability to withhold Social Security benefits is an important tool in the pursuit of $5.7 billion in student loan debt that is over 10 years old. Overall, outstanding loans total about $33 billion.
Government lawyers said there is a limit on how much can be taken from benefit checks, 15%, and that the Education Department can forgive debts in some hardship cases.
The unanimous decision went against a disabled 67-year-old Seattle man who lives in public housing and had sued claiming he needed all of his $874 monthly check to pay for food and medicine.
James Lockhart's benefits had been cut by 15% to cover debts he incurred for college in the 1980s. He has about $77,000 in unpaid loans.
The court's decision applies to loans that date back more than 10 years, and covers both disability and retirement benefits under the Social Security program. (Related site: Lockhart v. U.S. opinion)
Boy, I will bet Dufus wishes he had never opened up this can of worms-----his hero---bush screwed up a lot of disabled,Seniors
Alan Grayson came to the House Floor today to introduce the Public Option Act, which would allow all Americans to buy into Medicare at cost. The bill is 4 pages long, and calls for an unsubsidized option for any American to choose Medicare over private insurers.
The bill would require the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish enrollment periods, coverage guidelines, and premiums for the program. Because premiums would be equal to cost, the program would pay for itself.
“The government spent billions of dollars creating a Medicare network of providers that is only open to one-eighth of the population. That’s like saying, ‘Only people 65 and over can use federal highways.’ It is a waste of a very valuable resource and it is not fair. This idea is simple, it makes sense, and it deserves an up-or-down vote,” Congressman Grayson said.
Pelosi says Dems near deal on health care bill
By DAVID ESPO and PHILIP ELLIOTT
The Associated Press
Wednesday, March 10, 2010; 8:21 PM
ST. CHARLES, Mo. -- Democrats claimed momentum Wednesday in their drive to enact the sweeping health care legislation sought by President Barack Obama, citing near agreement on crucial issues despite persistent Republican efforts to knock them off stride.
Obama himself, rallying support outside Washington for the second time this week, shouted to a crowd in Missouri, "The time for talk is over. It's time to vote."
At the Capitol, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said that after days of secretive talks, key Democrats were "pretty close" to accord on additional subsidies to help lower-income families purchase insurance, more aid for states under the Medicaid program for low-income Americans and additional help for seniors who face a coverage gap under current Medicare drug plans.
Pelosi, D-Calif., offered no details, and other officials cautioned that any final deal would hinge on cost estimates under preparation at the Congressional Budget Office.
Several officials in both houses also said Democrats were likely to impose a new payroll tax of as much as 2.9 percent on investment and dividend income earned by wealthy taxpayers. In addition, any legislation is expected to include a tax on high-cost insurance plans, along the lines of an agreement the White House negotiated late last year with organized labor.
At stake is the fate of Obama's call to expand health care to some 30 million people who lack insurance and to ban insurance company practices such as denial of coverage on the basis of pre-existing medical conditions. He also hopes to begin to reduce the rise in the cost of health care nationally.
Almost every American would be affected by the legislation, which would change the ways people receive and pay for health care, from the most routine checkup to the most expensive, lifesaving treatment.
Pelosi made her comments as Obama followed his campaign-reminiscent Pennsylvania trip of Monday with an appearance near St. Louis, pushing hard in the home stretch of the marathon battle to pass his signature domestic legislation.
"The time for talk is over. It's time to vote. It's time to vote. Tired of talking about it," he told the crowd.
With his shirt sleeves rolled up, Obama denounced waste and inefficiency in the government's health care system, and he announced that he had signed an executive order directing Cabinet secretaries and agency heads to intensify their use of private auditors to root out fraud.
House and Senate Democrats are working on a complex rescue mission for the health care legislation that appeared on the cusp of passage late last year, before Senate Republicans gained the strength to sustain a filibuster that could prevent final passage.
The current hope of the White House and Democratic leaders is for the House to approve the Senate-passed bill from late last year, despite serious objections to numerous provisions. Both houses would then pass a second bill immediately, making changes in the first measure before both could take effect. The second bill would be debated under rules that bar a filibuster, meaning it could clear by majority vote and without Democrats needing to amass a 60-vote supermajority that is beyond their reach
Republicans have vowed to do everything they can to thwart the plan, and to go after Democratic supporters in next fall's midterm elections. In the Senate, the GOP rank and file issued a letter pledging to strip out any provision that does not adhere scrupulously to complex rules.
In addition, GOP leaders sought to stoke the fears of House Democrats who worried that the Senate would not approve the second bill. Even so, Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., the second-ranking Senate GOP leader, conceded, "We can't delay a bill for months. We might delay it for a few hours."
After meeting with top congressional Democrats and White House aides Wednesday night, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., told reporters he believes "that health reform is going to be done. We don't have it all worked out, but we made a lot of progress." He said "a lot of decisions were made" at the meeting.
Congressional Democrats and the White House are grappling with several issues as they maneuver toward a final vote.
Pelosi and other House Democrats want to include Obama's proposed overhaul of the nation's student loan programs in the second, fix-it health care bill. The measure would require the Education Department to originate all student assistance loans, effectively eliminating a role for banks and private lenders.
That idea has run into opposition from several Senate Democrats, and while officials said the controversy was debated at length in a closed-door meeting Tuesday night, no decision was made.
Additionally, some House Democrats are hoping to avoid a straightforward vote on the Senate-passed health care bill. Instead, they want a procedural vote that would simply declare the measure to have passed at the moment the Senate cleared the fix-it bill.
Rep. Louise Slaughter, D-N.Y., chairwoman of the House Rules Committee, said that approach was under discussion. But other officials said no decisions had been made.
To the annoyance of some Democrats, the White House is pushing for a vote by the House before Obama leaves on a foreign trip at the end of next week.
Several officials said one of the thorniest issues to be resolved in the House-Senate negotiations was a demand from a dozen states for additional funds under Medicaid.
These states, New York, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts among them, already provide coverage under the low-income program for the poor that other states do not but would be required to if the legislation passes. The 12 are concerned that they will effectively be penalized for having been more generous than the rest of the country.
The legislation that passed the Senate late last year included a new Medicare payroll tax of 2.3 percent on wages for upper-income Americans. The White House wants to extend the tax to dividends and interest, at a higher rate of 2.9 percent.
Much of the proceeds would offset changes in an excise tax the Senate approved on high-cost insurance plans. Responding to criticism from labor leaders, the White House agreed over the winter to scale it back significantly. Officials said the revised proposal would raise about $120 billion less over a decade than the measure the Senate passed.
---
Pelosi says Dems near deal on health care bill
By DAVID ESPO and PHILIP ELLIOTT
The Associated Press
Wednesday, March 10, 2010; 8:21 PM
ST. CHARLES, Mo. -- Democrats claimed momentum Wednesday in their drive to enact the sweeping health care legislation sought by President Barack Obama, citing near agreement on crucial issues despite persistent Republican efforts to knock them off stride.
Obama himself, rallying support outside Washington for the second time this week, shouted to a crowd in Missouri, "The time for talk is over. It's time to vote."
At the Capitol, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said that after days of secretive talks, key Democrats were "pretty close" to accord on additional subsidies to help lower-income families purchase insurance, more aid for states under the Medicaid program for low-income Americans and additional help for seniors who face a coverage gap under current Medicare drug plans.
Pelosi, D-Calif., offered no details, and other officials cautioned that any final deal would hinge on cost estimates under preparation at the Congressional Budget Office.
Several officials in both houses also said Democrats were likely to impose a new payroll tax of as much as 2.9 percent on investment and dividend income earned by wealthy taxpayers. In addition, any legislation is expected to include a tax on high-cost insurance plans, along the lines of an agreement the White House negotiated late last year with organized labor.
At stake is the fate of Obama's call to expand health care to some 30 million people who lack insurance and to ban insurance company practices such as denial of coverage on the basis of pre-existing medical conditions. He also hopes to begin to reduce the rise in the cost of health care nationally.
Almost every American would be affected by the legislation, which would change the ways people receive and pay for health care, from the most routine checkup to the most expensive, lifesaving treatment.
Pelosi made her comments as Obama followed his campaign-reminiscent Pennsylvania trip of Monday with an appearance near St. Louis, pushing hard in the home stretch of the marathon battle to pass his signature domestic legislation.
"The time for talk is over. It's time to vote. It's time to vote. Tired of talking about it," he told the crowd.
With his shirt sleeves rolled up, Obama denounced waste and inefficiency in the government's health care system, and he announced that he had signed an executive order directing Cabinet secretaries and agency heads to intensify their use of private auditors to root out fraud.
House and Senate Democrats are working on a complex rescue mission for the health care legislation that appeared on the cusp of passage late last year, before Senate Republicans gained the strength to sustain a filibuster that could prevent final passage.
The current hope of the White House and Democratic leaders is for the House to approve the Senate-passed bill from late last year, despite serious objections to numerous provisions. Both houses would then pass a second bill immediately, making changes in the first measure before both could take effect. The second bill would be debated under rules that bar a filibuster, meaning it could clear by majority vote and without Democrats needing to amass a 60-vote supermajority that is beyond their reach
Republicans have vowed to do everything they can to thwart the plan, and to go after Democratic supporters in next fall's midterm elections. In the Senate, the GOP rank and file issued a letter pledging to strip out any provision that does not adhere scrupulously to complex rules.
In addition, GOP leaders sought to stoke the fears of House Democrats who worried that the Senate would not approve the second bill. Even so, Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., the second-ranking Senate GOP leader, conceded, "We can't delay a bill for months. We might delay it for a few hours."
After meeting with top congressional Democrats and White House aides Wednesday night, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., told reporters he believes "that health reform is going to be done. We don't have it all worked out, but we made a lot of progress." He said "a lot of decisions were made" at the meeting.
Congressional Democrats and the White House are grappling with several issues as they maneuver toward a final vote.
Pelosi and other House Democrats want to include Obama's proposed overhaul of the nation's student loan programs in the second, fix-it health care bill. The measure would require the Education Department to originate all student assistance loans, effectively eliminating a role for banks and private lenders.
That idea has run into opposition from several Senate Democrats, and while officials said the controversy was debated at length in a closed-door meeting Tuesday night, no decision was made.
Additionally, some House Democrats are hoping to avoid a straightforward vote on the Senate-passed health care bill. Instead, they want a procedural vote that would simply declare the measure to have passed at the moment the Senate cleared the fix-it bill.
Rep. Louise Slaughter, D-N.Y., chairwoman of the House Rules Committee, said that approach was under discussion. But other officials said no decisions had been made.
To the annoyance of some Democrats, the White House is pushing for a vote by the House before Obama leaves on a foreign trip at the end of next week.
Several officials said one of the thorniest issues to be resolved in the House-Senate negotiations was a demand from a dozen states for additional funds under Medicaid.
These states, New York, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts among them, already provide coverage under the low-income program for the poor that other states do not but would be required to if the legislation passes. The 12 are concerned that they will effectively be penalized for having been more generous than the rest of the country.
The legislation that passed the Senate late last year included a new Medicare payroll tax of 2.3 percent on wages for upper-income Americans. The White House wants to extend the tax to dividends and interest, at a higher rate of 2.9 percent.
Much of the proceeds would offset changes in an excise tax the Senate approved on high-cost insurance plans. Responding to criticism from labor leaders, the White House agreed over the winter to scale it back significantly. Officials said the revised proposal would raise about $120 billion less over a decade than the measure the Senate passed.
---
The Bush administration had argued that the ability to withhold Social Security benefits is an important tool in the pursuit of $5.7 billion in student loan debt that is over 10 years old. Overall, outstanding loans total about $33 billion.
Evening Chassie,
cactass has its head up its add crosswise. Why doesn't he give up his Medicare, Social Security and socialized veterans medical care if it doesn't like it.
There will just be more for the compassionate people who are currently being screwed by his buddies the neotards.
Dan someone else can try and educate your stupid ass. I'm thur with ya!
I bet you had to wear the Dunce Hat everyday you was in school, if you even went to school.
I've never seen such a imbecile in my life, unless they was in a nuthouse.
You never post anything that makes a lick of sense.
Go have another shot of Kerosene, moron.
48johhne on March 10, 2010 at 09:11 PM
Evening John, danny boy is not smart enough to even know who has been screwing him, he's hopeless.
Evening Margot.
It's 39 degrees here in beautiful downtown New Mexico. When is it going to warm up. My wife said that was something like 68 degrees in Puerto Rico today.
Heart of America’s Core
From the core womb birthright of Lady Liberty’s wail,
We are born American among the sails flying Freedom
Where “We the people” spread wings in true Democracy
That has no master, but this Declaration of Independence
Sharing individual rights that are paramount, in a Bill of Rights.
We are the Made in America founding father family of traditions
Working sweat foundations of heartbeat America’s first generation
Capitalism that toils upon the History and Heritage of inheritance,
Where our children share the wealth of this country’s bright future.
The miracle of America is not in its wealth but its patriotic proud heart
Compassion that comes from taught fundamentals of love thy neighbor.
God Bless America is not one religion but combined faiths believing in a miracle
That unites states in diversity bonds that hold hands united across this nation.
That children never see the political blight of education failing the American dream
Where politics bankrupt the very institution that they are supposed to uphold
To form a more perfect union of Conglomerate Goliath CEO Corporate Kingdoms,
Where American workers are enslaved “At Will” with hidden rules of muted conduct.
No, America cannot be outsourced, terminated, fired, laid off or be bankrupt
By Washington that says, America must fail that we must bulldoze individual dreams.
Where the colors of poverty tan in the shades of red, white and blue breeding devastation
Where hopes drown and screams wail in the equality lost of Washington’s Patriot Act.
U.S. lays out set of common school standards
The nation's governors and state school chiefs will propose standards Wednesday for what students should learn in English and math, from kindergarten through high school, a crucial step in President Obama's campaign to raise academic standards across the country.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35792943/ns/us_news-washington_post/
After bankrupting this nation, politicians think that they can solve the education problem, when they are at the center of the problem. The problem starts with educators from colleges that walk among the students, not in Governor who are more concerned about illicit affairs, than duty of fidelity to the public school system. Screw you Washington and your Math/English solution that is like a Bush/Reagan fix to divert people to charter schools, and left America colored schools of poverty. When has Washington ever gone to face to face street level solution of neighborhood by neighborhood fixes.
Obama has one problem that I see his face everywhere, as the only Democrat portrait. God I wish the Democrats had a team picture rather than Obama and his segregated team that isolates the rest of America, except those GoodWill Republicans that have that Obama corporate suit. Obama is a Chicago politician that forgot the imported the rest of the Moderates and Liberals in the Party, the ones that elected him. It is like a Reagan, and seeing iy over and over and not seeing am Academy Award.
A football team has a quarterback that is a star, and gets all the publicity, while he not bring in the team picture. Well sometimes, those that protect him, just feel like Liberals and Moderates that fail to show up or even worse, change sides. I think Obama makeup needs a shakeup to tan more like the rest of us facing more poverty than wealth out of Washington, where they wish they could afford the price of his corporate Reagan suit to take care of their families needs.
Come on Progressive Party tan the red, white and bLues of hardships plight in your fight in Made in America recovery.
So I left some imperfection in my words to frustrate you.
In a promise of security of a fix sometimes one gets a Virus Toyota checker program with a political guarantee warrantee of GoodWill Bruise Blues of Black and Blue Brothers that delivers Microsoft Hotmail to Dead Poet Society letter boxes. One wishes they had a Franklin Constitution with a Post Office guarantee of prompt mail delivery, instead they get the shame of the same ole thing of Washington Katrina goodwill Conservative bulldozed feelings that cost you even more to survive.
When you get a new Window 7 Microsoft system they take control of it with a Progressive Patriot Act that you need $5000 to get to use it, in a Franklin Free Speech Free Press that questions Washington's promise of change, when the first thing they do is ask for the GoodWill Katrina bulldozers to enter to push out Camelot.
Web Rooted Nightmare
Oh the software of the nightmare
That haunts the computer memory.
Flash, dash, and crashing dark mare
Infection best buy of abrasive emory.
Irritation of a virus defender irritator
That seems to have a hacker beginning
With many faces of a program imitator
That took a fee to promise winning innings.
But alas, it is like political promise failure
That leaves you feeling so broke down
Paying for something that keep failing,
Much like a Toyota, it seems to be a downer.
That you feel the Madoff swindle effect,
When all they want is extra fee cures,
Where the only solution of affection
Is to tell its security to get lost, cursing.
That it could have paid for dollar meals
Inside a poetic budget survival mode.
Starving both computer and poet zeal
That uses better freeware now in ones abode,
(But hears this Progressive Poet depressive rant on TV. You would think that at the very least they could do is fix a poet's email delivery Uni-Verse. Maybe I need to wear a poet shirt and vest tu Washington, I need no makeup to be a patriot act that has weathered like a founding father. You think Ole Ben can be a Tea Party Palin, Republican Conservative, or Democrat Progressive, frank-ly that is disgusting example of bridges to nowhere solutions. But a Franklin Party would liven things up. But then I know why Jesus was not any po;politician for they are more a part of hell than heaven.
I wish I could be Saved and never ever see another politician that say they are go$s in bed, and wh^^^^ in Congress, but deliver nothing but passing gas.
In political infidelity the only part that arises to the occasion is the one that screws America, and asks for health care for Congress chosen ones.
I am so imperfect that every politicians points it out, in that they wear a wardrobe with a boner on it that deflates the economy.
In President Obama being elected I thought Democrats were the ones that would get the Good Will Ambassadors, I did not think it was a Bush/Clinton partnership.
Free Speech's sword cuts to the skeletal boner of its point.)
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