YouCut – A great idea by Eric Cantor

I hope this site actually works. I am glad someone is intelligent enough to realize the crisis our country faces. We are almost as bad off as Greece. Greece deficit vs. GDP is 118 percent. The USA by the end of 2010 with be 92 percent vs GDP. Our country is near bankruptcy. Every one in the United States needs to go to this website, Watch the video and VOTE !!.. Hopefully it will work and will get something done in Washington and hold our leaders accountable. YOUCUT – Visit it NOW !! Click Here

YOUCUT – Visit it NOW !! Click Here

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What Recovery ?

I read in the media that the politicians in power keep saying that the recession is over and the economy is recovering. I just can’t understand how they come to that conclusion as everything else I read points to the opposite.

The one thing the media is reporting is consumer spending is up. Of course it is, everyone is getting their tax refund right now and are buying something they would otherwise not be able to afford. It happens every year at this time then slows down again.

The politicians were happy that only ### thousand people lost their job last week and that unemployment is still around ten percent. They are happy about that? What about the 8 million that are still unemployed? What about those thousands that just lost their jobs?

The politicians don’t have to worry about where their next meal is coming from or how they will pay for those medications for the month, they just want to feed us the spin that the economy is recovering and things are looking rosy so they all high five each other. Well, things aren’t rosy and whatever economic recovery we are starting to experience will be ended when the commercial real estate crisis is in full swing and hits us like a ton of bricks along with consumers being faced with high gasoline prices…again.
What happened the last time gas reached $3 a gallon? People stopped spending as much because they lost the extra money they had when gas was reasonable under $2.50 a gallon.
What happened when it reached $4 a gallon? They quit spending on all unnecessary items, which in turn caused businesses to go bankrupt, etc.
Well, I keep hearing that gas is on its way back to $4 a gallon by summertime, how they can predict this is beyond me other than they know that nothing has been done about the Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000 and speculators driving it up since the last time gasoline reached $4 a gallon. Too many politicians friends making money hand over fist for our representatives to do anything. If you look back at when oil and gasoline prices started going up, it was right after the Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000 took effect when it opened the door for speculators driving the prices up just in time for the 2 oil men in the White House, Bush and company, to start making money hand over fist at the expense of the consumer (us) and it has been going on ever since. Of course the stock market was up today and it wasn’t a surprise to see Chevron and Exxon stock going up and up. Ever wonder why that is? I just wonder if they will have another record year at our expense?

Moving on to banking, the regulators just shut down another bank, the 42nd failure of this year. I thought the recession was over. Here is the link for the article about the latest bank failure. Here is the link for the bank closures since 2000. Notice all of the banks closing starting in 2008 to present.

The media and politicians keep shoving the news down our throats that the recession is over thanks to the massive bailouts and stimulus spending and then I see headlines like this one, “Gold settles at four-month high as recovery concerns resurface” and the end of recession talk just doesn’t make sense to me.

When the AIG, wall street and bank fiasco first surfaced along with the political cries of action when gasoline reached $4 a gallon, we heard from most politicians about reform for wall street, reform for the banking industry and reform for the commodities market to stop speculators. Those politicians that were shouting the loudest are now in office and they haven’t done sh*t to reform the problems which means more trouble in the future.
I read another article (link here) about banks still fudging their debt to make them look more fiscally sound than what they really are and nobody is concerned about it now until they need another taxpayer bailout with congress going through the motions of appearing outraged to garner votes the next time they are up for re-election and not really giving a damn or doing anything about the root of the problem.

The people that are the backbone of our nation (each one of us that works hard at our jobs for just enough to barely survive but too much to qualify for a government handout) are constantly getting screwed by the politicians that promise to represent us while lining their pockets with money along with the big wall street banking ceo types with their outrageous bonuses because our representatives fail to look out for us and truly reform the things that need it so badly.

I hope anyone that reads this vote against every incumbent the next time they are up for re-election. Now is the time to raise hell and demand better for each of us.

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Regulate Now, Repeal the Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000

I agree 100 % with this article. Government needs to repeal the Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000 which allows for speculators that drive up the price of oil. Oil changes hands so many times on paper/electronic trading before it reaches the refinery that it is ridiculous and it is all to make a buck at the expense of the consumer. People need to write their representatives, not emails, about this unless you like paying $4 a gallon of gasoline and high heating costs.
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Drill Now? Try Regulate Now.

Printed in The Wall Street Journal, page A13 Write to thomas@wsj.com.
Thomas Frank
By the standards of Washington, President Obama’s decision last week to open new areas off the nation’s coasts to oil drilling was something of a master stroke. With one deft move he both swiped a strong Republican issue from 2008 and defied environmentalists, an element of his coalition that is roundly despised on the right. The president also extended a hand to the people he trounced in the health-care debate, setting the stage for possible acts of bipartisanship in the future.

For a city that regards this kind of calculated “pivot” as the noblest form of statesmanship, the announcement was almost Clintonesque in its brilliance. Triangulation is back and the cherry trees are a-bloom as though in celebration.

The actual results of the offshore drilling itself are secondary considerations, if they come up at all. Essentially, we are going to allow drilling off the coast because “drill here, drill now” was a slogan that polled well during the last presidential campaign—which unfolded, you will recall, as gasoline prices were hitting $4 a gallon.

Now, I don’t know whether offshore drilling will be an environmental catastrophe; maybe if it’s done carefully everything will be fine. And while ending our dependence on OPEC would be a marvelous thing, I have no idea whether offshore drilling will do much in that regard.

But I have my doubts. “Drill here, drill now” was itself a purely political gesture, not a real solution to the problem. It was a way of pinning blame for the insane price of gasoline on liberals, who, according to legend, hold squishy pink ocean creatures in higher esteem than American consumers. Those who popularized the phrase were not asking us so much to resolve the energy question as to spit a little hate at an ugly stereotype.

But if what the president wants to do is to make sure that another oil shock of the 2008 variety doesn’t happen again, this is not the way. After all, oil didn’t zoom to $147 per barrel in ’08 and then plummet to $35 the next year because OPEC declared an embargo and then suddenly lifted it. Nor did it happen because Chinese motorists decided en masse to junk their cars.

We may never know for sure the combination of circumstances that brought on the energy crisis of that year. But one factor was almost certainly the Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000, which allowed unprecedented levels of speculation in oil futures by investment banks and pension funds, bringing the familiar boom-bust cycle home to the gas pump.

To understand this we need only turn to the business section of the Washington Post on the very day that Mr. Obama’s new offshore drilling policy was announced. There, reporter David Cho described the history of the deregulatory measures, their probable effect on the zany oil-price swings of recent years, and the low-profile battle that is currently under way at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to re-regulate energy markets. If the Obama administration succeeds in bringing oil prices under control, this is where they will do it.

“Wall Street failed America,” CFTC Chairman Gary Gensler told Mr. Cho. That comment could apply to countless aspects of the economy these days. “And Washington’s regulatory system failed America. And if we don’t fix it, it’s going to happen again.”

The essential similarities between the oil fiasco and the larger financial crisis are striking. Both episodes showed us the same cast of characters—Goldman Sachs, AIG and the rest—taking advantage of deregulation.

And the whole rotten thing was then defended by the same bunch of free-market wise men, who brushed off doubts with a condescending laugh and a snort of indignation. How little critics know about the fantastic complexities of markets. And how arrogant they are as they threaten our freedom to speculate.

But the heyday of that perfect faith is behind us now. Today we must answer this question, put to me by hedge fund manager Mike Masters, a well-known critic of commodity-market deregulation: “How long is the lady in Maine supposed to pay higher prices for her heating oil to accommodate the asset allocation needs of the world’s pension funds?”

And how long are the rest of us supposed to sit passively as we watch gas prices zoom up again? Countries have fought wars for oil, but what is required of us is that we dump the shibboleths of the last 30 years. We should drill if we must, but the best slogan would be: Regulate here, regulate now!

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Updates on Health care bill – Action by Congress

MEDICARE REIMBURSEMENT RATES 2010 Update 08: The House passed legislation

(H.R.4851) to delay until 1 MAY the 21% cut in Medicare payments to

doctors now scheduled for 1 APR and forwarded the bill to the Senate. The intent

was to allow more time for Congress (which went on a two-week recess 26 Mar) to

work out a longer-term fix. But a Senate effort to approve the bill quickly by a

“unanimous consent” procedure hit a snag when Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) refused to

consent. Under Senate rules, any senator can object to bringing a bill to the

floor for action. Coburn objected on the grounds that the cost of the bill is

not offset by other spending reductions. Senate leaders could not work out an

agreement on 26 MAR, the last day before their scheduled two week Easter recess.

Thus, the 21% cut will take effect prior to their return on 12 APR. Ironically,

the Senate already passed a six month fix two weeks ago (H.R.4213), but the

House didn’t agree with the funding for the bill and in turn passed only a

one-month fix.

Failure to reach an agreement on an extension on the eve of the

congressional two-week Easter recess could prove detrimental to

Medicare beneficiaries even if Congress applies a retroactive solution when they

return in mid-April. Doctors have become weary of the increasing number of

short-term patches applied by Congress rather than a long-term solution. Some

are already limiting the number of patients who use these programs.

Congress has to find a way to end these monthly crises under which

millions of Medicare beneficiaries are held hostage to the

prospect of devastating payment cuts that will cause their doctors to stop

seeing them. [Source: MOAA Leg Up 26 Mar 2010 ++]

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HEALTH CARE REFORM Update 25: National health care reform has a key new

benefit for families that will not apply to military families enrolled in the

Tricare health insurance program. A key expansion of benefits in the Patient

Protection and Affordable Care Act, H.. 3590, is a requirement for health

insurers to cover unmarried children up to the age of 26 who are carried on the

policy of a parent. This change, like the rest of the bill, does not apply to

Tricare, according to Defense Department and congressional sources. But

congressional aides, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said several

lawmakers have begun investigating how to alter Tricare so that it also covers

older children who do not have their own coverage. A change is being considered

for inclusion in the 2011 defense authorization bill, which the House and Senate

armed services committees will begin writing later this year. Currently, Tricare

covers unmarried children up to age 23 if they are attending college or up to 21

if they are not. Tricare spokesman Austin Comacho said he could not give a

definitive statement about whether Tricare’s age limit for children would be

changed. “The only thing we can be sure of is that there will be no adverse

impact to our beneficiaries,” he said.

Robert Gates, Secretary of Defense, released a statement on 21 MAR2010

which stated: “Our troops and their families can be re-assured that the health

care reform legislation being passed by the Congress will not negatively impact

the Tricare medical insurance program. In the interim, Rep. Martin Heinrich

(D-NM) introduced a bill on 25 MAR that would extend TRICARE health coverage to

dependent children from age 23 to age 26. The Comptroller estimates this

additional cost would be in excess of $600 million per year. The TRICARE

Dependent Coverage Extension Act (H.R.4923), would require Defense to provide a

key benefit created by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act President

Obama signed into law which allows parents to keep dependent children on family

health insurance plans up to age 26. TRICARE is governed by Title 10 of the U.S.

Code and is not affected by the new health care law. H.R.4923 would amend Title

10 to reflect the new requirement, which would take effect 1 OCT 2010. [Source:

NavyTimes Rick Maze & GovExec.com Today articles 22 & 25 Mar 2010 ++]

===============================

HEALTH CARE REFORM Update 26: Here are the effective dates of major

provisions of the health care overhaul legislation approved 21 MAR:

90 days after enactment:

• Provide immediate access to high-risk pools for people with no insurance for

at least six months because of pre-existing conditions.

• Impose a 10% excise tax on indoor tanning for services provided on or after

1 JUL 2010

Six months after enactment:

• Bar insurers from denying people coverage when they get sick.

• Bar insurers from denying coverage to children with pre-existing conditions.

• Bar insurers from imposing lifetime caps on coverage.

• Require insurers to allow people to stay on their parents’ policies until

they turn 26.

Nine months after enactment – 50% of the donut hole will be covered. Eventually,

the health care reform bill will close the donut hole entirely

Within A Year:

• Provide a $250 rebate this year to Medicare prescription drug beneficiaries

whose initial benefits run out when they enter the donut hole.

• Require new insurance policies to cover certain preventive-care measures

with no out-of-pocket cost to the consumer.

• Require Insurance companies to stop imposing lifetime coverage limits on

your insurance.

• Sharply limit annual caps on your insurance.

• Require Insurers with unusually high administrative costs to offer rebates

to their customers, and every insurance company has to reveal how much it spends

on overhead.

2011:

• Require individual and small group market plans to spend 80% of premium

dollars on medical services. Large group plans would have to spend at least 85%.

• Taxes begin being levied on drug manufacturers.

• Physicians’ Medicare fees will be cut more than 25% unless the sustainable

growth rate is permanently repealed by Congress; –

• Initiate Medicare bonus of 10%over five years for primary care and general

surgery (family medicine, internal medicine, geriatrics and pediatrics)

2012 – Businesses must file Form 1099s for all business-to- business

transactions of $600 or more.

2013 :

• Increase the Medicare payroll tax and expand it to dividend, interest and

other unearned income for singles earning more than $200,000 and joint filers

making more than $250,000.

• Require public reporting of physician performance to begin.

• Begin testing Medicare pilot programs care payments based on “quality over

quantity” of services rendered.

• Make fewer medical expenses tax deductible.

• Raise wage taxes from 1.45% to 2.35%; – New tax of 3.8 percent levied on

unearned income streams like interest and dividends; – New tax of 2.9 percent

on medical device sales.

2014:

• Provide subsidies for families earning up to 400% of poverty level,

currently about $88,000 a year, to purchase health insurance.

• Require most employers to provide coverage or face penalties.

• Require most people to obtain coverage or face penalties for noncompliance.

• Create state insurance exchanges for individuals and small businesses to

purchase coverage.

• Prohibit Insurance companies from denying coverage for pre-existing

conditions.

• Expand Medicaid to all Americans under age 65 earning up to 133% of the

federal poverty level.

• Increase Subsidies for some small business providing coverage to employees.

2015 – Initiate independent Payment Advisory to make recommendations for cutting

Medicare costs.

2016:

• Penalties for individuals refusing to purchase insurance rise to 2.5% of

taxable income or $695, whichever is greater.

• Multi-state compacts allowed to sell policies across state lines

2018 – Impose a 40% excise tax on high-end insurance policies.

2019 – Expand health insurance coverage to 32 million people.

[Source: Speaker of the House, Congressional Budget Office, Kaiser Family

Foundation via McClatchy Newspapers article 21 Mar 2010 ++]

===============================

HEALTH CARE REFORM Update 27: The Obama Administration’s health-care reform,

which passed 219-212 in the House of Representatives 21 MAR and has been signed

into law by the President, will lead to significant changes in the way millions

of people find and buy health insurance. Advocates for consumers and patients

hailed the overhaul’s passage. “While the new reforms won’t solve all the

problems in our nation’s broken health-care system, they will go a long way

toward achieving the goal of affordable, reliable health care for all

Americans,” Jim Guest, chief executive of Consumers Union, said in a statement

after the vote. Immediately following President Barack Obama’s signing of the

bill 12 states filed a lawsuit challenging several provisions of the new law.

The suit alleges, among other things, that unfunded state Medicaid mandates and

forcing individuals to purchase health insurance are unconstitutional. The

lawsuit was filed by the participating states’ attorneys general and names the

U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services, Treasury and Labor. States

joining in the lawsuit include Alabama, South Carolina, Florida, Louisiana,

Nebraska, Texas, Michigan, Utah, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Washington and

Colorado. In the interim here’s an outline of what you can expect depending on

your employment, income, health and lifestyle factors. The exact timing of

several provisions has yet to be determined:

• If you have employer-sponsored coverage: Any lifetime caps on how much your

health plan will cover, often set between $1 million and $5 million, will be

eliminated in both group and individual health plans starting later this year.

Employers will have to disclose the cost of workers’ health coverage on their

W-2 tax forms starting in 2011.

• If you have a small business: Small firms starting this year may be eligible

for new tax credits that would cover up to 35% of health-insurance premiums for

businesses that have fewer than 25 employees. Workers at small businesses

eventually will be able to buy policies on new health-insurance exchanges, where

health benefits will have to meet a new minimum standard.

• If you’re uninsured: Over the next 10 years, the bill will extend coverage

to an estimated 32 million people who would otherwise lack coverage. It does

this by expanding the government safety net and providing subsidies for low- and

moderate-income people without employer health benefits to buy private plans on

health-insurance exchanges, which are due to start in 2014. For the first time,

all citizens and legal residents will have to buy health insurance — with

financial aid from the government if they can’t afford it, on a sliding scale up

to 400% of the poverty line — or face a penalty starting in 2014, with some

exceptions for low-income people. The amounts are set to rise annually,

beginning with a fine of $95 or 1% of income, whichever is greater, and growing

to as much as $695 or 2.5% of taxable income by 2016.

• If you’re low-income: The law significantly expands Medicaid, the

federal-state health program for the poor, making it available to an estimated

16 million more people with incomes up to 133% of the federal poverty level.

Adults without dependent children will qualify for the first time. In addition,

community health centers, on which many of the working poor rely, will receive

enhanced funding.

• If you’re a young adult: Starting six months after enactment, kids can stay

on their parents’ policies until age 26. Individuals younger than 30 who don’t

have insurance also will have the option of buying catastrophic coverage on the

exchanges, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.

Tax-related changes

• If you have a flexible-spending account for health expenses: Nothing changes

for three years. A $2,500 cap on contributions to these accounts, which allow

users to sock away money pretax to spend on qualified health expenses, appears

likely to go into effect in 2013. The cap will receive annual cost-of-living

adjustments.

• If you have a health savings account (HSA) or Archer medical savings

account: In 2011, the penalty for withdrawing funds for nonqualified medical

expenses increases to 20% from 10% for HSAs and from 15% for Archer MSAs.

• If your earned or investment income exceeds $200,000: In about two years,

the Medicare payroll tax will rise nearly 1 percentage point to 2.35% on wages

of individuals with earnings greater than $200,000 and married couples earning

more than $250,000. A new 3.8% Medicare tax will be levied on investment income

including interest, dividends and capital gains that exceed those thresholds.

• If you itemize deductions for income tax: Starting in 2013, medical expenses

have to reach 10% of your adjusted gross income to qualify for a tax deduction,

as opposed to today’s 7.5% standard. But seniors age 65 and older would be able

to claim an itemized deduction at 7.5% of income through 2016.

• If you have high-cost health insurance: A so-called Cadillac tax of 40% on

plan administrators offering the richest job-based health benefits will take

effect in the next few years and apply to the amount of annual premiums

exceeding $10,200 for individuals or $27,500 for families. The thresholds are

higher for retirees and workers in certain high-risk jobs.

Medicare, preventive care and tanning

• If you have Medicare: This year, beneficiaries with the Part D drug benefit

who fall into the coverage gap that for 2010 is between $2,700 and $6,154 of

spending will receive a $250 rebate. In 2011, those who hit the gap will receive

a 50% discount on their brand-name drugs. The so-called doughnut hole gradually

will close by 2020.

• If you take advantage of preventive care: Full coverage for some services is

slated to take effect in six months. At that time, all new insurance policies

will have to make certain preventive-care visits and screenings exempt from

health plans’ deductibles and other cost-sharing.

• If you go to a tanning salon: A 10% excise tax on indoor tanning may kick as

early as this summer for services provided on or after 1 JUL 2010.

[Source: Wall Street Journal MarketWatch Kristen Gerencher article 22 Mar 2010

++]

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Oil rises near $84 with weak US dollar

I read this article and couldn’t believe the reasoning behind the latest crude price increase. It just screws us all and puts a drag on the recovery so speculators can make a killing thanks to the fed keeping interest rates low causing a weak dollar.

I’m thinking the Fed should raise the interest rates a little as low rates keep the dollar weak but creates higher oil and gasoline prices which put a drag on consumer spending which in turn keeps job increases low as companies don’t need to hire because there isn’t any consumer demand because there is no spending. If the dollar is strong, oil/gasoline prices decrease giving more money to consumers to make purchases. This latest increase in oil and gasoline on the market seems to be speculators since the dollar is weak, there is a surplus of crude inventory and weak job news and they just blow it off. They just want to make money so they are driving up the cost. Just my opinion.
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Oil rises near $84 with weak US dollar

Oil settles near $84 as dollar weakens and investors shrug off weak employment report

Deborah Jian Lee, AP Energy Writer, On Wednesday March 31, 2010, 3:17 pm EDT

Oil prices rose near $84 a barrel Wednesday as the dollar weakened and oil traders shrugged off weak job news and a bigger-than-expected build in crude inventories.

Benchmark crude for May delivery climbed by $1.39 to settle at $83.76 on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

“The bottom line is this is just a market that’s advancing in a relatively thin pre-holiday atmosphere,” said oil analyst Jim Ritterbusch. “The market is zeroing in on the fact that the dollar is weak.”

Even a surprisingly poor jobs report didn’t pull down oil prices. Payroll company ADP said employers slashed 23,000 private-sector jobs in March. Economists surveyed by Thomson Reuters forecast the report would show employers added 40,000 jobs during the month.

“This bad employment report reinforces the notion that interest rates will stay low for a longer period of time, thereby putting downward pressure on the U.S. dollar and upward pressure on oil prices,” said Phil Flynn, an analyst with PFGBest.

Flynn expects the Fed will not raise interest rates until the job market improves. The weaker greenback makes crude oil cheaper for holders of other currencies.

Crude prices trimmed some gains after the Energy Information Administration said crude inventories rose by 2.9 million barrels last week. Analysts expected a build of 2.65 million barrels.

Meanwhile, President Barack Obama said there should be more oil and gas drilling off the East Coast, in the Gulf of Mexico and in waters off Alaska. The plan modifies a ban in place for more than 20 years that limited drilling along coastal areas other than the Gulf of Mexico.

Flynn called the news “a very positive long-term story for the oil markets,” but said it’s too far into the future to move oil markets today.

A number of energy companies could eventually be involved in the new offshore areas, although investors did not rush to buy shares, many of those companies showed modest gains. The AMEX Oil Index, comprised of a dozen major oil companies and refiners, rose about five points, or a half of a percentage point. The Philadelphia Oil Service Sector Index, which tracks shares of 15 companies in that sector, gained more than 1 percent.

At the pump, retail gasoline prices edged up. The national average rose less than a penny to $2.798 a gallon, according to AAA, Wright Express and Oil Price Information Service. A gallon of regular unleaded is 9.3 cents more than it was a month ago and 75 cents above the price a year ago.

In other Nymex trading in April contracts, heating oil rose 3.99 cents to settle at $2.1646 a gallon, and gasoline gained 3.53 cents to settle at $2.31 a gallon.

Wednesday is the last day for trading the April heating oil and gasoline contracts, and most traders have switched over to May contracts. May heating oil rose 4.74 cents to settle at $2.1790 a gallon, and May gasoline added 3.51 cents to settle at $2.3072 a gallon.

Natural gas for May delivery fell 10.4 cents to settle at $3.869 per 1,000 cubic feet.

In London, Brent crude rose $1.42 to settle at $82.70 on the ICE futures exchange.

Associated Press writers Pablo Gorondi in Budapest, Hungary and Alex Kennedy in Singapore contributed to this report.

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A Facebook Rant about Health Care

This is a note found posted on Facebook
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Health Care bill passes, what a sad time for our country. My rant.

Today at 12:58am
I hope our country survives. Our representatives that won’t listen to us, will not reply to us, have voted to pass this supposed health care reform. I am ashamed of it, but I am registered as a Democrat. I believe in helping my fellow man but this is ridiculous. This bill is not reform. It does nothing to address the rampant prescription drug costs or the ever increasing insurance premiums or any other aspect of the health care industry that is the true cause of the health care crisis. All this bill does is expand medicaid with taxpayer money and special pork projects, such as a new multi billion dollar medical center for UConn.
==============================================================
Here is an article listing some of the pork. http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory?id=10091470

‘The Senate-approved health measure lawmakers hope to send to Obama soon would steer $600 million over the next decade to Vermont in added federal payments for Medicaid and nearly as much to Massachusetts.

Connecticut would get $100 million to build a hospital. About 800,000 Florida seniors could keep certain Medicare benefits. Asbestos-disease victims in tiny Libby, Mont., and some coal miners with black lung disease or their widows would get help, and there are prizes for Louisiana, the Dakotas and more states.

“We’re going to do what we have to do to get a bill out of the House and Senate,” said James Manley, spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. As for Obama’s wish list of deletions: “We’ll certainly keep it in mind as we pull together a final bill.”‘
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Now, what pisses me off is the fact that this bill just throws more money at medicaid, expanding is drastically and cutting medicare payments to providers. What does this mean for us? Insurance companies determine their payments to your doctor and health care providers based on the medicare amount. If medicare payments are cut, your insurance will pay less to your doctor/health providers giving you a larger bill to pay after your co-pays. Plus, many economists/mathematicians have stated the so-called reductions to pay for this pork-filled bill will only cover a small percentage of what this bill will cost. What does this mean? Taxes for the working class will eventually be increased to pay for the cost. Our taxes will increase. The only good thing about this bill is the fact that those with pre-existing conditions cannot be denied and it increases the lifetime amount of your benefit your insurance company has to provide you. Other than that, it is not reform. With less money being paid to providers by medicare and the insurance companies, some will close their practice, lay people off, etc. This bill doesn’t take into account its consequences. It was just thrown together and shoved down everyone’s throats just so the democrats can give themselves a pat on the back and have a “talking point” to try to win re-election. what a crock.

So, now comes my rant. My wife, who works for a health care provider, was told they will face layoffs if this bill is passed or if the medicare payments are cuts. I’m hoping my wife can keep her job.
BUT, what pisses me off is the fact that I have a job. It doesn’t pay much and for a family of four, well really barely make it. In fact, with the increase in our last electric and gas bill, I didn’t have enough to pay my van payment. Now it is going into the repo stage because at midnight on the 23rd, it will be officially 2 months behind. I don’t have the money for it because the rent is due out of my next check. I don’t qualify for any help because I make just a little too much.
I feel that I work hard in a stressful job for my money to try to raise my family but what pisses me royally are the people that make welfare a career. They are too lazy to work. The most are able bodied but won’t work or are too damn stupid to get a job and we pay for them and their big screen tv’s. Our taxes give them money to “live on” every month, food stamps for their food (they eat better than me), pays their rent each month, clothing vouchers, utility assistance,free school lunches and free, 100 percent with no co-pay medical insurance and our government representatives just made this group of people bigger by passing their bill.
These people have better stuff than I do. Better cars, bigger TV’s, better clothes, better cell phones and service plans and the list goes on and they do it by screwing the system and lying about everything on the government forms. The so-called welfare reform under Clinton did nothing. You still get more money every time you breed with the childbirth bills paid in full. You still get to collect your check after the “3 years” passes. I am just fed up.

Case in point, a woman who lives in a government housing development calls for a police officer because she and her boyfriend (who isn’t on the lease but has been living with her for the last 3 months) are in an argument because he has been drinking. He gets angry and throws her cell phone into the big screen tv breaking it. She is upset because the small child they have together (paid for by taxpayers) had to witness this argument and her tv and cell phone is busted. She called on her apartment land-line phone for assistance. He then leaves in his car (with out of state plates because that state doesn’t require vehicle inspections.) She wants a report because the tv is a rental and she will have to have a report for the rental company.

Hell, I can’t afford a land line phone at my house, I’m lucky to make the monthly rent payment, utility payments, auto insurance payments, car payments,etc. After paying, or trying to pay all of my monthly bills, I’m lucky to afford food let alone new clothes, TV’s, electronics, etc. This is what pisses me off and our representatives just added to it.

I’m sorry but this to mean does not seem fair and I am voting against my representatives the next time they come up for re-election. Senator Rockefeller and Congressman Mollohan do you hear me now???

I just don’t think this is reform at all, it is just more government spending and with all of the spending in the last ten years by our government, we can’t afford this. We are going to be in the same boat that Greece is in very soon. Our debt vs our GDP is getting closer and closer which basically means we are on the brink of bankruptcy. Ok, I think my rant is over.

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You have to see this video

This video explains how the Fed and the Bankers have rigged the game to screw the taxpayer!

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Reform ??

I have thought about the health care reform the Dems are trying to pass. It may have some good ideas, but the bottom line is more government spending. Representative Dennis Kucinich, one of the most liberal in Congress voted no on the first attempt and still opposes these bills. This should make people question why one of the Dems own is so adamantly against this bill. His reasoning was it does nothing to address the insurance premiums that keep going higher and higher. It doesn’t address any of the health care problems such as rampant prescription drugs, insurance premiums and all facets of health care. For the government to throw money at health care, which is basically what they are doing, will do nothing other than put our country closer to bankruptcy and four years down the road make it hard on the states after the government “help” for medicare runs out.
I have always thought that there are two major factors at the root of the health care problem. Welfare and Illegal Aliens. The welfare reform under President Clinton was a joke. Supposedly after three years of being on the welfare rolls you were to be “retrained” for a new job, you couldn’t get any extra money for having additional children, etc. Yeah, right. There are still career welfare recipients collecting, recipients having kids to get more money and people basically screwing the system by lying to and cheating the State and Federal governments. Another problem is medicaid for these welfare recipients. I don’t know of anyone who has an insurance plan that pays 100 percent with no co-pays, except medicaid. Even Medicare has co-pays without real prescription coverage as the majority don’t qualify for it.
So why is it that social security recipients on medicare have co-pays while welfare recipients do not. A lot of welfare recipients get more money monthly than some social security recipients but yet they have free health care and free prescription drugs and the majority abuse the system with their non emergency ambulance rides to the emergency rooms.

So, the first health care problem reverts to welfare/medicaid. There needs to be true welfare reform in this country instead of just throwing money at medicaid thereby expanding it and those that are on welfare should be working at government funded programs. It would not hurt these recipients to be a “gopher” for a highway construction crew or the flagman just to give you an idea.

The second problem would be illegal aliens. I say aliens and not immigrants because they are not immigrants. They are criminals who are in our country illegally. If there were 500 Arabs here in our country illegally, people would be raising hell. So why is it with the hundreds of thousands of illegals from Mexico in our country, they call it illegal immigration and offer them welfare and free health care to them and their families? Mexicans are no different than an Arab, Asian or European in our country illegally. They are criminals and should be deported and told to come back when they obtain a Visa and/or take the legal steps to come to our country legally. To allow them to remain here is a slap in the face of every immigrant that came to our country legally before them.

To figure out the problem the states will face with expanded medicaid and allowing illegals to remain and have welfare and health care for free, one only has to look at the financial mess in the state of California. The state could save billions if they would cut welfare/medicaid to illegals. They could save billions more by deporting all of the illegals in the state including the ones in the prison system. Of course you have those that argue the illegals do jobs that no one else will. How do we know this? If the job was available and somebody needed work, especially in this economy, I believe there are those that would jump at the chance to work.

Yes we need real health care reform but it needs to start with welfare, medicaid and immigration reform. Then the entire health care field needs to be looked at as far as ways to contain medical costs including but not limited to prescription medication costs, insurance premiums, hospital charges, medical clinics and medical equipment costs. Both parties need to work together and come up with a viable plan that benefits everyone and not just the lower income and poor. The taxpayers are overburdened already and it is just a matter of time before taxes will increase to payoff all of the bailouts under Presidents Bush and Obama.
It appears that nothing was learned from the great depression when the government threw money at the economy then with no change for over a decade in unemployment and jobs. The same is holding true now. The government has thrown all of this money at the economy while saying how many jobs it has save and how it avoided bank collapse. Well, Unemployment is at ten percent and banks are still closing every month. They tell us that spending was up for February and it shows the recession is over. I beg to differ. Spending was up in February because people received their tax refunds. Housing is still down and went down again last month. Gasoline is going back up which will stall any hope of a recovery because people do not have the money to spend after paying the higher prices. The government most likely manipulates the statistics so we hear what they want to tell us. One can only wonder what the true unemployment rate is, those that no longer receive benefits because they ran out, those who are underemployed, those who have given up and the list goes on. I am anxious to see what the statistics are for March that the government releases. So far there has not been any reform on Wall Street or in Banking like was promised. It is more of the same, meanwhile, speculators continue to drive up the cost of oil and gasoline because there sure isn’t any demand for it.

I am ashamed of my representatives and their out of control spending. I want better for my children and grandchildren than a huge bill payable in full when they reach adulthood. The buck stops here. Everyone needs to contact their Congressional representatives and the White House and demand better. If you are like me, then you are tired of the shenanigans in Washington and tired of them living the high life with the lobbyists. We need to send a message to them that the party is over.

I am a registered Democrat but soon to switch to Independent.

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Health care reform?

An interesting article about Health Care. The government berates the Insurance companies but what about the drug companies and their high cost for medication and the other health care companies. One of the most liberal representatives in Washington still votes NO on this health care that the democrats are trying to ram down our throats because it won’t do anything to reduce the rampant costs of premiums, medications and every other aspect of the health care industry.

Here is the article:

White House Confronts Insurers on Premiums
Obama Cites Rising Rates in Push for Health Overhaul, as Industry Executives Say Hospitals, Drug Makers Are to Blame

By JANET ADAMY and AVERY JOHNSON

WASHINGTON—The government’s top health official summoned health-insurance chief executives to the White House Thursday and told them they need to disclose more data justifying sharp premium increases.

The dressing-down, part of which was televised, was part of a campaign by the White House to build support for its health overhaul as President Barack Obama presses Congress to deliver final legislation to his desk in the next few weeks.

Mr. Obama met at the White House Thursday with more than a dozen House Democrats to begin his last round of lobbying. Some liberals who have expressed concern that the overhaul doesn’t include a public insurance plan to compete with private insurers said they felt better about the bill after hearing the president’s pitch.

However, Dennis Kucinich, one of the House’s most liberal members who voted no when the House passed its version of the overhaul last November, said he is still opposed. The latest version of the legislation would do nothing to “effectively control the pace of increased premiums and increased profits that go with it,” Mr. Kucinich said.

The White House says its bill will rein in private insurers and has been pointing to a series of premium increases as high as 39% in states like California to back its case for an overhaul.

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius called five insurance company executives, including the heads of UnitedHealth Group Inc. and WellPoint Inc., to the Roosevelt Room to request explanation on the recent rate increases.

Mr. Obama dropped by and read them a letter from a 50-year-old cancer survivor from Ohio whose premiums rose 40% this year. He told the group that such rate increases are “unjustifiable,” White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said.

Insurers said the drug makers, medical-device makers, hospitals and other health-care companies are driving up the underlying cost of medical care. They said that trying to lower premiums without addressing those costs was destined to fail.

“The rate is really reflective of our other parts of the health-care delivery system,” Ron Williams, chief executive of Aetna Inc., told the group at the beginning of the meeting. In an interview after the meeting, Mr. Williams said the secretary should have included representatives from those industries.

The day started with gracious exchanges followed by sharper words afterwards

Ms. Sebelius asked the companies to begin posting information online for consumers to explain how much of their revenue goes toward administrative costs, marketing and actual care, along with other details of the rate increases. She called for “greatly increased transparency about what indeed is going on.”

Several executives at the meeting said they didn’t immediately commit to posting the information but were open to the idea. Much of that data is already detailed in filings to state insurance regulators, though they are difficult to access. Publicly traded companies report executive compensation and national cost trends, but keep some other measures under wraps as trade secrets. “There might be more transparency out there than you might realize,” said UnitedHealth Chief Executive Stephen Hemsley.

The two sides couldn’t agree whether insurers are highly profitable or just scraping by. Industry executives rolled out data showing their average profit margin was 2.2% last year, lower than other health industries. Ms. Sebelius cited figures showing that top insurers earned a collective $12 billion in profits last year, a 56% increase from the prior year, but that didn’t account for one-time gains.

The health overhaul, if passed, would require most Americans to carry health coverage or face a fine, meaning insurers would get more business.

However, insurers would be required to accept all applicants, including those who are sick. And they would see tougher restrictions on premium increases, particularly through the new state-based insurance exchanges.

The White House has also proposed a new federal body with power to review premium increases. But that may not end up in a final bill due to procedural regulations that might require it to be jettisoned. That would be a relief for insurance companies, who say the panel would duplicate the rate regulation they already get from individual states. “If you have the rules written in the states and the prices written in Washington, there might be a disconnect,” said Angela F. Braly, chief executive of WellPoint Inc.
—Laura Meckler and and Jonathan Weisman contributed to this article.

Write to Janet Adamy at janet.adamy@wsj.com and Avery Johnson at avery.johnson@WSJ.com

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Why the USA is almost bankrupt

It never ceases to amaze me how our government spends money hand over fist for illegal immigrants. It is a slap in the face to all taxpayers and legal immigrants who have taken the steps needed to stay and live here. Take a look:
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Links to check out: Cost of Illegal Immigration , Immigration and Welfare and The high cost of cheap labor

A Real Eye Opener

WHY is the USA BANKRUPT?

Informative, and mind boggling!

You think the war in Iraq is costing us too much? Read this:

Boy, was I confused. I have been hammered with the propaganda that it is the Iraq war and the war on terror that is bankrupting us.

I now find that to be RIDICULOUS.

I hope the following 14 reasons are forwarded over and over again until they are read so many times that the reader gets sick of reading them. I also have included the URL’s for verification of all the following facts…

1. $11 Billion to $22 billion is spent on welfare to illegal aliens each year by state governments.

Verify at: http://www.fairus.org/site/PageServer?pagename=iic_immigrationissuecenters7fd8

2. $2.2 Billion dollars a year is spent on food assistance programs such as food stamps, WIC, and free school lunches for illegal aliens.

Verify at: http://www.cis.org/articles/2004/fiscalexec.HTML

3. $2.5 Billion dollars a year is spent on Medicaid for illegal aliens.

Verify at: http://www.cis.org/articles/2004/fiscalexec.HTML

4. $12 Billion dollars a year is spent on primary and secondary school education for children here illegally and they cannot speak a word of English!

Verify at: http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt..0.HTML

5. $17 Billion dollars a year is spent for education for the American-born children of illegal aliens, known as anchor babies.

Verify at http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.HTML

6. $3 Million Dollars a DAY is spent to incarcerate illegal aliens.

Verify at: http://transcripts.cnn.com/%20TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.HTML

7. 30% percent of all Federal Prison inmates are illegal aliens.

Verify at: http://transcripts.CNN.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.01.HTML

8. $90 Billion Dollars a year is spent on illegal aliens for Welfare & social services by the American taxpayers.

Verify at: http://premium.cnn.com/TRANSCIPTS/0610/29/ldt.01.HTML

9. $200 Billion dollars a year in suppressed American wages are caused by the illegal aliens.

Verify at: http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSC%20RI%20PTS/0604/01/ldt.01.HTML

10. The illegal aliens in the United States have a crime rate that’s two and a half times that of white non-illegal aliens. In particular, their children, are going to make a huge additional crime problem in the US .

Verify at: http://transcripts.cnn..com/TRANSCRIPTS/0606/12/ldt..01.HTML

11. During the year of 2005 there were 4 to 10 MILLION illegal aliens that crossed our Southern Border also, as many as 19,500 illegal aliens from Terrorist Countries.. Millions of pounds of drugs, cocaine, meth, heroin and marijuana, crossed into the US from the Southern border.

Verify at: Homeland Security Report:

12. The National policy Institute, estimated that the total cost of mass deportation would be between $206 and $230 billion or an average cost of between $41 and $46 billion annually over a five year period.’

Verify at: http://www.nationalpolicyinstitute…org/PDF/deportation..PDF

13. In 2006 illegal aliens sent home $45 BILLION in remittances to their countries of origin.

Verify at: http://www/..rense.com/general75/niht.htm

14.. ‘The Dark Side of Illegal Immigration: Nearly One million sex crimes Committed by Illegal Immigrants In The United States .’

Verify at: http: // http://www.drdsk.com/articleshtml http://ww/%20w.drdsk.com/articleshtml

The total cost is a whopping $ 338.3 BILLION DOLLARS A YEAR AND IF YOU’RE LIKE ME HAVING TROUBLE UNDERSTANDING THIS AMOUNT OF MONEY; IT IS $338,300,000,000.00 WHICH WOULD BE ENOUGH TO STIMULATE THE ECONOMY FOR THE CITIZENS OF THIS COUNTRY.

Are we THAT stupid? YES, FOR LETTING THOSE IN THE U.S.CONGRESS GET AWAY WITH LETTING THIS HAPPEN YEAR AFTER YEAR!!!!!

Uncle Sam wants you to Fire Congress !

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Congress and Mr. President…

Had enough ?

What has our government done to our country? Do you trust the Repbulican and Democrat parties? People need to start looking at a third party choice otherwise our country will continue to go to hell quickly while the Dems and Repubs care only about dissing each other and winning. None of them give a shit about us. The things they do cost us billions and does little if anything. Here are some headlines (links included in the headline) just from recent events in our country regarding our illustrious do nothing but make money at our expense leaders. After the $912 billion price tag for the latest health reform bill, it is expected to only cover 2 percent of those without insurance and those on welfare will have expanded benefits, meaning more free rides by ambulance to the hospital at our expense. I am so sick of politics as usual in Washington. We need a change that both major parties cannot provide us. Please, consider voting for someone other than the status quo in the next election or we may not have a country left or maybe will have one with the flag of China flying over us. Save the stars and stripes before it’s too late.
Check our these headlines and give some serious thought to what is going on in our country today and over the last decade. I for one am tired of Washington greed.

Geithner says banking system now ‘more stable’

Geithner: Deficit too high, but avoids tax talk

As jobs vanish, factory towns slow to see stimulus

After all the fuss, public health plan covers few

Republicans aim for rival health plan in House

Third party challenges in NJ, NY are warning sign

CIT files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection

Flex spending accounts face hit in health overhaul

Republicans eye Obama revenge in off-year elections

Future of GOP and moderate Republicans uncertain

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Obama’s job creation?

burning money = federal stimulus bill

It appears that Obama will create 273,000 new federal jobs giving us even bigger government instead of scaling it back and inevitably at taxpayer expense. If our country doesn’t go bankrupt first, then it’s only a matter of time before he raises everyones taxes including the tax burdened middle class.
Where are the private sector jobs? Why hasn’t the stimulus money being spent on projects other than upgrading government buildings with stronger exteriors and bulletproof glass and telling everyone it is a “green” project? They were wanting to pass the stimulus bill so quickly that the majority of congress didn’t even read it so it is hard to tell what surprises they have included in it for us all. I don’t know of many projects that are using stimulus monies.
As for Obama’s health care, It needs to be across the board and should not penalize anyone that doesn’t want it like the current bill that is being considered does. This administration needs to actually find a real way to pay for the health care instead of using estimates from cuts to other programs. It never works that way and always comes back to taxpayers. I worry about the current administration starting new government programs which possibly could take away our freedoms such as his brainchild of a national security force. Hitler started the same thing called the
I also read where the market is up because they think the retailers report for August was good news. If you think about it, it isn’t. Most retailer sales in August were from school sales due to families getting ready for the new school year to start. I expect that sales for September will drop. We are not out of the woods yet as far as this recession and it may still get worse. Banks took more money from the Federal Reserve emergency program and Obama seems more concerned about the federal reserve and banks giving them more power and more money, etc. than showing concern and working for the people. Thus far, Obama has been no different than Bush and actually worse in some instances such as another record deficit. It is only a matter of time before we see the TAX part of the tax and spend that Washington loves so well. A scary outlook in my opinion.

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Obama = what went wrong ?

I read this article and thought it interesting and most of it right on regarding Obama including his “shovel-ready” stimulus/pork project. I wanted to share it. I only wish that there was another recognized party in my state that I could join other than democrat or republican. I’m sick and tired of both.

Obama’s other growing deficit
By Ralph R. Reiland Monday, August 24, 2009

What we’re seeing with President Obama’s plummeting poll numbers is a quick case of buyer’s remorse.

More broadly, Gallup reports that conservatives now outnumber liberals in all 50 states, with more Americans self-identifying themselves as conservative than at any time in the past four years.

Gallup surveys from January 2009 — the month of Obama’s inauguration — through June 2009 show that 40 percent of respondents described themselves as conservative: 31 percent “conservative” and 9 percent “very conservative.”

Only 21 percent of respondents described themselves as liberal: 16 percent “liberal” and 5 percent “very liberal.”

That 2-to-1 margin is big news even if The New York Times doesn’t see it as newsworthy. Or to rephrase an old question, if liberalism crashes to the ground and The Times doesn’t report it, does that mean it didn’t happen?

“You know this is important polling news because the establishment media is pretending it doesn’t exist,” wrote Tom Blumer in The Wall Street Journal. “You can’t find a relevant reference to it in searches on ‘Gallup’ at The New York Times, AP.org, The Washington Post or the LA Times.”

What went wrong for Obama is everything.

It started with the almost $800 billion nonstimulating stimulus bill, overstuffed with pork by congressional Democrats. The idea was to give a fast “jolt” to the economy, speedily create millions of jobs, and quickly end the hardships of the unemployed. So important was the speed that legislators didn’t even take time to read the bill.

Now, half a year after the rushed enactment of the Democrats’ idea of “shovel-ready” stimulation, 90 percent of the money is still stuck in the political pipeline, waiting for politicians to decide which pothole to fix or which nephew to hire, and 3 million more jobs have been lost.

In the latest USA Today/Gallup survey, the majority of respondents say the stimulus package is having no impact on the economy or making it worse.

What would have worked better and faster at getting people back to work is a cut in personal income taxes — personal consumption expenditures account for most of the spending and job creation in the U.S. economy — and tax cuts for small business, the sector that has produced 60 percent to 80 percent of the new jobs per year in the American economy over the past decade.

Instead we got billions in slow-moving pork, more bailouts for bloated state governments and calls from Obama for higher taxes and more federal mandates on businesses that are already struggling to maintain their current levels of employment. Plus Obama’s push for card check: i.e., unionism without elections so a grievance chairman and victimology adviser could be assigned to watch over any entrepreneurial type who still has a semblance of self-reliance and independence in his soul.

Then came Obama’s record-smashing federal budget with a deficit now projected at $1.85 trillion — four times larger than George W. Bush’s largest deficit. Plus another trillion or so in projected costs for Obama’s cap-and-trade scheme in order to slow down the “crisis” of global warming, disregarding the fact that things have been cooling down for a decade.

Add the trillions we’re on the hook for in the Troubled Asset Relief Program and the Congressional Budget Office’s estimated price of $1 trillion-plus for Obama’s health reform plan over the next decade. It looks like we’re going to be floating on a massive flood of red ink into a full state of peonage.

Or as Investor’s Business Daily recently put it: “Eventually, the total take by government at all levels will be well over 50 percent of GDP — enough to sink the U.S. economy into a state of semi-permanent stagnation, a socialist stupor.”

And what about the kids and Grandma in this collectivist utopia? There won’t be as many.

Obama’s new science czar, John Holdren, has written that “compulsory population-control laws, even including laws requiring compulsory abortion, could be sustained under the existing Constitution.” Just put people like Sonia Sotomayor on the Supreme Court, the historic figure who couldn’t see anything wrong with throwing out employment tests when too many white guys score at the top.

As for Grandma, Obama health adviser Ezekiel Emanuel, Harvard-produced bioethicist and brother of White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, explained the “shovel-ready” final solution: No medical treatments for anyone falling short in their role as “participating citizens.”

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GM and other companies

I’ve heard many people saying that the government should bail out GM because it will save people’s jobs.
I have a hard time swallowing that pill. First off, why is GM different than other companies that have filed bankruptcy in the past? Why didn’t the government bail them out? Second, why should taxpayers pay for GM’s mismanagement. They saw this coming years ago when they failed to turn a profit during the boom years of the mid 90s. If Ford can renegotiate contracts with the union to actually save some jobs, then why can’t GM.
Another question that really bothers me is why AIG is so special that millions of dollars are used to bail them out? They should have made changes long ago but didn’t. Even with the bail out monies they haven’t differed in their line of thinking.
They still hold their meetings and training at the most exclusive resorts. The CEO should have told the top level administrators that there would be no bonuses and if they didn’t like it, find another job. Instead, they paid bonuses to “keep the brightest and the best”. Apparently they aren’t the brightest and the best seeing as they were close to failing and needed government money to stay afloat and then more money. They also lied to Congress about the amount of bonuses paid out. They finally fessed up on the third time.
With all of the money given to banks, it hasn’t helped either. First, they aren’t lending it, they are using it to buy other banks, which does nothing for the economy. Second, 36 banks have already failed in 2009 so how big of an impact is the money making?
In the past I don’t recall the government bailing out companies. The companies would file for bankruptcy and either close or come out stronger on the other side. Are these bailouts part of our march to a socialist government where the government has ownership in everything and tells people what they can and can’t do, what to think and how to live?
Government is too big as it is, we don’t need them meddling in running big corporations. It’s pretty much a given that anything government touches turns to crap.
If government wants to do something helpful, stop the oil and gasoline speculators as they are back at it again driving up the prices. That, I believe, is the real reason we entered a recession, everything else like the banks, housing, etc, are secondary. Consumer spending is 2/3 of the economy. When an average family spends $250 per month on gasoline when it’s $2 per gallon, when it reaches $4 a gallon, your gasoline bill doubles to $500 per month. So now you have $250 less to spend per month than before. That’s quite a bit. People think that a .10 or .20 increase here and there doesn’t matter but if you look at the long term monthly amounts, those increases are quite a bit.
It appears that the government may take a large part of GM shares and Obama and gang are already telling them they have to close up to 14 plants and then open a small car plant. They are already telling us that we should have small cars and get rid of SUV’s. They want the suv plants closed. More government meddling.
Obama promised change but it’s politics as usual in Washington, DC. We need to hold all of the Washington elite accountable. Vote every single one of them out. Just say no to incumbents.

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Will Speculators bring down the economic recovery

In an earlier post I questioned whether the rise in gasoline and oil prices would hinder the economic recovery. After reading this article it just may do that.

I guess I may have a little common sense and may not be as stupid as I thought I was. lol.

high oil and gas prices, bend over

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