Since I’ve been staying very current on the health care reform debate, I thought I’d post some of the best articles I’ve found in my months of research on this subject. These articles prove to be much ammunition for those who are against HCR or those right wingers who think our system is better than single payer or socialized medicine country.
Oregon Live – Five Myths About Health Care Around The World – Probably one of the best articles I’ve ever read. It debunks the five biggest myths about single payer and socialized medicine.
Blast The Right – Transcript 152 – Debunking Conservative lies about the health care debate.
Blast The Right – Transcript 154 – Debunking more lies from the right about HCR.
Blast The Right – Transcript 155 – Part III of debunking the right on HCR.
ABC News – How Health Insurance Companies Hurt Policyholders – The real death panels of the health insurance industry, as told by an insider.
Newsweek – What’s Not To Like About Our Health Care System – A view of our current health care system.
Huffington Post – GOPers Decrying Socialized Medicine – Some Congressmen from the GOP have actually used government run hospitals for their surgery, yet they are against it.
US Health Crisis – What Real Canadians Think Of Their Health Care – A video of actual Canadians and what they think of their health care system.
IPPF – How Our Health System Screws Over Women – A look at what women are put through thanks to our messed up health system. Sheds some light on our shamefully high infant mortality rate.
Families USA – Dying For Coverage In Maryland – A PDF of the suffering Marylanders go through without insurance. Some good facts on why insurance matters.
Maybe reading these will convince some that a single payer system is the way to go… The very least being a public option.
I’ve always had a conspiracy theory about weight problems in our country.
I was watching Bill Maher last week, he had David Kessler on his show, talking about his new book The End Of Overeating… basically confirmed part of my theory.
My beliefs are that the food companies/restaurants are causing us to be obese. They sell these huge portions figuring they can sell more food for more money. We don’t really have a choice in this matter. It’s not like I can go to one of the places at the mall and ask for half a serving, it’s all or nothing. We’ve become accustom to eating that much food. And when you buy a meal like that, not eating all of it is just a waste if you throw it away.
I’ve never had problems with my weight, however, but when I started to notice the scale going up to uncomfortable levels (155-160), I decided to cut back. I ditched the typical mall food ($6+ for more than a serving), and started to eat either a pretzel, a subway sandwich (6 inch), a steak sub, or an ice cream. (Also saved money too.) I also started doing a little exercising, but the big thing is cutting back. I think I’m a healthy weight now and tend to keep up with what I’m doing.
Stopping yourself from eating is always a hard thing to do but it needs to be done. I only eat until I’m completely full about once a week. Other than that, I really limit the amount of food I take. It takes a lot of discipline, but it is possible. Don’t eat until you’re full.
So Bri and I recently moved to an area that is FiOS ready. To those who haven’t heard of FiOS, it’s supposed to be the bomb as far as internet, phone, and TV go.
Bri and I wanted to keep the same number we had at the apartment. That required us to wait two weeks before Verizon installing it, so they can port the number. Also, it required us to keep our Comcast account active (even though we couldn’t watch TV, Internet, etc). We made an appointment with Verizon and they were scheduled to come out on a Friday. Brian took the day off to get it installed, along with Brinks.
Verizon never showed up. Nor did they call to tell us they weren’t showing up. Supposedly, there was an error in their system saying we couldn’t get FiOS. Come to find out, they also could not port over our number, which they claimed they could do. Hours on the phone later, we set up a new appointment. And, no, they couldn’t pull some strings and get dispatch out there early for us, nor could they install it on the weekend or on Monday.
We now had an appointment for Wednesday between the hours of 8 and 5. I didn’t want to take the day off because leave is very important, and I have to save it for Dad stuff. I bribed one of my friends to come up and spend the day waiting for Verizon.
They showed up, I guess, around 1PM and proceeded to install FiOS. I get a text saying it would cost $55 per TV to run wire so we can have cable. The house CAME wired with Coax. According to the techs who were installing it, it wasn’t Coax, but a thicker wire. Whatever, Bri and I weren’t home so we couldn’t tell.
When I got home, I let them do their thing, thinking they are professionals and wouldn’t mess anything up. Was I wrong. When the guys left, Bri and I walked around the house to see what they had done. They had CUT our wire to our current Coax system. Not only that, they INSTALLED Coax! The very thing we had wired throughout the house!
Brian called Verizon (yet again). They are supposed to call him back sometime today. We are NOT paying for the Coax installation which we already had. It’s been ridiculous. If they say we still have to pay, we’re probably going to take them to small claims court or something. We can also, hopefully, get the dudes in trouble who installed the stuff. They did a horrible job anyway. They even left their twisty ties on the floor so my cats can choke on them. Nice, right?
Needless to say, I laugh every time I get off the phone with these assholes and they say “recommend us to family and friends”… Yeah, right.
My opinion so far, I watched around 3 hours of TV. Picture is fine. HD is fine. More HD channels than Comcast. Internet is very fast. Honestly, it’s the same as Comcast. I see no real difference. It is NOT the bomb like it’s made out to be.
Bottom line, don’t get Verizon. They’re jerks. I’ll update later about how it all turns out.
I’m not good at writing things that are inspirational and meaningful but I would like to take a minute to try to write how important it is to vote.
Like I was telling some of my friends who are not registered to vote and aren’t political: Voting gives us a say in our country. Voting gives us the power to choose our future. Thinking that the entire system is corrupt is no excuse. Many have fought (and still fight) and died for this right we have. Many in the world do not have the opportunity to decide anything in their country. We should take advantage of the rights we have.
The 2000 election was decided by some 537 votes. That’s it. Saying your opinion, your vote doesn’t matter simply isn’t true.
Please, get out and vote TOMORROW, NOVEMBER 4, 2008. If you’re not sure where you vote visit vote411.org for your location.
A quick note on voter fraud: No, the election for Democrats is not November 5, it’s November 4, like EVERYONE ELSE, on the SAME DAY, regardless. And no, you won’t get arrested for not paying child support or if you have a speeding ticket or whatever else you may have heard if you try to vote. They are Republican scare tactics and they are UNTRUE to try to get you not to vote. Don’t let that happen.
Another quick note, don’t let poll numbers discourage you to vote either. Get out to the polls no matter what. Even if you’re 100% confident your candidate will/will not win, still get out there. Your vote DOES matter.
Furthermore, don’t let long lines to vote discourage you. Please wait it out and get your say. Maybe try to coinvince your boss to let you go early so you can get there, or try to go in the morning or during lunch. But get out there regardless.
As many of you know, Brian was running for House Of Representatives until my father passed away. Things got crazy (and it’s still crazy) so he decided to drop out. Before he did, he gathered a bunch of views and ideas he had and put them up on his website.
Since the idiots in Congress can’t get their act together and pass a bill that would try to save us all from hell, I persuaded Brian to start calling around and tell them his idea. This idea would fix the housing market which would lead to a more stable economy, thus saving us all from a recession or depression. Here’s his plan (from his website):
In the past couple of months many people have noticed mortgage companies and banks have been losing a lot of money and people are being forced out of their homes. It is terrible when people lose their life savings, their homes, and have their credit ruined all in one fell swoop. I think there are a couple of very simple steps to correct this situation so no more people will fall prey to this kind of lending again.
The first thing to do is save people who are in foreclosure or who are about to go into foreclosure. In order to do this, I propose that we use the HUD (Department of Housing and Urban Development) to refinance all the loans that are resetting to higher rates into fixed rate mortgages. I would also increase the amount of time that a family has to pay back the loan from a traditional 15 or 30 years so that they can spread out the payments to something that they can still afford today (say a 60 year mortgage) with no penalties for early payment. People can say in their homes with a mortgage that is manageable. Also, they should be able to pay towards the mortgage what they can afford to spare in order to pay the loan off faster without penalty.
The second step to saving the mortgage industry is to enact legislation that will stop predatory lending. This legislation should force mortgage companies and brokers to make potential buyers more aware of the consequences of the loans they sign.
Just wanted to put Brian’s idea out there. He already called a few of our Maryland congressmen and explained it. They probably won’t get back to him cause they don’t care.
Brian doesn’t care if he gets credit for this idea or not. He just wants a solution, as do I, as should all of us.
If you think this is a good idea, share it or whatever.
Okay, so I read all about this thing when it first was passed back in February. I thought I’d blog about it since checks will soon be out and people will soon be getting their bit of money.
Here are some little facts about this bill:
- You only get this tax rebate if you filed your 2007 taxes on time.
- Should be expecting around $600 per person (less than $75k),$1200 for married people who filed jointly (less than $150k). If you’ve made more than these amounts (those who are reading this probably did not), the amount goes down.
- Parents will get $300 per child.
- Folks who were in college last year, sorry, you don’t get one, even if you made money last year. Nor do your parents get the $300 per kid because you’re not under the age of 17.
- People with ITIN’s don’t get anything, even if they file jointly with someone who has a SSN.
- Whatever money you get from this bill, you have to pay back on your 2008 tax returns (if you are in the green).
Personally, I think this bill is a waste of time and money. I urge people to be smart and SPEND NOTHING and put this money away in an ING account or other high interest savings account until you have to pay it back. It’s better to earn interest on this “free money” than spend it (unless you desperately need to).
I find it funny Comcast has a commercial out to encourage people to spend this money by supporting local business’s. I don’t think it’s a good idea to spend any of that money since you have to pay it back in 2009. I just think it’s pointless and it hurts people. I’d opt out of it if I could.