Most of the staff here at the Hellhole Journal have been outraged at the sneaky deals and outright cynical payoffs that seem to be accepted as "business as usual" by US Politicians.
It is distressing to hear Harry Reid say the "by definition legislating is about making deals." (I always thought that by definition, legislating was about making LAWS). Apparently I am not alone.
The other day Ben Nelson senator from Nebraska (who has been getting serious flak from just about everyone in and out of Nebraska) has written a letter asking Reid to remove the "cornhusker kickback" clause from the final bill. Now, after watching his personal approval ratings sink like a whale turd, he says, he believes the tax exemption should apply to all states.
This is encouraging news that someone may be listening to the chorus of boos coming from the customers of this "sausage factory." Now we need to hear from the Unions, Louisiana, Vermont and all those other porkers. (BTW this includes the separate outrageous pork barrel deal that our own John Kerry strongarmed through committee to get a contract for GE to manufacture an jet engine that the Pentagon doesn't want. ) We have to acknowledge that these things cost tax money which we do not have.
I probably need to reiterate that me and the staff are not against health care reform. We think that there are plenty of areas where something positive can be done to help people who want and need it. We just don't want the bloated piece of crap that they are fighting for in congress.
For example, we have changed our position on chronic illness. I confess that I was a bit tin-eared about this issue myself, until I had a discussion with a friend who has been losing mobility because of MS. He recently got laid off and may face the daunting challenge of getting affordable health care coverage in the future. I've always realized that no one except the very wealthy can afford to be chronically ill, but I never actually had to confront the situation with a family member or friend before. While I still defend the business decision of an insurance company to decide who they insure (i.e., they should not be forced to lose money), there is a need to cover people with pre-existing conditions. And, that by definition is the role of government. There are plenty of programs that could be cut to allow the funding of care for people with chronic illness - that would indeed be health care reform!
6 comments:
What does happen to whale turds? I would imagine that, after many millennia of hundred of thousands (if not millions) of whale's, porpoises, seals, etc. relieving themselves with abandon in our planet's oceans, that we would be up to our surfboards in whale poop.
And the EPA let's them do it! A canoer can't sh*t in his hat and dump it overboard without being fined $hundred$ by our ever alert coral-reef huggers, but a freed Willy can defecate to his heart content without so much as Sierra Club reprimand.
Yes, we keep getting sillier and sillier with our environmental angst.
Signed,
Jacques Cousteau
Um, was that the topic? Yah,
I guess it really doesn't matter but thanks for sharing.
I might add that people with pre-existing conditions are at a distinct disadvantage when looking for a job, as virtually no prospective employer wants to hire someone who will raise their healthcare rates. The elephant in the healthcare reform room is that no one is dealing with healthcare insurance primarily being tied to employment. This is lunacy.
I think that denial of employment due to physical conditions is blatently illegal, no? (Americans with Disabilities Act)
George, cheating on your taxes is illegal, but most of the cheaters don't get caught.
Are you denying that bias exists in hiring and promotion because there is a law?
Not only do some tax cheaters not get caught but many are even found in high government positions (Geithner, Rangel, Dodd, etc., etc.) Isn't that special ...
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