Saturday, November 16, 2013

The Reason I Blog

So you don't miss stories like this.

From the blog "I Drive Warships" this heartbreaking & heartwarming post "A Sailor's Dying Wish".

After signing my Pop, EM2 Bud Cloud (circa Pearl Harbor) up for hospice care, the consolation prize I’d given him (for agreeing it was OK to die) was a trip to “visit the Navy in San Diego.”
I emailed my friend and former Marine sergeant, Mrs. Mandy McCammon, who’s currently serving as a Navy Public Affairs Officer, at midnight on 28 May. I asked Mandy if she had enough pull on any of the bases in San Diego to get me access for the day so I could give Bud, who served on USS Dewey (DD-349), a windshield tour.
The next day she sent me an email from the current USS Dewey (DDG 105)s XO, CDR Mikael Rockstad, inviting us down to the ship two days later.
Go and read the rest.!  You will be moved and proud.  Bravo Zulu to all involved.

Thursday, November 14, 2013

I Thought This Clown Was Supposed To Be A Constitutional Scholar?

Last month, some GOP Congresspeople tried to get up support to amend the ACA, aka #ObamaCare.  Most notable were Senators Ted Cruz & Mike Lee.  The President, Harry Reid, and the rest of the Democratic Party said, "No, it's the law.  And furthermore, we won't even discuss it.  Period."

The government shuts down and in an incredibly shameful move, the Administration makes the shutdown as ugly and painful as possible.  They spend time and taxpayer money on scumbag moves like closing down the WWII Memorial.

Incredibly, the Administration and the Main Stream Media blamed Cruz, Lee, Republicans and the Tea Party!  Seriously?  Anyway, the #ACA is law deal with it.

Fast forward a few weeks - the Healthcare.gov website doesn't work.  Why?  It isn't ready, insufficient testing.  Why did you open it?  Sibelius says "We had to, the law said so." Buzz!  That's a lie, the ACA law says the Secretary (Sibelius) can open it any time they wish.  But deal with it, it's the law.

Fast forward another few days - Numbers start coming out.  Few can sign up.  Rates and policies don't appeal to anyone except those getting Medicaid.  Democrats & MSM explain this is because Republicans want the #ACA to fail.  Ummm, what?  Well anyway, the #ACA is law, deal with it.

Then the individual market cancellations started coming in.  I'm sure this is also the fault of Republicans somehow.  Anyway, it's the law, deal with it.

And today,
"Insurers can extend current plans that otherwise would have been canceled in 2014," Obama said.

Ahhh, the President does not have that power.  The Executive Branch does not just call out changes to law.  I thought Obama was the smartest man ever to be President?  Not only would it not be possible for him to make such a change to the law, it can't happen no matter how hard he wishes.  So what was this?  Smoke & mirrors.  President Obama just wants you to redirect you frustrations America.  Don't fall for it.


Thursday, November 07, 2013

Sara's Dog Is Going To Love Me To Death

Sara's puppy, Tank is always trying to get under my feet.  I try to pay attention, but the other day he caught me on the cellar stairs with an armload of clothes. I caught myself before falling to the cement floor, whew!  But I wrenched my knee and boy does it hurt.  I've been keeping it elevated and Tom got me an ace bandage.

I'm miserable!

Monday, November 04, 2013

Dr. Ezekial Emanuel - It's Not An Effin' Car

Dr. Ezekial Emanuel has been described as President Obama's "Chief Architect" for the Affordable Care Act.  He has been hitting all the media outlets defending the #ACA and attempting to explain away the individual policies that people are losing all over the country.  Dr. Emanuel wants you to know that it's not a bad thing that Americans are losing insurance coverage that they liked; that they felt they could afford.

And to illustrate this, Dr. Emanuel repeatedly draws comparisons to purchasing a new car.

This morning on FoxNews Sunday -

"The second thing is, just as we have safety standards for cars, you can't buy a car without a seat belt. You can't buy a car without an air bag. You can drive them, we're not going to take you off the road. But if you're going to buy a new car, you have to have safety"

It's not a car.  It's healthcare insurance.

Healthcare insurance that you are mandated by law to obtain and pay for.

If you don't want a new car, you don't have to buy a new car.  The law doesn't say that you "must" buy a car.  The IRS will not penalize you if you don't buy a car.

Stop comparing it to a car.

So, you may ask - "What kind of guy would try to mislead people this way?"

Well, I'm glad you asked!  I give you, Dr. Ezekial Emanuel, "bioethicist".

Obama's Health Rationer-in-Chief
White House health-care adviser Ezekial Emanuel blames the Hippocratic Oath for the overuse of medical care.

Sounds nice, doesn't it?  "Overuse" because your doctor is paying attention to his Hippocratic Oath and taking care of you and not society as a whole.  Yeah, the "Complete Lives System".  I don't know about you, but as a Multiple Myeloma patient who at times has required chemo costing over $22,000 in the space of one month.....this isn't the guy I want anywhere near my healthcare.

Friday, November 01, 2013

A Little Affordable Care Perspective

*******UPDATE*****
On FoxNews Sunday, Dr. Ezekial Emanuel just used the 50 million number, which is false on it's face.

I guess I'm feeling ambitious.  I don't know why, lol.  It's 72 here in the Shenandoah Valley and I am on the deck getting some Vitamin D.

But as I sit here I read and have to listen to people talk about how heartless Republicans are.  We fought ObamaCare.  We want it to fail.  Not cause it's a boondoggle mind you....no, because we never cared about the uninsured.  Didn't we understand that 50 million people in America were uninsured in 2008?  More than 16% of the population!  Read the census!

Well, did you?  Did you go read the 2008 census they are/were citing?  Cause I did.  And a few others did.  They tried to tell you.  I told everyone who would listen, including my sons who stopped listening, lol!  "Yeah, yeah Ma.  We know.  They are playing with the numbers.  Can I get back to what I was doing?"

But it was more than a headline.  It was more than a soundbite.  People didn't have the time or inclination to fact check.  So they were fooled by the whole "50 million Americans have no healthcare!"  Never mind healthcare is not health insurance.  Word games, numbers games, whatever.

From the 2008 census the number of uninsured in America - Page 20, Table 7.  "People Without Health Insurance Coverage by Selected Characteristics: 2007 and 2008"

Number of uninsured in 2008; 46,340,000.  Not 50,000,000.  OK, so they rounded up a little.

Number of uninsured people whose household income was over $75,000 per year; 9,725,000.  Did they need saving?  No, more likely they decided they could pay out of pocket and  not bother with insurance.

Number of uninsured people whose household income was over $50,000 per year; 8,034,000.  Some might have struggled in that bracket depending on their location, but most?  No, I don't think so.  Again, I believe the majority made a conscious choice to abstain.

Number of uninsured people with a household income under $25,000 per year; 13,673,000.  Now again, this number represents something that is not being discussed.  It includes a great deal of people who qualify for insurance /Medicaid /Medicare /VA coverage and they are not obtaining it.  Why?  Well some just aren't aware.  Some don't understand the process.  Some don't want to be "in the system" whether out of fear or stubbornness.  And in all categories, again, there are those who just don't want to opt in.  I want outreach to help those who qualify get through the process and get coverage through existing avenues.  Don't tell me that there wasn't an easier lest costly way to help this demographic.

Number of non-citizens who do not report health insurance?  9,511,000.  Ok, now there are many differing views on what this number represents and how much we should care.  This number does not represent a solid block of malnourished, abused, illegal immigrants living in abject poverty.  And while you may disagree, I do not think we should be turning 1/6 of our economy to make sure they have insurance.

After I make what I consider to be reasonable adjustments, who is left of those 46,340,000?

Well, I don't want to count anyone making than $75,000 or more per year.  If there is an extenuating circumstance, chances are there is a corresponding charity.  If not, it must be possible to fix that on a small scale.

So we're down to 36,615,000.

Next category is those making between $50,000 and $74,999.  Conceding geographic location, I'll give you half.  How's that?

Down to 32,598,000.

What's left is people with incomes under $25K.  I'll give you a third of them - 4,557,667.  Again, I think that's more than generous.  So I'm subtracting two thirds, 9,115,333 people.

Non-citizens?  I don't want to count any of them.  My Federal tax dollars should not be taking care of you.  Go home to your own country for care.  Or pay the bill.  Taking them completely out would cut the number drastically , but there is no telling where they fell in the income breakdown.  So I can't take any off.  But you know darn well some of them are represented in the numbers for households making over $25,000 and less than $49,999.  And I'm leaving that group whole.

Now our number is 23,482,667.  I won't quibble about people who chose not to be insured, as is their right.  But where does this leave us?  Less than half of what the Affordable Care Act's proponents cried about.

23,482,667 people represent not quite 8% of the 301,483,000 counted..

Now let's watch and see how many people who were responsible and had a policy in 2008 will lose what they had.  And I don't mean just the people getting letters that their individual policies are cancelled.  You know the ones who per this link on Forbes -

"On Tuesday, White House spokesman Jay Carney attempted to minimize the disruption issue, arguing that it only affected people who buy insurance on their own. “That’s the universe we’re talking about, 5 percent of the population,” said Carney."

So Jay Carney doesn't think *those* 5% are any big deal.  You know, it's not like it was 8% or anything.

However, in addition to the people who had individual policies and will lose them.....let's add people whose employers lost or dropped coverage.  And what about people who lost access to their employee insurance coverage when employers cut their hours?

So at the end of the day, you will have disrupted far more than 8% of the population.  You will have moved them out of policies that were adequate.  You will have forced people who simply paid their own way into purchasing insurance they didn't want.  Because the ACA also forces insurance companies to drop bare bones policies to offer policies with bells and whistles that some Americans neither needed nor wanted.  You will have people moving from adequate plans to plans with higher deductibles and out of pocket costs.

In the big picture you will have a net loss of coverage.