Indiana Republicans and Universal Health Care

In the primary every Republican candidate said they were going to repeal Health Care. One of the favorite arguments is look what is going on in Canada. So here is a short version of an article posted by AARP with a few comments by me. Even if you are a Republican you should be very concerned about health care. A chest pain and not even a heart attack will set you back about $20,000 and that is for only 1-2 days in the hospital. Cancer about $60,000. One very interesting item was getting treatment in a hospital cost more than if you get it at your doctors office. My guess is the overhead at the hospital and part of the overhead are people who don’t have insurance and get “free” care at the hospital they then pass this on to everyone who comes in the door. If we had everyone insurance you no longer would have people just showing up for free care. Hospital bills would drop. How many Canadians come to the US for heath care: .5% for care electively .11% for emergency care* 99.39% stay in Canada for heath care *80% 0f these visits were to emergency rooms while on vacation. A lot of cold Canadians go to Florida during the winter. Are Canadian doctors taking U.S. jobs? Are they coming to the US? The USA has 800,000 physicians and in both 2005 and 2006 just over 120 Canadian physicians came to the USA. But at the same time more US physicians moved to Canada. Canada rations health care; that’s why hip replacements and cataract surgeries happen faster in the United States. Not so says the St Louis Post Dispatch that did a study on Canadian hip replacements and found 63 percent were for people over 65. So the Republican who claim that Canadians can’t get hip replacements is bunk. Wait times are longer in Canada and the answer is yes they are but not because of rationing but rather because of fiscal conservation policy to limit supply. While the US limits care by cost. In a study by Commonwealth Fund of Washington in the US 42% of Americans expressed an opinion they not be able to afford health care if they became seriously ill. About one third of Americans didn’t go to a doctor when sick or fill a prescription or skipped medication because of cost. Then 20% of people who had medical costs have to struggle to pay their bills. So we as a nation are also rationing health care but using cost as that tool. So when someone says we don’t want to be like Canada on health care maybe the answer yes we do. BTW- When someone says the Health Care Bill has death panels the real answer is that those who vote against it are the death panel. If 42 percent can’t afford to see a doctor or get care are we sending them to their death? Sure looks like it. One last note – How many Canadians does it take to screw in a light bulb? – The same as Americans. Then how come they have health care and we don’t.

Smearfest

Smearfest Last night my wife just looked at me and said politics is now a smearfest. First time I had heard that word and I had to wonder if it even was a word, so off to Google I went and to my surprise it is becoming a word. Now on Google it is spelled three ways with preventative medicine. But mixed in were the articles on this new word. Someone named Mark posted one of the better definitions: Sometimes, in the right-wing noise machine, you really need to stretch to spread your smears across as many targets as possible. It calls for a strategy that aims to cast your juvenile insults so broadly that they ensnare any of your perceived enemies within certain proximity. In a way, it’s a conservative approach that allows you to use less tar to tarnish more opponents in one wide swipe. Even Glenn Beck said: “Campaigns are ugly. Watching the way politicians act makes you long for the respect and self-control of the Sopranos.” But lets be totally honest smearfests are not only the work of the right; the left is just as guilty. Lets look at some of the older political smears: Sarah Palin - "Sarah Palin believes God told her to go to war with Iraq!" Rick Perry - 'Noted Homosexual Rick Perry' Barack Obama – Birth Certificate, Secretly a Muslim Global Warming Pink Slime Now these are minor league compared to today’s attacks. Herman Cain - Ginger White and how many others. Ron Paul - Smeared by everyone just because he is Ron Paul. And of course this is not reserved for national campaigns. Here in Indiana at both the state and local level we have a smearfest beyond belief. What is even more amazing is members of their own party are killing each other. Look at Senator Lugar, better yet Google "smearfest Lugar" and see the Trash you get. Even worst is a Congressional race where one candidate in an ad blasts not one but two opponents at the same time making claims that are totally false. And to top it off this is a candidate who moved(?) into the state for the purpose of running for congress. Where are these ads coming from out of state of course, from big Pac’s? The Supreme Court opened the door a few years ago by saying corporations have free speech and can be a person. What happened to “truth and the American way” it appears it has gone for a long walk and lost its way. It seems we prefer a candidate that uses lies and hides what they would do if elected. No wonder the Congress of the United States is no longer effective, the extreme right and left wings are too busy being evil to each other and others to shake hands and work for the common good. There can also be a fun side of Smearfests: Stranded with zombies VS Hazmat Skippy Peanut Butter on a smearfest

Indiana Tax Mistakes - Now a third one.

I just got a note form the State of Indiana that I owed a lot of taxes due to an error on my income tax return. My initial though was this can’t be right they owe me. So out come the tax records and low and behold they forgot to credit a large payment on a 1099. First contract the people, who issued the 1099, yup they sent the money to the state. Needless to say I have written a letter back and enclosed the 1099 they seemed to have misplaced or lost. Then I started to wonder was my money with the 200 million or the 325 million Mr.. Mourdock lost. Seems as if we need a total overhaul of the Treasurers’ office, then again I think we need a total overhaul of the state government. Too many things like this keep happening in this state. Of course it will be interesting to see how long it takes for them to find my money and issue my refund.

Mitch and Mitt Team

Mitch Daniels former head of the Office of Budget Management under President Bush and now Governor of the State of Indiana has found out the state accounting office made two small account errors of over $500,000,000.00. Ops

Today I found out that Mitt Romney has a Swiss Bank Account. I guess he doesn’t believe in the United States banking system.

So we have a Governor who can’t add and a Governor, who wants to be President who doesn’t trust his own country. Does Mitch have a Swiss bank account? Is Mitt getting ready to run overseas?

By the way – Warren Buffett was asked if he has a Swiss bank account, his response was “No, there are plenty of good banks in the United States”

Maybe Mitch is still thinking of running for Vice-President, what a great team. The Mitt and Mitch team - great campaign slogan "Just trust us with your money"

Just to set the record straight, I do not have a Swiss bank account.

Its time for Rush to go, won't you help!

AOL
Carbonite
ProFlowers
Quicken Loans
Sleep Train
Sleep Number
Citrix Systems Inc.
Legal Zoom
Heart and Body Extract
AutoZone
Oreck
Tax Resolution Services

So far eight advertisers have, by pulling their ads from the old fat guy, issued an apology to Ms. Sandra Fluke.

The following companies have yet to pull their ads so it is time to boycott them.

Mid-West Life Insurance Company of Tennessee,
American Forces Network
Mission Pharmacal Company
Life Quotes, Inc.
Life Lock

It is also time to see what other programs are on the Premiere Radio Network and boycott them. Rush has made a statement that the advertisers who left “They've decided they don't want you or your business anymore. So be it.” Maybe it is time for all of us to say we don’t want the poison you spread on the airways anymore.

When I started to write this Tax Resolution Services was still a sponsor and now is not. So everyone keep up the pressure.

The other factor is when radio stations drop the program, so call the station in your area and tell them until Rush is gone you are gone from all their programming.

On top of this Forbes magazine, which can hardly be called a liberal magazine, has come out and called Rush’s Apology a “Non-Apology” and added that Rush pretty much said “I’m right.” Well, I and many others think he was dead wrong so please help me to make his program DOA.

Joe

Hybrid, Modified its all a Sham to me.

The Peoples Republic of Fishers continues to try and stay in power with its latest name change. In his latest move to try and fool the people of Fishers Scott Faultless has changed the name of his new city from Hybrid to Modified. Same old product new name, maybe he should go to work for a food or a soap company. You have to wonder why? Maybe it has to do with bad press and lawsuits. Yet he continues with the same underlying issue that the “Modified” City is not a city but a town form of government with a city name. The only change is that this modified form of government where the new city council appoints the “Mayor”. You read that correctly “appointed” which means the janitor (who actually might be a better choice than one of Scottie’s buddies) or anyone off the street or even someone who was never elected to any office. To top if off it becomes a total figurehead office and is not a real mayor like in every other city in the state.

To give you an idea of his way of thinking he has said that both questions about a city will be on the ballot. Sounds good until you see the fine print. If both pass then the modified city become law. So how do you educate the citizens to vote yes for one city and no for the other city? That is what he is counting on to continue the power in the hands of one person.

One of the ways he stays in power is to rig committees and boards. In some cases that law requires that boards cannot be made up from all one political party. The Scott solution have independents, who are not independent, be the others on the board. Just line up a bunch of people who declare themselves independent at the polls and then use them on these committees. One of the independents from the Merger Committee was seen at a recent major Republican gathering. The Chairmen of the Merger Committee is a former Town Council President and has a major contract with the Town. No wonder he didn’t listen to input and took action without ant input on the merger question. Conflict of interest of course but this is Fishers. I am sorry the Peoples Republic of Fishers.

Sunday Indy Star and Charlie White

Oh my an entire page in the Indy Star on Charlie White:

http://www.indystar.com/article/20120129/NEWS05/301290012/Charlie-White-s-freedom-political-future-line

Actually a very good article from start to finish. Not much new but a few nice insights form other elected officials of the area. One very big surprise.

At the tail end of this article is a defense of Charlie by Scott Faultless, two items Scott must be scared that Charlie is going to spill the beans on all the back room deals that go on in Fishers, so Scott has to be nice to him. Then is the statement that Charlie was a de facto member of the Town Council. Mr. Faultless would love to have a town council that is all de facto no elections. In fact he has proposed a new city government where the Mayor is appointed. The fact is that Mr. While was not a legal member in standing on the Town Council after he moved out of his district.

But then again this is Fishers where Mr.Faultless believe everything he says.