Affordable Health Care

Today I'm going to discuss the Affordable Health Care Act, or Obamacare, whichever name you chose.  I'm not going to go all policy wonk on you; yes, the bill is long and complicated but what I'm going to do is breakdown what it means to me and my extended family.

I am on Social Security Disability with this I get Medicare.  Were I not on Disability I would not be able to get insurance because I have a pre-existing condition, Mixed Connective Tissue Disease. Were I to be able to get insurance, the cost would be prohibitive and they wouldn't cover my pre-existing which is why I need the insurance in the first place.

Everyone on Medicare knows about the infamous donut hole. I won't get into the arithmetic but only the bottom line.  If you take multiple medications, (I do), and some of them are not generic, (some of mine are not) you can fall into the Medicare donut hole as early as April in any given year.  After that date, according to your medicare insurance, you would have to pay full price on your medication.  This would cost me upwards of $2,000.

Obamacare would eliminate the donut hole.

My grandson attends Penn State and has a 3.5 average with a full time job. His job, although full-time, does not offer health insurance.  Thanks to Obamacare he is covered under his parents policy until he is 26 years old.  Since he plans to go on to law school this is a blessing.

With the proposed Medicare Voucher system, I could not be covered by insurance.  My grandson, without the ACA would not be covered by insurance and would have to rely on the Emergency Room for care.

This is how the ACA has benefited my family RIGHT NOW.  It will do more for us in the future.

Clinton Knocks it Out of the Park

Former President Bill Clinton spoke at the Democratic National Convention last night.  His speech was a point by point refutation of the lies the Republican told at their convention last week and the ones they are telling on television every day.

Yes, this year the Republican have more money than ever thanks to Citizens United that allowed the election to be sold to the highest bidder.  But the Democrats are fighting back with everything they have.  The facts are on the Democratic side.  As Bubba said last night, it's all a matter of arithmetic. You can't cut taxes on the wealthy, add money to the defense budget and get rid of a deficit. The numbers don't add up.

Cutting the safety net for our poorest countrymen, giving so-called "vouchers" for Medicare and repealing Obamacare will set this nation back.  We need to go FORWARD.

Why Marriage Equality

Got a Lawyer? If you are gay and living with your significant other in states that do not allow gay marriage, you're going to need one.

A gay or lesbian couple need to have specific wills made or a house, car, precious possessions can go to the family rather than the partner.  If you do not specify that your partner will be the one making medical decisions in case of your inability to do so, someone else (even a distant relative) could make them for you. If you have not listed your partner as next of kin, they might not be able to visit you in the hospital or make your funeral arrangements.

If you are gay, your partner will not get the pension or 401K you put money into all of your life.  Your partner is not eligible for survivors benefits for social security.  Your partner can not collect on any government pension thanks to the Republicans and DOMA.

You may be able to serve in the military if you are gay, but your partner is not eligible for any of the military spousal benefits.

If you are gay, you are basically a second class citizen.  We should have NO second class citizens in the United States of America. The constitution guarantees rights to everyone.  Marriage is a civil contract that is made by obtaining a license and having the ceremony be administered by a civil official. It is not a religious issue.

In recent years the Christian Right have fought to impose their ideas on the rest of us despite the constitution. Don't let them get away with this. Write to your local state assemblies and senates. Write to your governors. Write to your congressman and senator, write to the president.  Do not deny a group of Americans the same rights given to everyone else.

A gay couple should not have to have a lawyer to enforce basic living issues that the rest of us take for granted.

Why you should vote for Obama/Biden Women's Issues.

1.  Women's Issues-  The Republican Platform supports a no abortion stance.  That means no abortion in case of rape, incest or the mother's life at stake.
2. Personhood - The Republicans in the states are pushing for "Personhood" Amendments.  This would outlaw certain types of birth control and in virtro fertilization. Getting an abortion, even some kinds of miscarriages would become criminal offenses putting the mother in jeopardy of going to jail for murder.
3. Medicare- Although the Medicare Program would remain for people ages 55+; we would be throwing our children under the bus.  Those under 55 would not be able to pay for insurance that would increase yearly in value as they age. Do you know of an insurance company that would insure an eighty-year old woman?
4. Taxes - President Obama's plan would keep the Bush tax cuts for the first two-hundred and fifty thousand dollars of any income.  After that, the tax rate would go up by only a modest percentage. This would make our tax system more equitable for all.  The most prosperous era in the modern era was in the nineteen fifties and sixties when tax rates were much higher for upper income taxpayers than at the current time.  Higher taxes for the wealthy encourages them to reinvest their money in their businesses and use it as a tax write off they by providing upgrades to aging infrastructure and more American jobs.
5. Infrastructure - Our roads, bridges and rail lines are becoming unsafe. Fixing the infrastructure would put many of the construction workers that lost there jobs in the housing crash back to work.  
6. Alternative Energy -  Our power plants need to be upgraded to improve their efficiency. Burning Coal puts carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere which contributes to global warming.  Many of Romney/Ryan's biggest donors in their superpacks are from the Oil and Coal Industry. The Obama administration does not want to outlaw coal, it wants scrubbers and efficient use of coal so we do not further harm the environment.  Also, research into solar panels, wind energy and safe nuclear power would make our country energy independent without further damaging an environment that has brought us severe weather both this past winter and summer. Additionally, Obama fuel efficiency mandates for cars would help the environment plus decrease the number of dollars coming out of our wallets for gas.

In conclusion, President Obama would be much better .for the American Middle Class than Mitt Romney to say nothing about the radical Paul Ryan

A Letter to Ann Romney

Dear Mrs. Romney,

     Yes, being a Mom can be a full time job and very difficult.  However, how much more difficult is it to be a mother of five and to have to work because your family needs your income to survive?

     Ask widows, divorcees or women whose husbands just disappeared, never to be heard from again.  Your husband supports the Paul Ryan budget which would cut social programs such as Head Start, Planned Parenthood, free healthcare and food stamps all of which help these women make ends meet.

     Your experience staying home with five children is singular in that you have always had the means to raise your children and help to do so.  I don't think you can compare apples to oranges.  The oranges of this world will surely object.  I was the mother of two and the stepmother of two more.  I dealt with daycare, budgets, unemployment, and uninsured hospitalization.  Did you have any of these experiences?  If not, you have no room to talk about your "hard" job.

The Paul Ryan Budget

Who do you think the new Paul Ryan Budget will take care of; certainly not seniors who will experience "the end of Medicare as we know it." What does that mean? It means vouchers to pay for our insurance but DOES NOT include any regulation of insurance carrier's rates.  It does not account for "pre-exsisting conditions." Nor does it account for an annual raise in rates when you age and your health deteriorates.

I have never know a private insurance company to be kind and gentle.  Where is their incentive to keep rates reasonable for the seniors they insure.  They have none.  Their motive is profits, pure and simple.  Paul Ryan and his Republican cohorts are the toy boys of K street lobbyists and corporate bigwigs. Paul Ryan isn't a budget guru, he is the puppet on the strings of every insurer, oil company executive and Wall Street raider.  This man is not fit to polish your shoes. But he intends to wipe his feet on seniors and Medicare using our backs as his own personal doormat.