Thursday, February 26, 2015

Sunday, February 15, 2015

We Don't Need No Education

Congressman Says We Don’t Need Education Funding Because ‘Socrates Trained Plato On A Rock’ 

During a House Education and Workforce Committee proceeding on Wednesday to reauthorize the nation’s elementary and secondary education law, Rep. Dave Brat (R-VA) said, “Socrates trained Plato in on a rock and then Plato trained in Aristotle roughly speaking on a rock. So, huge funding is not necessary to achieve the greatest minds and the greatest intellects in history.”

More pearls of wisdom from the ignorance party. "The dumber our constituents, the better we like it", he did not purportedly say. 

Reminds me of this:


Representative Brat, you are no Tony Stark.

Monday, February 9, 2015

Why We Need Universal Healthcare for All Americans.

This is a very complex issue with a simple answer. 

My friend "Joe" from Florida received a cancellation notice from Anthem Blue Cross/Blue Shield that his $46.00 per month crappy insurance was being cancelled due to not meeting the standards of the new Affordable Healthcare Act law. Joe is just south of 60, works a minimum wage job, and makes about $9500 a year. He actually did get some prescription benefits from his old plan and free well-care visits. But...no hospital coverage. None, nada, zip.


So, he should slide effortlessly into one of the new ACA categories for better healthcare for minimum cost, right?

WRONG. Anthem BC/BS wants to charge him over $350.00/mo. for about the same coverage with high deductibles. That's half his salary per month! When was his last raise? (see chart).

Now Florida, under Rick Scott, Healthcare Fraud Felon, has not expanded Medicaid or tried to help low income Floridians in any way, shape or fashion. I was on the phone with state ACA. I couldn't believe the level of callousness in how I was treated. After a lengthy interview with results of "denied", he told me that the free clinics were always open. Well, isn't that always the fallback position for these insurance company hacks? Let's see how that is going... Fewer Emergency Rooms Available as Need Rises


And here is the ACA's take:

More Answers: Plan changes and cancellations

  • What if my plan is cancelled and I can’t afford a new plan?
    If your non-Marketplace plan has been cancelled and you can’t afford a Marketplace plan to replace it, you can apply for a hardship exemption. This will allow you to buy a catastrophic plan.
    A catastrophic plan generally requires you to pay all your medical costs up to a certain amount, usually several thousand dollars. These policies usually have lower premiums than a comprehensive plan, but cover you only if you need a lot of care. They basically protect you from worst-case scenarios.
So how is this different from his previously "onerous" plan that didn't make the ACA cut? It's worse and still more expensive than his previous policy.

I don't get it. I was so psyched that we got at least something for healthcare in this country. Of course, the states that didn't pass medicaid expansion bear most of the blame, but even then guys like Joe just don't make the cut at $9500.00/yr. WTF.  AND healthcare insurers are seeing profits soar.

Thanks, Obamacare! Health insurer stocks soar

Healthcare is a basic human right in the rest of the civilized world, but not here. Why? Well, capitalism trumps humanism in this country and cash is king. The Golden Rule, he who has the gold makes the rules. And that's who wrote these ACA policies, Healthcare Insurers. It's the American way. Plain and simple. And wrong.

So, here is my answer as it was when the "Public Option" was first introduced and shot down by the Healthcare Industrial Complex. Statistics and Facts show that Public run is more efficient than private run every time no matter what. Post offices, prisons, schools, the list goes on and on. How many government agency heads make $7 million a year for managing healthcare? None. How many stockholders get dividend payments from the profits on Medicare? None, unless you count bond holders who share in the entire government bond increases. Cut out the middleman, let our government work for you. Screw Reagan as he screwed the middle class with his "Nine most terrifying words" speech that has done more damage to this country than any bomb, terrorist, or plague. Ignorant tool that he was. (Link to Reagan speech at the White House where CEO of Merrill Lynch told the president of the united states to "Speed it up")

The following video explains in easy to understand terms why we need Universal Healthcare in this country and why it shouldn't be a big deal to get it. But the 1% will fight it all the way. Profits over people, baby. Yeah!!


Until Universal Healthcare becomes law, my friend Joe and millions like him will continue to struggle. I will keep advocating for him, making the hard calls, taking the unreasonable excuses in stride and working within this broken system toward a plan that hopefully will work for him. And someday, hopefully, there will be one for all of us.