Those Florida Budget Cuts..

... are really starting to have an effect on the state of the state of Florida.
I see signs on government businesses on an almost daily basis saying that the particular office will be closed on such and such date due to budget cuts. In the county of Hillsborough ( Tampa ), the county commissioners take an occasional furlough due to those lousy budget cuts.
Why am I on this topic? Because of the political bullshit that those candidates for governor (Alex Sink (D), Rick Scott (R),Bill McCollum (R) )are pushing down the throats of the Florida villagers. Not only is the race for the governorship blowing smoke up our asses, but those running for the Senate ( Mark Rubio (R), Charlie Chris (R) are doing the same thing.
My problem with those Republican candidates is that they are still into pushing for more tax cuts for Florida, which will help increase jobs in the state. This crap didn't work under Jeb Bush and it is not going to work this time either.
Who will get these tax cuts? The residents of Florida? Not hardly since there is no income tax on residents. That leaves only businesses which will reap the tax cut benefits. It is reported that Florida business pays only a measly 4% in taxes, if they pay any at all. Some of those running for political office would like to see that tax rate lowered to around 1.5%.
Get real you fucks! Those libraries which close one Friday per month and the furlough which county commissioners and city council members have to take are not due to budget cuts folks. They are due to TAX CUTS brought about by your favorite Republican business lackey.

Medicare Loved By All?

Saturday, February 6, 2010 by CommonDreams.org
Repubs, Dems, Blue Dogs and Tea Partiers: Everybody Loves Medicare
by Donna Smith
President Obama keeps torturing himself and the 111th Congress by trying to come up with new ways to work together and a single healthcare reform effort that all could embrace politically, morally and fiscally. He need not struggle so hard, as the leaders in each of the groups clamoring for leadership on the issue have stated unequivocally that they love Medicare and want to protect Medicare.
Good ol' Medicare. Publicly funded, privately delivered healthcare in America. More than four decades ago, Medicare was extended to seniors and just a suggestion of diminishment of any Medicare benefit to seniors sent leading Republicans into a dither as the Tea Party participants backed them up. "Hands off my Medicare," they oft cried through the summer town halls that gave rise to the protector/defender status of the Republicans who simultaneously sold the idea that government-run healthcare equals evil things while government- administered Medicare equals protection of grandma and grandpa's hard-earned healthcare plan.
From the Washington Post, Sept. 28, 2009, "After years of trying to cut Medicare spending, Republican lawmakers have emerged as champions of the program, accusing Democrats of trying to steal from the elderly to cover the cost of health reform."
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-KY, in December 2009 said on the Senate floor as he defended Medicare, "They are going to pay for this plan by cutting Medicare, that is cutting Seniors, and raising taxes on small businesses."
And on the House side, as reported in by The Hill in October, "The House health reform bill would ‘virtually eliminate' Medicare Advantage, Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) alleged Friday.
"The top House Republican argued that the cuts to Medicare in the House bill unveiled Thursday are so steep that it practically does away with Medicare Advantage, the popular program in which government benefits are administered through private plans."
Or how about RNC chair Michael Steele writing in the Washington Post in August 2009, "The Republican Party's contract with seniors includes tenets that Americans, regardless of political party, should support. First, we need to protect Medicare and not cut it in the name of "health-insurance reform." As the president frequently, and correctly, points out, Medicare will go deep into the red in less than a decade. But he and congressional Democrats are planning to raid, not aid, Medicare by cutting $500 billion from the program..."
Disingenuous or not, the Republicans do not want to own even an ounce of senior rage for cutting their beloved Medicare access. Seniors whose benefits are threatened are seniors who vote.
How about the Dems? And even their bluest of Blue-blooded Dogs?
Folks may remember the Blue Dog conservative-minded Democrats in the House holding up progress on the House reform bill until assurances were made to correct what they felt were unfair provider reimbursements in rural areas for, you guessed it, Medicare patient services.
NPR reported on Feb. 5, 2010, "In the House, the 10-year cancellation of doctor payment reductions was included in the broader overhaul bill after Democratic leaders cut a deal with the fiscally conservative ‘Blue Dog' Democrats. The deal was that that portion of the bill wouldn't have to be paid for as long as the House passed a separate bill to ensure that no future spending would be passed without offsetting spending cuts or increased taxes."
Even the Blue Dogs know that patients with Medicare and voters with a health plan they like, and Medicare provider rates ought to be fair too. Blue Dogs like Medicare, and they know that Medicare is consistent with fiscal conservatism and re-election. That's a good combination for them.
So what of the lefties? Well, many of the more liberal-leaning members of Congress have urged support for expansion of Medicare for some time. Even in this current debate, for several brief, shining hours, some members argued that allowing those 55 years of age and older to buy in to Medicare would be a great way to handle that difficult to insure and sometimes more in need of health services population.
Remember? Just a few weeks ago, when the "public option" folks were hitting rough waters in the Senate, the idea to expand Medicare wafted forward. Again, from the Washington Post, on December 11, 2009, "House Speaker Nancy Pelosi endorsed a proposal Thursday that would allow people in late middle age to buy insurance through Medicare, helping to sustain an idea that sprang unexpectedly from the Senate this week."
It was dashed rather quickly when Sen. Joe Lieberman expressed disagreement, though, but for many, expanding Medicare was a logical way to move forward for those 55 -64 who often cannot purchase insurance, find jobs willing to extend them coverage, or avoid losing a whole life's worth of savings and retirement security during the few years prior to current Medicare eligibility age.
Don't any of our leaders read and feel the common thread here? It's Medicare. Let's say it again. It's Medicare. Since 1965. Made in America, Medicare.
Medicare does not foist on an unwilling nation a system of government-employed doctors and government-owned providers. Medicare simply provides coverage - publicly funded, healthcare coverage that cannot be lost. The Medicare patient retains full control of where and from whom to seek care.
From the left: public funding. From the right: private delivery. In the center: patients with healthcare. Medicare for all.
If seniors are willing to protect their right to have Medicare with the ferocious energy we saw this past summer, and if Republicans recognize that well enough to claim they want to protect and defend Medicare, and if Democrats know that Medicare has been a cornerstone of social policy and justice for more than four decades, and if even the Blue Dogs understand that Medicare is so good it ought to pay fairly in rural areas and urban areas, then how far is the reach to bring everyone together and make the Medicare program work for all?
The bi-partisan, everybody in, nobody out solution has been there all along. All that remains is watching which true leader will step up and claim the victory for all.
And oh, by the way, 124 more Americans died today because they lacked access to healthcare. They added to the 124 that died yesterday and the day before and will be figured in the 45,000 this year whose lives will be sacrificed because we did not yet recognize the answer that has been before us all along.
Perhaps if we begin assigning blame for those deaths on those who have failed to act to prevent them, the Medicare for all solution will seem even more appealing. The framework is already in place, no new bureaucracy to be created, and lives saved in every Congressional district and state - Red state, Blue state, or anywhere in-between. It's the right thing to do.

Donna Smith is a community organizer for National Nurses United (the new national arm of the California Nurses Association) and National Co-Chair for the Progressive Democrats of America Healthcare Not Warfare campaign.
© Copyrighted 1997-2009

2010:New Year....

...is at hand and I think that this new year will be a very good one for most of you who have been trying to do something with your lives. You know,getting a better job,moving to a better location for you and your family. Maybe you are wishing for better health as I am. Whatever your goal (s) for 2010 are, I hope that you'll remember that in order to achieve them you will have to remain focused on them continually. Don't give up this year!Go out and get your share of this life!
Remember that while you are out partying and drinking tonight that others will be doing the same thing also. Don't drive from one place to the other after drinking. Let someone else do it for you. I want you to be here for 2010!
HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!!

Tampa Bay Area Unemployment 12.3%..

... and it is not going to get better any time soon. so, if you are seeking work in this area, my suggestion to you is to stop wasting your time here and look for work elsewhere. Of course, with Christmas only a few days away, you might get lucky and find some seasonal work at WalMart or other such retailers in the area.
For those of you who wish to know, the unemployment rate for the entire state of Florida now sits at 11.5%, which really sucks if you live in the state.
Florida lost a total 16,700 jobs during the month of November, the worst in the nation. The unemployment rate of 11.5% is the highest in 34 years which is 1.5% higher than the national average.
Of course, the 12.3% rate for the Tampa Bay area makes it the leader for those without work than all of the other metro areas in the state.

November's rate is the highest posted in Florida since May 1975, when unemployment peaked at 11.9 percent. Several economists predict the state will break the 12 percent mark early next year before gradually retreating.
It could take until 2019, state economists project, before unemployment in Florida gets back to a more palatable 6 percent range.
With more than 1 million jobless out of a statewide labor force of 9.2 million, Florida was singled out by the Labor Department as the only state in the country to post a statistically significant increase in unemployment in November. Seven other states that posted significant changes in unemployment all saw their rates go down. In fact, 36 states and the District of Columbia all saw a dip in unemployment last month.
About 9,200 of the jobs Florida lost in November were tied to construction, most of them specialty trade contractors, Rust said.
More than two-thirds of Florida's job shedding over the year has been tied to three industry sectors: construction; trade, transportation and utilities; and professional and business services. Health care has been the only growing industry for much of the year.

SOURCE:http://www.tampabay.com/news/business/personalfinance/

Barack Obama's Pledges, And How He's Doing...

...and this story comes to you by way of http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2009-10-28-obama-promises_N.htm#table. As you can see, I'm still having a small problem with Blogger posting the links to the story. What is one to do?

Tracking delivery on campaign promises

President Obama made hundreds of pledges to get elected. USA TODAY's Richard Wolf reviews some:

Taxes

Promise: Offer tax cuts of $500 for individuals with income up to $75,000 and $1,000 for couples with income up to $150,000. Obama said 95% of working families would benefit.
Quote: "This is a tax cut, paid for in part by closing corporate loopholes and shutting down tax havens, that will offset the payroll tax that working Americans are already paying." - Janesville, Wis., Feb. 13, 2008
Status: Obama settled for $400 and $800 as part of the $787 billion stimulus package passed by Congress in February. The non-partisan Tax Policy Center estimated that 91% of families with children would get tax cuts averaging $538. Overall, 75% of taxpayers would get reductions averaging $385. Obama's proposals to close loopholes and target tax havens are pending in Congress.

Jobs
Promise: Offer $3,000 tax credits in 2009 and 2010 to existing businesses for each full-time employee hired.
Quote: "I will give American businesses a $3,000 tax credit for every job they create right here in the United States of America." - Canton, Ohio, Oct. 27, 2008
Status: Obama dropped the idea during stimulus negotiations because of concerns in Congress that businesses could cook their books. As unemployment worsens, however, the White House is reconsidering it.

Home ownership
Promise: Create a $10 billion Foreclosure Prevention Fund to help people stay in their homes. Give a tax credit to middle-class homeowners to cover 10% of their mortgage interest every year
Quote: "This fund will help homeowners sell a home that is beyond their means, or modify their loan to avoid foreclosure or bankruptcy." - North Las Vegas, Nev., May 27, 2008
Status: Obama created a larger, $75 billion program in February, a month after taking office. It includes a one-time, $8,000 refundable tax credit for new homebuyers that expires in November.

Type in the link at the begining of this post for even more stats on Obama's financial regulation promises,healthcare, and stem cell research along with a host of other campaign promises which Obama made.

Wall Streets Bundled Life Insurance Policies...

... are another attempt by those gouls on Wall Street to pass off a different product to you which will more than likely screw you in the end. Remember those mortgage backed securities?
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/10/28/798049/-STOP-THEM:-Wall-Street-to-Bundle-Life-Insurance-Policies

STOP THEM: Wall Street to Bundle Life Insurance Policies
by War on Error Wed Oct 28, 2009
Wall Street banks, beaten down by the financial crisis, and propped up by
government bailout money are looking to get their securitization machines humming again. USING LIFE INSURANCE POLICIES.
Personally, I find this repulsive, ghoulish, and possibly dangerous. Please hit the orange REC button on the right side so others can see this. And while we have time to stop this.
The earlier the policyholder dies, the bigger the return — though if people live longer than expected, investors could get poor returns or even lose money.
Either way, Wall Street would profit by pocketing sizable fees for creating the bonds, reselling them and subsequently trading them.
http://www.nytimes.com/...
Call Congress and the SEC to end this brain child NOW, before it launches. Life and death should never be something Wall Street gets to gamble on.

And if Wall Street dices up and securitizes life insurance policies, like they did with mortgages, who will be responsible to pay a Life Insurance claim? Could we see life insurance bankruptcies erupt at the very time the boomers claims become due?
How many ways could seniors be manipulated to die sooner? How many would have to die to insure a large return? Appalling as these questions are, I believe they must be asked.
Indeed, what is good for Wall Street could be bad for the insurance industry, and perhaps for customers, too. That is because policyholders often let their life insurance lapse before they die, for a variety of reasons — their children grow up and no longer need the financial protection, or the premiums become too expensive. When that happens, the insurer does not have to make a payout.
But if a policy is purchased and packaged into a security, investors will keep paying the premiums that might have been abandoned; as a result, more policies will stay in force, ensuring more payouts over time and less money for the insurance companies.
ibid, nytimes
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS
There is a growing demand for a long-term hedge against improving annuity mortality. We have shown how innovation in swaps and bond contracts can provide new securities which can provide the hedge insurers need.
http://www.allbusiness.com/...

Swaps
The same cash flows, [B.sub.t] to the insurer and [D.sub.t] to the bondholders, can be arranged with swap agreements and no principal payment at time T.
ibid, allbusiness.com
Yes, there will be Hedge Funds that will make new fortunes Betting on our Lives!
HOW GOOD IS THE HEDGE?
We point out that, given the distribution of survivors, there is very little variance in the cash flows.
ibid, allbusiness
I have a hard time seeing the words Hedge and Swap used when the product is a life insurance policy.
Our life span and death date will be packaged in swaps and insurers offering bonds to investors.
It is deja vu Mortgage Default Swaps, only lives, not homes will be the foundation for the Wall Street traders. But, you can't reposses a life!
MetLife could be the next IndyBank if I understand this Wall Street scheme to bet on our very lives.
For a list of failed banks you can go here. They failed because of the Wall Street Housing Bubble:
http://www.fdic.gov/...

Obama Looking At Small Business

Obama turns his attention to small businesses
by SusanG Sat Oct 24, 2009 http://susang.dailykos.com/
This country was built by dreamers. They’re the workers who took a chance on their desire to be their own boss. The part-time inventors who became the fulltime entrepreneurs. The men and women who have helped build the American middle class, keeping alive that most American of ideals – that all things are possible for all people, and we’re limited only by the size of our dreams and our willingness to work for them. We need to do everything we can to ensure that they can keep taking those risks, acting on those dreams, and building the enterprises that fuel our economy and make us who we are.
For the second time this month, President Obama has aimed his weekly address in the direction of small business. For the first October weekly address, he outlined specifically how health care reform would help out entrepreneurs and innovators, and in this morning's address, he discusses how his Recovery Act--and, by the way, his health care reform proposals--will benefit the little guy.
Small businesses have always been the engine of our economy – creating 65 percent of all new jobs over the past decade and a half – and they must be at the forefront of our recovery. That’s why the Recovery Act was designed to help small businesses expand and create jobs. It’s provided $5 billion worth of tax relief, as well as temporarily reducing or eliminating fees on SBA loans and guaranteeing some of these loans up to 90 percent, which has supported nearly $13 billion in new lending to more than 33,000 businesses.
In addition, our health reform plan will allow small businesses to buy insurance for their employees through an insurance exchange, which may offer better coverage at lower costs – and we’ll provide tax credits for those that choose to do so.
The President discusses his move earlier this week to have the federal government increase the maximize size of loans available through the Small Business Administration, and the effort the feds are undertaking to pump money into smaller, community banks. "The goal here," he explains, "is to get credit where it’s needed most – to businesses that support families, sustain communities, and create the jobs that power our economy."
And, he says, already we can see the signs that federal intervention has worked to unfreeze the economy through the loans to the big commercial banks and big business ... now it's the turn of the smaller institutions:
But while credit may be more available for large businesses, too many small business owners are still struggling to get the credit they need. These are the very taxpayers who stood by America’s banks in a crisis – and now it’s time for our banks to stand by creditworthy small businesses, and make the loans they need to open their doors, grow their operations, and create new jobs. It’s time for those banks to fulfill their responsibility to help ensure a wider recovery, a more secure system, and more broadly shared prosperity.
The full address can be found beneath the fold or on the White House website.
You can Watch the video:

GM,Chrysler Managed Poorly

ASHINGTON - Shockingly poor financial management at General Motors and Chrysler weakened their case for a federal bailout, but officials feared letting them
collapse, the former head of a government auto task force said Wednesday.
In a first-person account posted on Fortune magazine's Web site and in a Brookings Institution speech, Steven Rattner said he was alarmed by the "stunningly poor management" at the Detroit companies and said GM had "perhaps the weakest finance operation any of us had ever seen in a major company."
GM's board of directors was "utterly docile in the face of mounting evidence of a looming disaster" and former GM chairman and chief executive Rick Wagoner set a tone of "friendly arrogance" that permeated the company, Rattner wrote.
"Certainly Rick and his team seemed to believe that virtually all of their problems could be laid at the feet of some combination of the financial crisis, oil prices, the yen-dollar exchange rate and the UAW," Rattner wrote.

It would seem that both GM and Chrysler had more than a few inept people working for the companies. Either that, or they were totally stupid and had no reason being in the posititions in which they were in.
This is most inexcusable for GM, which has been around for ages and should have had the no-how to deal with hard times no matter how bad the economy was getting. The government should be held accountable also, since it let the companies apply for auto-bailout funds while knowing how weak these giants were. Both car manufacturers should have been allowed to fail even though that would have put many honest workers out of a job.
Did you know that the United States government now owns some 61% of General Motors and 8% of Chrysler?

Rattner said at the National Press Club that he, along with Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and White House economic adviser Larry Summers, "hated the idea of the U.S. government owning equity in these companies" but they concluded the government needed to protect taxpayers.
"It was frustrating that many commentators were suggesting that the government stay on the sidelines and let the companies fend for themselves," Rattner said. "With financial markets still frozen, both would have unquestionably run out of cash quickly, slid into bankruptcy, closed their doors and liquidated."
Rattner said the loss of the companies could have severely harmed the economy, costing "more than a million jobs in the short run." He said their failure also would have dramatically deepened and prolonged the recession and would have pushed unemployment rates in several states "above 20 percent."http://www2.tbo.com/content/2009/oct/21/auto-task-force-shocked-state-gm-chrysler/news-breaking/#

Score One For Cindy McCain

Published on Friday, October 16, 2009 by RebelReports

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2009/10/16-6
Cindy McCain Bankrolled Conference That Called for Ban on Mercenaries
by Jeremy Scahill
A little-publicized US Naval Academy conference named after Senator John McCain and bankrolled by his wealthy wife, Cindy, issued a call earlier this year for the US government to ban the use of armed private security contractors like Blackwater in US war zones, stating bluntly, "contractors should not be deployed as security guards, sentries, or even prison guards within combat areas."
The ‘McCain Conference on Ethics and Military Leadership’ appears to be ahead of the senator when it comes to the US use of mercenary forces."[T]he use of deadly force must be entrusted only to those whose training, character and accountability are most worthy of the nation's trust: the military," reads the executive summary of the U.S. Naval Academy's 9th Annual McCain Conference on Ethics and Military Leadership, which was held in April at the Annapolis Naval Station. "The military profession carefully cultivates an ethic of ‘selfless service,' and develops the virtues that can best withstand combat pressures and thus achieve the nation's objectives in an honorable way. By contrast, most corporate ethical standards and available regulatory schemes are ill-suited for this environment."
In 2001, Cindy McCain, who may be worth as much as $100 million, first endowed the McCain conference "in honor of her husband" with a $210,000 gift that was specifically intended to fund conferences that would "bring together key military officers and civilian academics responsible for ethics education and character developments."
According to the Fall 2009 newsletter, "Taking Stock," published by the US Naval Academy's Stockdale Center for Ethical Leadership-the host of the McCain Conference-among the speakers at the 2009 event was none other than Erik Prince, the owner of Blackwater. Prince's company is the most infamous of those engaged in the type of armed activity explicitly condemned by the conference's leadership.
The executive summary released by the McCain conference was recently highlighted in a report completed on September 29 by the Congressional Research Service on the use of private contractors. That report said that the US is "relying heavily" on armed contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan and suggests their use could continue to rise. The report also states that misconduct and the killing of civilians by armed security contractors "may have undermined U.S. counterinsurgency efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan."
Despite the fact that the McCain conference, which publicly advocated against the use of armed contractors in combat areas bears Sen. McCain's name and was bankrolled by his wife, when it has come to making this a major issue on Capitol Hill, the Arizona Senator has been largely silent. In 2007, Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Jan Schakowsky introduced the Stop Outsourcing Security Act, which sought to do precisely what the McCain conference called for two years later: to ban the use of mercenaries in US war zones. McCain did not endorse or co-sponsor that legislation, which would certainly have benefitted from his support (neither did then-Senator Barack Obama). Responding to a reporter's question on the campaign trail in July 2008 about whether he believed that US troops and not private guards should protect US diplomats in Iraq, McCain said, "I'd like it, but we don't have enough. Yes, and I'd love to see pigs fly, but it ain't gonna happen."
The McCain campaign hired people with deep ties to the mercenary industry to work on his presidential bid. Among these was senior strategist, Charlie Black, whose firm BKSH & Associates worked for Blackwater's owner Erik Prince, helping to guide Prince through his appearance on Capitol Hill in the aftermath of the September 2007 Nisour Square massacre in Baghdad. McCain also brought on as a senior foreign policy advisor Richard Armitage, the former deputy Secretary of State. After leaving the government, Armitage served as a senior adviser for Veritas Capital from 2005 to 2007. Veritas owns the mercenary giant DynCorp, which holds billions of dollars in Iraq and Afghanistan security and training contracts.
Moreover, the International Republican Institute, which has deep ties to McCain, hired Blackwater as its private security force in Iraq, paying Blackwater an average of more than $17 million a year since 2005 for security services, according to records.
As the Obama administration weighs a substantial troops increase in Afghanistan, leading Democrats and Republicans are calling for an expanded role for US trainers for the Afghan military, which will mean more business for private contractors. Blackwater continues to play a central role in the CIA's drone bombing program in Pakistan and Afghanistan, which vice president Joe Biden and others are suggesting should intensify. At present, there are 74,000 contractors on the DoD payroll in Afghanistan-roughly 10,000 more than the number of US troops. Thousands of other contractors work for the US State Department and other agencies.
The McCain conference raised questions about "the privatization of combat support functions," including intelligence collection and analysis, as well as "advising/training for combat." It concluded, "In irregular warfare environments, where civilian cooperation is crucial," barring the use of armed contractors "is both ethically and strategically necessary."
© 2009 RebelReports

79 Metro Areas Are Recession Free...

... according to an MSNBC and Moody's Economy Adversity Index. The index measures the economic health of some 381 metro areas, covering all of the states.
Using this link (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33312701/ns/business-eye_on_the_economy) you can just click on the state in which you are interested, and you'll get some figures like the employment rate, single family housing starts, housing prices, ect. The map notes that 11 states are going through a time of recovery, though industrial production and other areas are still below normal.
I'm living down here in Tampa Bay, Florida, and we are not going to see any kind of better employment, or industrial production any time soon. Therefore, I'm not even going to comment on this state.
Speaking of the econony.
You may well know by now that those of you who receive Social Security checks will not be getting a " cost of living " increase in 2010. This will be the first time that this has happened since 1975! As if it isn't hard enough to live off of one of these checks as it is for most people, now you have to spend even more time in trying to decide if you should buy food or get your scripts filled! this is rediculous, folks. That is some 50 million people who will not be getting a raise. Some will suffer more than they should be. Are food and medicine prices going to stop going up in 2010? I doubt it.
SOURCE:http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33324352/ns/business-personal_finance

Economic News...

...that is of no real consequence to most people.
Today is the one year anniversary of the Lehman Brothers' (LEHMQ) bankruptcy filing, and it is also the 1st year anniversary of the government's bailout of AIG (AIG). Nothing much to celebrate on either account, is there?
On more pressing news (?), retail sales went up some 2.7% in August with most of the credit for the jump coming from the government's Cash For Clunkers program. Most economist were predicting only a 2% gain in sales.
Not including cars and car parts, sales were up 1.1%.
So what will be the next program to keep sales rising in the United States? Rest assured that Uncle Sam will come up with something. In the mean time, how about another price increase with the minimum wage? You know, in the area of at least maybe $10 an hour so that the really low income resident would actually have a small shot at surviving? Would that be asking for to much? Why, of course it would.

Obama Scares The GOP

From http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/9/10/779677/-No-Wonder-the-GOP-have-gone-crazy...-This-is-a-formidable-enemy...(UPDATE)

No Wonder the GOP have gone crazy... This is a formidable enemy...(UPDATE)
by The Simple Canadian
Wed Sep 09, 2009
What have you guys done? The sun is shining through my window, I am looking at a beautiful Vancouver, British Columbia false creek waters and the boats slowly moving through, early in the morning (6am), I brush my teeth, and I say, let's check out the dailykos before heading to work... and voila, my anonymous diary that I posted last night is at the top of the rec list??? Merci tres beaucoup les gars!!!
This is really a formidable enemy (at least to them). Obama threatens to make the GOP irrelevant for many years to come. They are unable to match up with him intellectually, charismatically and politically. And unlike Kennedy, he seem to have a damn good Secret Service.
However, every time Obama speaks, Americans remember why they are a great Nation. He seems to move the entire world with him, with just one simple speech he could wipe out all the town hall demonstrations, all smear TV ads from the McCain campaign, everything, is just wiped out.
This, my friends, is for the ages. This, is what is going to pass the health care reforms:
To the GOP, this enemy, is different, and is very very scary. No wonder, they have gone crazy.
There is something that can make you better, but I can't afford it

Life On The Streets Of Tampa: Let's Meet Anna

Anna is one of those people who has been living on the streets for the past 5 months. This is not her first time in the great outdoors.
Anna is somewhere around the age of 54, 5 feet 7 inches, and she probably weighs in at about 110 pounds. Anna is a pretty womean for her age. She's been lucky that the beer that she drinks every day really hasn't aged her all that much. Yet. Anna has been a heavy beer drinker for at least the last 20 years and she loves the " Natural Ice " brand of the stuff.
So how did I come across Anna? I had arrived in Tampa back in June, and, with nothing better to do I went looking for some of my old friends. It took about a week before I ran into an old friend named Waymon. I've known Waymon for over 10 years, so he was the logical first choice in seeking out the past. My, how Waymon has changed! H'es been a heavy drinker since his late teens and he hasn't slowed down over the years. In Fact, he's gotten worse! Anyway, I stumbled onto he and Anna sitting in a breeze-way next door to a grocery store. Waymon was sauced on his wine and Anna was looking pretty well-lit on her beer.
Anna is one of those people who should be drinking nothing harder than Kool-Aid, or maybe a diet Pepsi. She can handle one beer, and even two without going into the "stupid zone", but after three or more, all hell will break loose! I'm not talking about the usual drunken rants and raves. Hers is a little different than most. She likes to mumble on an almost non-stop basis. This can get pretty annoying to most people, especially non-drinkers. She knows very few of those, by the way. Three beers or more also makes her hear things. I'm not speaking of alien voices or the usual shit inside someones head. I'm talking about not hearing what someone has actually said to her. Sort of like selective-hearing. What one says, and what one hears is not the same thing, no matter how clearly the comment is. Anna has this down to a tee.
I should note that when not partaking in her beer habit to the extreme, Anna is a very sweet, and intelligent woman. When she gets going though, it doesn't take her to long to get what I call " stuck on stupid." I'll explain that one in my next post.

Tampa Florida: Land Of The Lost..

... and that is putting it mildly, my friends.
I've lived here three times since the early eighties and it has turned worse in this over-grown town each time that I come here. I'm speaking of the work here, the people, and the attitude in this shithole.
Tampa tries to make itself llok like a modern town with all of the trappings of a big city, but once you have been here for any lenght of time, and not as a tourist, you soon see that this place is one big rat-hole!
One of the bigger problems here in the Tampa Bay area, other than the Rays, is the county and the city's way in which they deal with the homeless. Believe me, there are many homeless in the Tampa area and they are spread out all over the place. This is particularly true in the Northern section of the town, as well as downtown, and the South side. Every where that you go in Tampa is a haven for pan-handlers and such. Some of these folks are unable to work, or to find any work in the first place. I have a soft spot for those types. But, the fact is that many of the beggers are just to damned lazy to go out and look for work. That takes effort and doing such a thing would take away from their beer drinking time. In some cases, that is all of the day. I have no sympathy what-so-ever for those types of homeless. With the drinkers, you may as well throw in the crack-heads, and the pill-poppers. these fucks always are broke in the mornings and are out bumbing smokes and what ever.
I write all of this for one reason. Since I've been here the past few months, I've taken one of these homeless alcoholics under my wings, so to speak, just to see if I could get them to get their act together. To see how bad that they really wanted to quit and to get off of the streets.
I am not some rookie at this type of thing folks. Having been an alcoholic and a drug addict, and on the streets myself once, I know what kind of effort and work that it can take to get oneself off of the shit and off of the streets. It ain't easy, but, you have to really want to do it for yourself. If you do not, then there is no one who can help you no matter what they try to do for you.
With that in mind, my next post will introduce you to Anna, an alcoholic who lives on the streets of Tampa, and one person who surely has no business being in her situation. Anna is one of those drinkers who you can't talk to without her getting defensive and using the " it's not my fault " excuse. One who wants to change things in her life, but does nothing to make things happen. I think that you will find her an interesting study, and story. Stay tuned.

Obama's Health Plan and ERISA...

...is not a very good mix for those of you who may be enrolled in an employer sponsered health plan. It would seem that the Obama administration is in the process of flat out trying to do away with ERISA altogether. This is not good for you.

The reality is that the House health bill, which the Administration praised to the rafters, will force drastic changes in almost all insurance coverage, including the employer plans that currently work best. About 177 million people—or 62% of those under age 65—get insurance today through their jobs, and while rising costs are a problem, according to every survey most employees are happy with the coverage. A major reason for this relative success is a 1974
federal law known by the acronym Erisa, or the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.
Erisa allows employers that self-insure—that is, those large enough to build their own risk pools and pay benefits directly—to offer uniform plans across state lines. This lets thousands of businesses avoid, for the most part, the costly federal and state regulations on covered treatments, pricing, rate setting and so on. It also gives them flexibility to design insurance to recruit and retain workers in a competitive labor market. Roughly 75% of employer-based coverage is governed by Erisa’s “freedom of purchase” rules.