Tag: Loop Holes

Midterm Election Voter Help

Voting Help for Midterm ElectionsHere is a little voting help this midterm election. These are all issues that the political realm has debated over the last couple years. The information is out there, but if you haven’t been able to keep up on the insanity of American politics, this little cheat sheet should help.

Ask yourself these yes or no questions and tally up your yes versus no at the end.

  1. Do you make less than a million dollars a year?
  2. Do you have a business that makes less than a million dollars a year?
  3. Do you respect women?
  4. Think women are equal to men?
  5. Do you think men and women can make their own healthcare choices?
  6. Do you believe in freedom of religion?
  7. Do you want money out of politics?
  8. Do you want access to health care?
  9. Do you want to pay reasonable prices for medicine?
  10. Do you want to pay reasonable prices for health care?
  11. Do you like to breathe clean air?
  12. Do you like to drink clean water?
  13. Do you want to keep poison out of your food?
  14. Do you want to stop banks from gambling away America’s future?
  15. Do you want to hold those accountable for the Great Recession?
  16. Do you want to have decent roads to drive on?
  17. Do you want reliable electricity?
  18. Do you want the police to police?
  19. Do you want to stop the spread of Ebola?
  20. Do you want a government that actually functions?
  21. Do you want this America to progress in the world?
  22. Do you want the American Dream?
  23. Do you want a reasonable education?
  24. Do you want decent schools for your children?
  25. Do you want scientific advances to continue?
  26. Do you want medical advances to continue?
  27. Do you want a choice in broadband internet?
  28. Do you like Free Speech?
  29. Do you want a democracy?
  30. Do you want good American jobs?
  31. Do you want American jobs to stay in America?
  32. Do you want renewable energy?
  33. Do you want a sustainable future?
  34. Do you want to slow climate change?
  35. Do you have or want beachfront property?
  36. Do you like any place that is currently on a beach?
  37. Do you want to earn what you are worth?
  38. Do you want to be able to vote without having to pay for it?
  39. Do you think 40,000 lives are more valuable than 40?
  40. Do you want to know what is in your food?
  41. Do you want to be sure your house is not going to collapse on you?
  42. Do you think people should be able to marry who they love?
  43. Do you think that all people deserve to eat?
  44. Do you think we should take care of our veterans?
  45. Do you think we should be the best educated society in the world?
  46. Do you want to be part of the best country in the world?
  47. Do you want to help make this the best country in the world again?
  48. Do you care about the quality of your life?
  49. Do you want a better life?
  50. Do you want to make a difference?

One or More ‘Yes’ on Political Survey

If you answered any of these questions then you definitely need to make sure you vote!

If you answered yes to any these questions than you need to make sure that you vote Democrat or Independent. It is simple as that.

Unless of course you like the government quagmire and enjoy the plummeting quality of life for Americans, then vote Republican.

If you want a better America, if you answered YES to any of the above questions vote anyone other than a Republican. Doing so will help to move the government back to being influenced by the people. It might not be the perfect solution, but at least we should be able to get the slow government machine moving again and working for the people of America.

Get educated and go vote. Thank you for participating in your government, it needs you!

Obamacare Healthcare Insurance Cancellation Outrage Irony

people-politico-healthcare-cancellationsOne of the biggest stories going on right now with the rough beginning of Obamacare is the news that hundreds of thousands, and in the coming years, millions of Americans are going to have their healthcare insurance canceled. On the surface, this seems like a huge blow to those that thought that Obamacare was going to help them. The irony is, these cancellations do help them. Here’s how:

A large portion of these healthcare insurance cancellations are due to the fact that the healthcare policies that these people have are now illegal under Obamacare. They do not meet the minimum coverage guidelines set by Obamacare, the Affordable Healthcare Act. In fact these people should probably be happy about Obamacare because the new regulations stop these policies from being issued which do not cover what insured Americans think they cover.  In fact, these policies were one of the targets of the new regulation because Americans had these policies, got sick or hurt, and then discovered they were not covered. They would end up responsible for the ridiculously high medical bills when they thought they were covered. Now with the new Obamacare regulations on minimum coverage, the aim is to make sure these healthcare insurance policies actually cover treatment.

Before Obamacare became law, your insurance policy could be canceled if you cost the insurance company too much money. You could then be denied coverage by other insurance companies. If you were lucky enough to find a company that would insure a pre-existing condition, then the healthcare policy would be hugely expensive, effectively forcing you to risk it all, including your own life, that things would be OK. This is not a risk anyone should have to take. Now with Obamacare being law, health insurance companies cannot deny you coverage. And since healthcare insurance is now required by law, that means there will be tens of millions more people in these exchanges keeping costs down for everyone.

It was a major failing of President Obama to be so staunch in his reassurance that everyone could keep the healthcare coverage they already had. President Obama knew that millions of healthcare policies would be canceled. This is a huge disappointment and goes against his promise of transparency. Unfortunately they made the choice to keep it as quiet as possible and decide to deal with the blow back once Obamacare was law. Instead of playing the “branding” game with Republicans he should have prepared America for some of the changes that would inevitably come. So in this sense, the outrage is real and earned. However, this should be tempered by the fact that now millions of Americans are not being actively deceived about the bogus healthcare coverage they had.

The real outrage should be focused at the health insurance companies that sold policies that really didn’t cover people. The outrage should be focused at the lifetime payout caps that we once faced. The real outrage should be focused on the broken healthcare system in this country. Does Obamacare fix our healthcare system? No it certainly doesn’t. Does Obamacare help make our broken healthcare system a little bit better? Yes it does.

My hope is through these trials and tribulations we as Americans can finally realize just how far behind we are rest of the first world in healthcare. Our healthcare is based off of making profits off the sick and injured, and ignoring the healthy. With Obamacare each one of us is going to pay a little less overall to the healthcare companies. With Obamacare we can let many of our worries go that it is no longer guaranteed to be personal and financial ruin if you get sick or hurt.

However, we as Americans have to realize that our personal health and the prosperity of our entire nation are dependent on how healthy and secure we are as a people. We must realize that healthcare is a right, not a privilege. That cannot happen until healthcare becomes the national defense priority it should be. Only then will we see that socialized medicine is the only sustainable path into a strong future and healthy America.

GOP Shutdown is Subverting Our Democracy

people-politico-gop-shutdown-memo

The Republicans and the GOP Leadership are using the government shutdown to take America hostage against the Affordable Health Care Act, also known as Obamacare. This can be made no clearer by this document that was sent through the house Republicans. They signed it, and made it their plan, their goal, to shut down the government. The GOP is responsible for the government shutdown, plain and simple.

They want to negotiate something that they have already lost, a long time ago.

  • They lost several elections to health care reform.
  • They have failed to stop it with 41 separate votes in Congress.
  • The Supreme Court of the United States of America has upheld Obamacare.

This guise of the GOP compromising and sitting down to discuss Obamacare happened years ago, and Obamacare is the compromise they got. We would have a single payer system if “health care was rammed down their throat”.

This piecemeal idea to funding government subverts the democratic process we have used to create these programs in the first place. They are simply taking the lives and well beings of America and Americans hostage.

There is a “clean bill” that has passed the senate that will start the government immediately. It will fund everything “as is”. Just like it was before the government shutdown began. There are enough votes and support in Congress to pass this “clean bill” to get everything up and running again. John Boehner simply has to call an up or down vote and this shutdown would be over. However, he is bowing to the minority right wing tea party extremists.

Eighty Republican members of Congress signed a letter which has created the government shutdown. Though they blame the Democrats and President Obama for the shutdown, it is so obvious that the blame for this extortion lies squarely with the GOP.  The Democrats want to pass a budget and get the government working again, but the Republicans are trying to take advantage of the situation. This clip from the Daily Show with John Stewart explains the letter the Republicans signed.

If you would like to skip right to it, start watching at the 5:20 mark. However, I encourage everyone to watch the entire episode. It is fantastic.

http://www.thedailyshow.com/full-episodes/wed-october-2-2013-sandra-bullock

It’s OK for Republicans to disagree with Obamacare. It’s OK for them to have the opinion that other government programs and legislation are bad.

It is NOT ok for them to take us all hostage because of their beliefs. In a democratic society you must take the majority opinion over the minority. That is the whole point. If they want to change or modify existing programs or laws they should be drafting legislation to do so. They should NOT be threatening the lives of millions of Americans or the future prosperity of America.

Stop the shutdown immediately! Call a vote on the “clean bill” now.

Please post your thoughts and opinions below as well as on any and all social media that you are involved with so we can get the message out that taking America hostage is WRONG.

Marco Rubio’s State of the Union YouTube Video Response

Marco Rubio's State of the Union YouTube Video ResponseHere is Marco Rubio’s State of the Union YouTube Video Response to President Barack Obama’s 2013 State of the Union Address. If you missed the State of the Union Address first watch this enhanced YouTube video that adds some more information along with the President Barack Obama’s speech.

2013 State of the Union Address Enhanced Youtube Video

This is not one of the strongest responses the GOP has delivered to the State of the Union Addresses. Marco Rubio doesn’t deliver a terribly well prepared response as he contradicts himself on several important points. Knowing what the talking points are going to be it should be expected to have a better and more organized response. Sticking to the regular stump speech points is a little lazy for a response to the State of the Union.

Marco Rubio’s State of the Union YouTube Video Response

2013 State of the Union Address Enhanced Youtube Video

2013 State of the Union Address Enhanced Youtube VideoPresident Obama delivers the 2013 State of the Union Address to Congress and the nation in this enhanced YouTube video. Here President Barack Obama lets the American people know the state of America.

President Barack Obama then proceeds to go through his goals and aspirations for his second term in this enhanced YouTube video.

In this enhanced YouTube video on the 2013 State of the Union Address has many overlays and other information added throughout President Obama’s State of the Union Address.

So if you have not yet the State of the Union yet or are watching again to get a deeper understanding of the goals ahead this is the version to watch.

2013 State of the Union Address Enhanced Youtube Video

President Barack Obama Weekly Address January 5th, 2013

congress2The first weekly address by President Barack Obama was one of good news, kind of. The good news is, Congress was able to pass a OK bill to head off the Fiscal Cliff. However, they definitely kicked a few things down the road. Namely, the Fiscal Cliff and much more budget work that needs to be done. It is great to hear that the tax burden in this country is being more evenly spread. It is also good to see that the GOP can compromise, even when Beoner is not willing to.

The next debt ceiling debate is coming up soon and it is poised to be another repeat of what happened before. President Barack Obama sees this fight coming and is already working to get ahead of that battle.

It was clear what the Debt Ceiling Debacle did to our economy before and it can’t be allowed to happen again. Even though the GOP still holds a majority in Congress, here’s hoping that they have a little more sense than the last Congress, even by a little. With the last minute save of the Fiscal Cliff, there is some hope this may be true.

President Barack Obama Weekly Address January 5th, 20113 Video

President Barack Obama Weekly Address December 30th, 2012

people-politico-penny-pileI hope everyone has had a good holiday season, and I hope that it continues!

Here is this weeks President Obama’s weekly address to the country. As expected it is still focused on the Fiscal Cliff as Congressional Republicans still fail to do their jobs. They are still fighting for the rich and ready and willing to screw the other 98% America for them once again. It is depressing but it is not unexpected. It seems we are stuck in a quagmire with the GOP with little hope of any real solutions. Thankfully, this debacle should stick in American minds like the Debt Ceiling talks did. So when the mid term elections come around we can finish kicking these obstructionist idiots out of our government.

Please do not buy into the standard 30 second broken record BS speech that Beoner has been giving daily. The Democrats have been offering a mountain of solutions for two years, not two months, but they are just dead set on not letting them get anything done. In turn the GOP and Republicans continue to screw us and America. It is become painfully obvious they are not patriots. Doing the best thing for 2% does NOT HELP the 98% of the country it screws. If they were real patriots that loved America and their people they would be fighting for the 98%. So keep that in mind as we zip off the Fiscal Cliff. Unless of course you like to watch America’s economy crash and burn. If that is the case, keep voting Republican. If you want to real progress, vote for people that have a chance of compromise and working for the greater good of our country.

Happy New Year.

Here is President Barack Obama’s Weekly Address for December 30th, 2012

Republican Mitch McConnell Filibusters his Own Fiscal Cliff Bill in One of the Douchiest Moves Ever

people-politico-mcconnell-filibusters-himselfThis should make everyone angry (not just Democrats): on December 6, Republican Mitch McConnell introduced a debt ceiling bill, only to filibuster his own bill when Democratic Senate leader Harry Reid calls for a vote on it. This is so insane that I, as many have already, had a hard time even articulating this audacity other than with a primal scream of absolute frustration.

We are doomed; there is no doubt, to go over the fiscal cliff. Like Thelma and Louise we are flying over with Republicans Mitch McConnell and John Boehner driving.

It is as simple as that.

The Senate Republicans can’t even pass a bill that was introduced by Republicans. Everyone must understand, the person who made, crafted, created the bill, Republican Minority Leader Mitch McConnell was the one to reject his OWN LEGISLATION! Seriously, what the hell is wrong with him and the Republicans? For the sake of the American people, and our future, this Republican obstinacy has to stop.

How the hell are we supposed to get anything done with this dysfunctional Republican policy of completely and totally blocking anything the Democrats want to do? Even when what the Democrats want to do is accept the Republican legislation!

This must be clear and everyone needs to understand. It is not Democrats and Republicans fighting over what was to be done.

  1. Republicans said we want Mitch McConnell’s debt ceiling bill.
  2. Democrats said, OK.
  3. Republicans said they do not want Mitch McConnell’s debt ceiling bill.

It was that simple and about that fast, astonishing.

This is precisely the insane shit that needs to be splattered all over the news. Luckily, this was getting some attention because it is so totally and completely insane.

Luckily the American people are smarter and have longer memories then the Republicans want to believe. This last election made it clear that:

  • Americans watched the Republicans obstruct government.
  • The American people know it was the Republicans who damaged America by not even trying to come to reason on the debt ceiling talks.
  • The American people now have seen the Republican Leader in the Senate filibuster his own bill.
  • The American people see the Republicans playing political games with their livelihoods.
  • The American people now know the Republicans are not serious about solving any issues. Their only interest is to obstruct Democrats.

I am so flabbergasted by this whole thing it took me some time to even form my rage into comprehensible thoughts. There was all this talk after the general election in politics that the Republicans were humbled and that they were going to change their ways or at least not be so overzealous in obstructing everything the Democrats wanted to do. That is clearly not the case.

The reality of the situation is that they are wounded toddlers. Angry and upset without the ability to comprehend what damage their actions do. The only thing they know is that they didn’t get to do what they wanted. So now, they will make it their mission in life to make those that spanked them pay for it with every opportunity that arises regardless of the damage it does them or to America.

President Barack Obama Weekly Address December 8th, 2012

people-politico-reflecting-pool-political-buildingIn President Barack Obama Weekly Address for 12/8/12 he urges people to push their congress to come to a compromise before America goes over the Fiscal Cliff.

President Barack Obama points out a few of the highlights of what will happen if we end up going over the Fiscal Cliff if Republicans in Congress can not come to a reasonable compromise. If the recent history of the Republicans are any indication there is little hope that any compromise will be made.

Here are a few of the key points of what will happen as laid out by President Barack Obama in this weeks weekly address.

  • Tax Cuts end at the end of 2012.
  • All Families will see a typical tax increase of $2,200 going over the Fiscal Cliff.
  • Congress can pass tax cuts on everyone’s income up to $250,000, including those that make more.
  • 98% of Americans would not see a tax increase.
  • Congress can pass tax increase on income of over$250,000.
  • 97% of American Businesses would not see a tax increase.

Here is the videoof President Barack Obama Weekly Address for December 8th, 2012.

 

President Barack Obama Weekly Address Nov 17, 2012

people-politico-flag-cloudsHere is the Presidential weekly address for November 17th, 2012. This week President Barack Obama is still focused on the looming fiscal cliff. President Obama continues to focus on the cooperations needed in congress. Bills have already been passed by the Senate and are ready to solve this every increasing problem of the fiscal cliff but it will require cooperation from the Republican held Congress. This alone may be a long shot since the Congress has made a point of blocking and stopping anything that has come through. If you doubt this in any way look at what they did to downgrade America’s credit rating when it should have been an otherwise standard increase of the debt ceiling. Now the fear is that after holding America hostage for political gains they are going to hold the middle class and small business holders hostage.Additional public pressure will be needed to make sure that Congress becomes willing to work with President Obama. There are some signs that this might be working.

It seems that this week President Obama is working to keep everyone engaged. He didn’t come out and say it directly but I think it was implied, that everyone needs to urge their Congressman to work with the President to get this financial cliff taken care of so we can move forward with repairing America.

That is my take on President Barack Obama’s November 17th weekly address but I urge everyone to watch it themselves. Below is the President’s address in full.

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