Hate and violence and healthcare

Here is a CNN story from today: http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/03/25/congress.threats/index.html?iref=allsearch
While I appreciate that most republicans not to blame, there are, in fact, extremists that are to blame for the death threats and acts of vandalism against several Democratic Reps. that has resulted in at least 10 members of congress currently being placed under extra security.
More over as I watched the final House debate Sunday there were tea party protesters outside being egged on by Republican congress critters.
Just to make matters worse (from their point of view), 2 days ago a USA today Poll showed that Health Care reform is now favored 49% to 40% here's the link to that story: http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2010-03-23-health-poll-favorable_N.htm

Also remember that in 2000 when the election was decided by the Supreme Court there were just as many Democrats unhappy with the legislation as there are Republicans unhappy now. We democrats just don't (as a rule) approve of or promote hate and violence.

For once we have a moderate (YES moderate - trust me I am pretty far left compared to President Obama) Democrat in office and majority in both houses of Congress. I for one am thrilled to death that the environmental policies are once again being enforced, that we are leaving Iraq, that after 10 years of waiting Hate Crimes legislation has been made law, we have regulations controlling at least some of the BS that Credit card and Health Insurance companies have been pulling, and today the Pentagon announced a major step on the way to repealing DADT.
Almost makes me wanna dance in the streets. Now if the Cowboys and Militiamen will just calm down life would be one step close to perfect. Well there is that pesky unemployment thing *sigh*

I believe

For the last year I have written blogs, written and called my Senators and Rep., gone to a town hall meeting, talk and argued with my friends and family, watch some of the most boring debates, read Bills that were thousands of pages long, disseminated, analyzed said Bills, listened to speeches, and followed pundits from both sides.
I did all those things for one reason. Because I believe that the Health Care system in this country has become fatally flawed. It has failed person after person, myself included.
Finally, tonight the first major step in the effort to fix this travesty has been taken and we WON!
The President of the USA has been sent part 1 of the (many part) Heath Care/Insurance Reform Bills.
Now please don't misunderstand me. The Senate Bill that was just passed is far far from perfect. In fact if it were to stand on it's own it would Suck. But here are some of the things it addresses effective the minute the President Signs it - http://www.dems.gov/blog/the-top-ten-immediate-benefits-you-ll-get-when-health-care-reform-passes

The Top Ten Immediate Benefits You’ll Get When Health Care Reform Passes

March 16, 2010

As soon as health care passes, the American people will see immediate benefits. The legislation will:

• Prohibit pre-existing condition exclusions for children in all new plans;
• Provide immediate access to insurance for uninsured Americans who are uninsured because of a pre-existing condition through a temporary high-risk pool;
• Prohibit dropping people from coverage when they get sick in all individual plans;
• Lower seniors prescription drug prices by beginning to close the donut hole;
• Offer tax credits to small businesses to purchase coverage;
• Eliminate lifetime limits and restrictive annual limits on benefits in all plans;
• Require plans to cover an enrollee’s dependent children until age 26;
• Require new plans to cover preventive services and immunizations without cost-sharing;
• Ensure consumers have access to an effective internal and external appeals process to appeal new insurance plan decisions;
• Require premium rebates to enrollees from insurers with high administrative expenditures and require public disclosure of the percent of premiums applied to overhead costs.

By enacting these provisions right away, and others over time, we will be able to lower costs for everyone and give all Americans and small businesses more control over their health care choices.

So now what? Next up is the Senate. In addition to passing the Senate Bill tonight the House also passed a Budget Reconciliation Bill that deals with the financial aspect of this Legislation. It contains things like a major change in how Student Loans are repaid. I will have more about that one soon but for now it feels great to know that after 8 very long years of living in a society that moved backwards nearly to a totalitarian state we are finally beginning to move forward.

Yay for progress!

What have I done?

What have I done?
by itsallme [Subscribe]
Tue Mar 16, 2010 at 12:20:41 AM PDT

When I was 12 years old cigarettes were 50 cents a pack. It was very cool to smoke... "OK maybe I'll try one". That was 38 years ago.
For most of the last 20 or so of those years I have listened to everyone and their brother tell me why they thought I should quit. Not one of those reasons worked for me. I simply was not prepared to quit. Besides I had a secret...

Yep for all of those twenty some odd years I have known that (aside from food) this was my true addiction.
For me to quit was going to be hard. I mean really hard.
On Friday March 13th, 18 days short of my 50th birthday I made a conscious decision to finally fight this demon. Approx. 11pm I smoked my last cigarette.

As I write this I have now gone 72 hours with no nicotine. It is both harder and easier than I expected. The cravings can be easily divided into mental and physical.
The mental: easier than expected. Things like reaching for a smoke when I get into my car, after I eat a meal, while playing on the computer. These are easy to defeat. just don't have a pack there, continue to "forget" to buy more, have gum jerky or something there instead.
The physical: This is the hardest. It is far far worse than I expected. The first night I was surprised at how quickly it was an issue. I have certainly, over the course of the last 38 years have occasion to not smoke for days on end. But here I was 7 hours after quitting, skin crawling, leg jittering, can't sleep. WTF! I searched my house for even a butt to smoke. nothing. I had been careful to be certain there weren't any in the house.

Each night has gotten a bit easier, fortunately.
I am still tempted. I will probably stay this way for a while. But I have done it. I beat the demon. At least for today.

more proof of idiocy

many liberals said that Bush was ruining the country. I said it frequently. Few believed me. Many reviled and lambasted me for my opinion. As we move on to the next decade and a new Administration is in place the data from the last 10 years is coming to light. None of it pretty. Read more about the "Lost decade" here: http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2010/3/4/843147/-More-on-the-Lost-Decade,-Courtesy-of-Cheney-Bush

Simply amazing that there are those that want to return us to the policies that nearly destroyed us. And "I" am the bad guy here? Not in my book.
FYI Meteor Blades has some great diaries. Worth the time to look them up.

More on the Lost Decade, Courtesy of Cheney-Bush

by Meteor Blades

Share this on Twitter - More on the Lost Decade, Courtesy of Cheney-Bush

Fri Mar 05, 2010 at 09:56:03 AM PST

Just about any way you look at it, the country got smacked around from January 2001 to January 2009. Aside from its wretched foreign policy, violations of human rights and civil liberties, nowhere did the Bush administration pound us harder than on the economy. Despite this, the Republican Party's megaphones at Foxaganda and scattered throughout much of the rest of media are now eagerly telling Americans our future prosperity depends on another round of the clever governance that got us where we are.

To illustrate just how disastrous the GOP's last turn at the wheel was, The Economist recently highlighted figures from Christopher Wood, a strategist at the Hong Kong-based investment group CLSA:

^{Click for larger graphic.}

Real GDP in America grew by an average of 1.9% a year during the 2000s. This may not sound all that terrible, especially for a decade that saw one short recession and another particularly deep and long one. But it is the economy’s worst performance for a long time. During the previous six decades, average growth was 3.9% a year. Only the 1930s—when growth was a mere 0.9% a year—were worse. And America’s population is growing smartly, so GDP per head has grown a good deal more sluggishly than GDP as a whole. The story is much the same when the growth in Americans’ personal consumption during the ten years to the end of 2009 is compared with previous decades. Again, only the 1930s were worse.

In terms of employment growth, the 2000s were also a lost decade. In the years between 1940 and 1999 the number of Americans employed outside farming grew by an average of 27% each decade. In the one just past it fell by 0.8%. In January this year, the number of people who had been jobless for more than six months reached 6.3m. And though the economy has grown for each of the past two quarters, the unemployment rate has only just begun to inch downwards. Though the recession is now supposedly at an end, the pain of the noughties’ miserable economic performance will be felt for a long time to come.

It's true that the deregulatory fever which got its first big boost from the Reagan administration culminated with some awful actions in the late '90s, stuff like the deep-sixing of the Glass-Steagall Act that Republicans pushed but which the White House might have vetoed had it not been for the likes of Robert Rubin and Larry Summers saying what a good idea repealing that New Deal era protection was. An overeager expansion of unfettered free trade and the dot.com bubble also took their toll. Nonetheless, that earlier decade ended with the federal budget in a modest surplus and a record 23 million jobs generated.

The Republicans have a solution for the economic mess we're in: Bring back the '00s. No better slogan than one ending in zeroes could be found for the Party of No.

Tags: economy, lost decade, George W. Bush, Dick Cheney (all tags) :: Previous Tag Versions

Open Letter to Senator Cornyn

The following is a letter I sent to the Senator and reposted to DailyKos.

Open Letter to Senator Cornyn

by itsallme

Share this on Twitter - untitled diary

Wed Mar 03, 2010 at 11:44:04 AM PST

This is my first diary so please bear with me...
I am really fed up. Earlier I was reading about the 19 Senators that voted against the extension of Unemployment benefits. As a 17 year resident of Texas this man and his justifications for denying me and my family assistance when we need it most is inexcusable.
This man has lived off the backs of myself and taxpayers like me for 8 years in the Senate and and since 1984 in local/state offices.
I have worked nearly every day of my life since 1976 and some politician thinks he is justified to deny me benefits I have worked hard for? It is outrageous! I will be actively working for his defeat in the next election.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Senator Cornyn,
Your decision to NOT vote for the federal unemployment extension has disgusted and appalled me. Your behavior shows you to be morally bankrupt and ethically challenged. I hope you never are placed in the position you have attempted to place me and the 50,000+ others whose benefits either had run out or were about to.
I have been unemployed since last October. I am 50 years old and normally self-sufficent. I send out in excess of 100 resumes per month. Had your co-workers voted as you did I would now be homeless with my 72 year old mother whose mortgage I pay out of my unemployment insurance. The same unemployment insurance I EARNED by working.
You claim to be a religious man. This is how you show compassion towards your fellow man? If you are so concerned about the budget why didn't you vote against the medicare expansion? Or the unaccounted for wars?
You Sir, are a perfect example of why people hate government.