Obamacare - No Advantages for Seniors

Summing It Up:
1. Obamacare cuts $156 billion from Medicare Advantage (MA) Plans
2. Up to half of the 14 million Seniors with MA's could need new health care plans as MA's are dropped or have fewer benefits at greater costs
3. AARP will reap windfall profits as it sells a competing insurance plan
4. President Obama illegally took $8 billion to avoid MA cuts hitting Senior's in October and hurting his re-election
Read on for the full details...
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Until the past week I have felt like the prophet shouting doom in the wilderness which no one heard. I tried to tell everyone how unfair Obamacare was. That it paid for the uninsured by taking away from Seniors and the disabled. No one listened. Until now. The Romney Ryan ticket is finally getting the hypocrisy of Obamacare out in the open. Here are the facts, yes, actual facts about one facet of Obamacare.


The claim that you can keep your insurance under Obamacare is not true for the 14 million people who have Medicare Advantage (MA) Plans. President Obama intends to partly pay for Obamacare by gutting $156 billion from MA's over the next ten years. He claims the cuts are against the greedy doctors, hospitals and insurance companies, not Seniors. How stupid does he think we are? All cuts will of course be passed down to Seniors. Both left and right agree that these cuts will impact Seniors, they only disagree on how badly it will hurt Seniors.


What are MA's? They are a pay per use health plan through private insurance companies ranging from inexpensive HMO's to more expensive PPO's. Nearly one-fourth of all Seniors have this plan from a variety of private insurance companies competing for them. When I became disabled I quickly learned that the 20% copay under Medicare added up to more than I could afford. So I bought an annual MA plan with Humana, getting their PPO for just for $80 a month. I get to keep all my specialists and pay from $5-$35 on average per visit. Hospital stays and at home care are reasonable and if I were fit I could even use a free gym membership. I love my MA, which says a lot considering how much I need and use it.


Yet once Obamacare cuts start, analysts expects enrollments in MA's to drop by up to half of the 14 million people currently using these plans. Some insurance companies will stop offering MA's while other plans will offer less benefits yet become prohibitively expensive. There goes President Obama's claim that if you like your health care you will get to keep it. Wrong! Not only does Obama know this but he is lying to us about it and I do not use the word lightly.



The cuts were to start in January, but as you sign up for MA's in October then Senior's would see the impact of the cuts right before the election. That could lose the election for Obama. To prevent this, the president raided $8 billion from a fund to be used for something else. The Government of Accounting came out and said this was an illegal usage of this money. But once again the president is getting away with a clearly unconstitutional act for the sole reason of trying to fool Americans in order to get re-elected.




Here's another fact not discussed. Once cuts take affect and Seniors lose their current MA's or find them too costly they will look for new health insurance. Guess who does not sell MA's but does sell competing insurance plans and expects to make a huge windfall profit from Seniors replacing their MA's? AARP! Now do you understand why they support Obamacare? I just heard Obama's campaign manager say that Obamacare must be good if AARP supports it. Bullshit. Of course AARP loves Obamacare! AARP will make millions in profit from new members who move away from the decimated MA's. If AARP truly cared about Seniors they would be against this plan which hurts the 14 million Seniors on Medicare Advantage Plans.




One final fact. You must be 65 to qualify for most other plans, including AARP's. So once Obamacare starts cutting Medicare Advantage Plans, then as a 54 year old disabled person, I am screwed. Yes a few insurance companies will sell another plan to me but at a cost ranging from $350 to $1200 a month! It is rough enough coping with my disabilities but now I am truly afraid of the future when Obamacare raids my Medicare Advantage Plan. If my MA is dropped then I am back to just the 20% copay with Medicare, which is terrifying.
Without my Medicare Advantage Plan, my choices become bankruptcy, or to postpone or even not have medical care, including operations to save my limbs or even my life. Overly dramatic? Not really.




In 2009, for example, I needed four separate operations adding up to medical expenses of just over $500,000 for the year! Through my MA, I paid $12k, a lot, but reasonable, since if I only had Medicare I would have owed 20% or $100,000! The April surgery saved my right leg, two others were to save my left leg, is keeping them worth bankruptcy? People might be forced to ask questions just like this under Obamacare. So I have every reason to fear the cuts to this wonderful MA health insurance plan. And to wonder in what world is it right that Obamacare is paid for at the expense of disabled Americans, the very people who depend on health care the most?




Now compare Obamacare to the proposed Romney/Ryan plan. First and most importantly, they say it will not impact anyone over 55, unlike Obamacare which is paid for by taking funds from the Senior's Medicare Advantage Plans. Then I just read that the Republican plan using vouchers will actually be very similar to my Medicare Advantage Plan. They feel that offering it to more people will create more competition and therefore lower prices to the consumer. So instead of ruining this wonderful insurance plan, as Obamacare does, Romney will offer MA's to everyone! And you will love it!




But regardless of the Republican plan, I am just very grateful that Romney and Ryan are finally calling the president on his lies about Obamacare. Now we can begin to have a real debate with facts about what Obamacare will do to Seniors. Not what it might do but what it will do. And what Obamacare will do is hurt old and disabled Americans, the very people Medicare was created to help.

No Confidence

I wasn't planning on writing this soon but the banker in me just had to bring up the new banking trend. Some of the biggest US banks began to inform their clients today on a new fee. In the past, if you had millions to deposit you looked for the bank that paid the highest interest rate, right? No more. Instead the new trend is to charge the customer a fee to deposit their money at the bank!

That's right, the rich, businesses or anyone wanting to deposit millions will have to pay for the privilege of banking at one of the bigger banks.





You thought the rediculously small interest paid on savings, money market accounts or CDs was bad - now customers and businesses have to pay the banks to hold their millions! You're better off putting it under your mattress.

I hate to admit this, but as a former banking consultant I can understand why banks are doing this. Basically there is too much cash floating around as investors are getting out of the stock market and real estate. In fact money is so prevalent that the Federal Reserve is charging the few banks that need to borrow money an interest rate of 0%. Yup, it is free to borrow but that isn't the problem, the problem is too much money.

Not to get too technical but banks have to balance out their Assets which are loans and cash on hand vs. their Liabilities of deposits and stocks.







Too much deposits and they can't make enough loans to balance it out. Businesses today are afraid to get new loans as the economy is uncertain and they are afraid of the future impact of Obamacare. There are few mortgages as no one is buying houses and the few customers who try for a loan are turned down as banks are being very strict. So banks can't turn the big deposits into loans today.

In today's economy, banks interest margin (the rates they collect on loans minus the rate they pay out on deposits)has been smaller and smaller. And now they can't even turn around and loan out the big deposits to earn even a small interest fee. Banks are making up that lost income by now charging customers a fee to hold their large deposits.

So I understand why this sort of makes sense from the bank's point of view. But I worry about the bigger picture. I don't like that we have all this excess cash. It is scary to think that people and companies are not investing in our future nor are banks helping out individuals or small businesses with loans.

Some analyst reviewing today's 512 drop in the stock market said it was a vote of no confidence in our future. I agree. For how can you blame anyone for shying away from investing in the stock market after the last few days of free fall and the jump in gold? Not to forget that Washington just agreed to more spending and more debt.

How do we turn our economy around? How do we give our citizens, and big and small businesses confidence in our future?


Unfortunately, does anyone truly believe our economy and unemployment will get any better considering who is in the White House? Or will confidence return only after we get a true leader? Preferably someone with real business acumen, someone who knows how to live on a budget like the rest of us do. Most of all, we need a leader who understands how to give Americans and American businesses the freedom to succeed or even to fail, then learn from it and come back stronger and wiser. Until then, add my voice in with all the others who are starting to shout "No confidence!"

Location:home

Debt Doldrums

I am back. Or for those who hadn't noticed, PC Fugitive has been down for nearly a year due to technical problems. But switching from my PC to my new IPad and adding a blog app and I am finally back in business. Yeah!

The funny thing, however, is that even if I could write I am not sure how much I would have. It just all seems so redundant.



The Democrats want more spending and would increase taxes to pay for some of it while the Republicans, led by the Tea Party, want less spending and fewer taxes and to not raise the dent ceiling. But as we all know now, after months of bitter arguing the debt ceiling was raised, some new spending approved but thanks to the Tea Party there are no new taxes. Yet.

When the president gave a short speech about the new debt ceiling he primarily talked about how we would pay it off. Once again he talked about taxing the rich through new taxes, closing loopholes or taxing luxury items like corporate jets. It's probably a losing battle but let me try one more time to explain why Obama is totally wrong, again.

First, the United States top 10% wealthiest citizens pays 45.1% of all income


taxes. (http://www.taxfoundation.org/blog/show/27134.html) This is more than any other industrialized nation. In France, the top 10% richest payed just 28% while in England it was 38.6% of all personal income taxes. So our richest citizens are already paying substantiously more than their counterparts yet the Democrats want to take even more money from them! We can't let that happen.

As for taxing luxury items, doesn't anyone remember the Carter years? Jimmy had the same idea except instead of going after jets he added a new tax on luxury boats. And guess what happened? The rich stopped buying boats and then all across New England's coast people were suddenly jobless.


No one bought boats so skilled shipmakers were let go. Docks that relied on docking fees were empty. The businesses that catered to the people who were now unemployed started to go bankrupt. So basically the only people hurt by that luxury tax were the middle class. And I don't know this for sure but it only figures that if fewer luxury boats were sold than even with the higher tax rate the government probably collected less tax dollars on the boats. Typical. Whenever the government tries to interfere they always make things worse!

So what is the solution? I have a few ideas (surprise, surprise) but plenty of time to talk about that another day. And now that I have my new iPad and blog app I have no more excuses for not keeping this up-to-date. So thanks for your patience and welcome back!

Location:Home

Mid-Term Miracles

After tomorrow’s election there will once again be the refrain by liberals and the far left that Americans are stupid. This is what they said after the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections when their candidate lost. I never understood their reasoning. If the losing side wanted to win the next time around then they needed to convince the other side to vote for their man (or woman). So you would think that insulting the winning side by calling them stupid isn’t exactly the smart way of winning friends and influencing your enemies.

When Obama was elected four years later, surprise, surprise, suddenly the American people were very intelligent. They voted in the right man and life was good again. Not only did Americans elect Obama but the liberals hit the Trifecta, dominating the Presidency, the House and the Senate. Plus in the first two years, this new President picked two new politically correct Supreme Court Justices and if there were potential problems with other Presidential appointees then Obama just bypassed Senate’s consent and called them Czars. Oh life was good for liberals.

But a funny thing happened, the American people started to lose IQ points over the past two years, or at least thats what Democrats would have you believe. Even worse, the lower the IQ, the louder these people became. They had the nerve to not quietly sit back but to actually take action and without anyone’s help! They might have been better managed if they had kept to the Republican Party where old-timers knew how to squelch loud bothersome newcomers. But they even surprised the GOP by gathering under their own name – the Tea Party.

The Tea Party might have fizzled out after that first summer of discontent when they protested about Obamacare, disrupting town hall meetings with their sharp questioning. After the Senate and House still passed their health care plan, arrogantly ignoring a large and growing segment of the population, the Tea Party should have died out. They lost. Shut Up. Move on. But people didn’t move on. Instead they became angrier. Even worse for the politicians, they took names and took action.

The Tea Party nonetheless still could have died out if it weren’t for the actions of two people. They are not the founding fathers of the party but they were the nursemaids, nurturing and encouraging Tea Party enthusiasts. They gave it a legitimate platform and a voice. The first person of course is Sarah Palin; the darling of the conservatives and the laughingstock of the liberals. After being continuously embarrassed by the Mainstream Media (MSM) this woman had the audacity to not go away; just the opposite actually. By all rights, after the trouncing she got by the MSM and the truly awful Couric interview, she should have slunk back to Alaska never to be heard from again. Instead Palin left the relatively obscure position of Alaska’s Governor, wrote a book and hit the lecture circuit.

This is the first time I can recall that a politician refused to let the MSM win. Remember Dan Quayle? Probably not if you’re under 50. He was the first Bush’s VP and his falling out with the MSM was over the spelling of potato. He thought there was an e at the end. They hounded the man showering nonstop ridicule on him for weeks and weeks over a simple misspelling. They broke him and he disappeared, never to be heard from again. So give credit where credit is due – Palin refused to back down. Instead she and the Tea Party grew stronger together.

The other Tea Party nursemaid is Glenn Beck. Here was the ideal meeting of a man and a movement, each backing the other to untold fame and infamy. Glenn Beck did for the Tea Party what Pat Robertson did for the Moral Majority and President Nixon for the Silent Majority. And just like Palin, he has been totally villified by the MSM, and labeled extreme, even mad.

What did Beck do to earn the wrath of liberals? He told conservatives that they are not alone. That they shouldn’t feel disheartened by the news they hear each day from the MSM. Instead they needed to understand that if they banded together they would have the power to take over the country. In encouraging this group he also was forthright in describing the other side, the interweaving of liberal groups and people in DC, Hollywood, New York and now Chicago. In many ways, Beck turns today’s politics into a morality play bringing back old fashioned morals, religion and patriotism with clear cut heroes and villains.

On Tuesday November 2nd Americans are going to take a stand and say to the President and his party “No more”. The MSM will once again call these Americans stupid. And they are led in this chorus by none other than our President. In a speech at a small fundraising party last month in West Newton MA, Obama said: "Part of the reason that our politics seems so tough right now and facts and science and argument does not seem to be winning the day all the time is because we're hardwired not to always think clearly when we're scared, and the country's scared.” He went on to say that he faulted the economic downturn for Americans’ inability to “think clearly” and said the burden is on Democrats “to break through the fear and the frustration people are feeling.”

Obama just doesn’t get it and that scares me. We are frustrated because Obama, Reid and Pelosi don’t listen to the majority of the country and we are afraid of what they will do next. Saying we don’t understand the facts isn’t helping. He is the one who isn’t understanding the situation. He has repeatedly said that perhaps part of the problem is that he could have better communicated what they were doing. OMG. This man does nothing but communicate. We heard you already Mr Obama and November 2nd is our reply.

I want to hope that he will then act like Bill Clinton who, when faced with a similar mid-term situation, became more centrix and worked with Speaker of the House Gingrich to implement bills that helped the country. But I doubt it. A recent speech had Obama calling conservatives “the enemy”. And he ended his speech in MA by predicting even more partisanship and gridlock in Congress. “I don’t anticipate that getting better next year,” he said at the fundraiser. “I anticipate that getting worse.” He said he needs Democrats in the Senate “because every bit of progress that we need to make is going be a matter of grinding it out.” Nice attitude, Mr. President. So much for bipartisanship.

One more thing. In addition to calling Tea Party candidates and their followers “stupid” you can be sure that the MSM and liberals will also label them “extreme” and they will endlessly worry about the future of our country after this historical midterm election. Funny. Although I have frequently been proud of my country, for the first time in a long time, unlike the media, I am not nearly as worried about my country’s future as I was yesterday.

The Tea Party - the Voice of the Silent Majority

I find it very interesting to watch the evolution of the conservatives emergence into today’s Tea Party. The modern day revolt of the middle class began in the late 60’s and early 70’s. Your average folks out in the suburbs and farms were aghast at the chaos all around him. Everywhere they looked people were rioting – college kids burning draft cards, dope smoking (or worse) hippies, inner city riots were destroying and burning their own parts of town, women were burning bras and everyone was beginning to question the Vietnam War. The Silent Majority were stunned into silence by all that was happening around them.

While the Democrats were mired in the violence of their 1968 convention Nixon stepped out at the Republican convention to be the voice of the right . To rail against all these changes and try to stand up for the conservative values that were being carelessly tossed aside by other groups with louder voices. And when Nixon ran for a second term it was a rout with Nixon trouncing the very liberal McGovern with 97% of the electoral vote and 62% of the popular vote! The Silent Majority had spoken in full volume!

As everyone knows, Nixon let his power get to him, and resigned in disgrace. The Silent Majority was disillusioned by this betrayal and stayed away from the polls in 1972 thereby letting Jimmy Carter become the next president. Conservatives believed that under Carter's mismanagment the country continued to slide to the left and was headed for economic disaster, inflation and double digit unemployment. Finally conservatives shook off their paralysis after Nixon’s betrayal of their trust and began to pull together but this time under a new name and a true leader.

One of the few places the Silent Majority felt comfortable in speaking out was in their churches. Yet even that was being taken away from them by liberal ministers and priests who preached social justice and liberation theories. It was no wonder that conservatives flocked to the new TV televangelists who preached Christianity and conservative values. It was a message the right were starved for after two decades of liberals progressive actions.

The Silent Majority found their voices in their churches and became the Moral Majority. Ronald Reagan was their leader and conservatism was once again back in fashion. Not just lower taxes and less government but also a new emphasis on restoring some semblance of old fashioned values combined with a resurgence in American pride and patriotism.

Unfortunately, just as Nixon’s betrayal broke up the Silent Majority, it was the televangelists’ downfalls with women and taxes and unaccounted for riches that dismantled the Moral Majority. The end of Reagan's two terms was another factor in the lessening of the Moral Majority's powers.

Conservatives were then disappointed by the Bushes actions. Bush father’s increasing taxes after his “Read my lips, no new taxes” statement was his downfall and again conservatives weren't passionate about re-electing him. So we got Clinton who was actually good for the economy and conservatives didn't put up a huge fight, with poor candidates running against Clinton during his second election. But it was Bill's morals that concerned people and helped elect Bush W. After 9-11 everyone was behind how he handled the terrorist attacks on 9-11 and conservatives applauded his tax cuts. But Bush W. disenfranchised the right with his big government spending. This past president abandoned a primary conservative tenant of smaller government as he spent us into debt. As the economy became worse he spent even more to bail out banks and provide stimulus money. It was completely against everything conservatives stood for and they were dumbfounded by Bush’s betrayal.

When Obama was elected and began to spend even more money the conservatives felt hamstrung since one of their own Republicans had spent a lot during the last presidency. Democrats said conservatives were hypocrites if they complained about Obama’s spending after Bush spent, too. But Obama, Pelosi and Reid continued to push and push their liberal agenda finally passing a health care bill that no one understood and few people, other than the far left, really wanted. It was too much too soon. Finally, realizing that they were being blatently ignored by their own politicians was the last straw for the people.

This time around, conservatives and even many independents found their political voice with protests followed by confronting politicians during town hall meetings in the summer of 2009. People found their politicians to be so far removed from their constituency that they were no longer representing them. Getting no satisfaction from the current group of politicians, conservatives took the final step and entered the political realm with a vengeance. Faster then anyone anticipated, Tea Party candidates entered the mid-term elections with resolve to replace these old politicians and to everyone's surprise they had the votes to do so. They toppled big name Republicans who were RINO’s (Republicans In Name Only) such as in Florida and won what everyone thought would be unwinable elections such as the MA senate race to replace Ted Kennedy and this week’s Delaware Republican primary win by a Tea Party new politician. To date, Tea Party candidates have won Senate primaries in KY, AZ, AK, CO, NV and DE.

A new political force is being born right in front of our eyes. Yet Democrats continue to be contemptuous of this newfound group and even smugly pleased by the Tea Party’s foray into the mid-term election. Liberals don’t believe these conservative amateur candidates can win in a general election and so they feel that the Senate will retain their Democrat majority. But again, they don’t have a clue as to what is really happening. This is an explosion that has been building for 30 years. Not only have the people found their voice but they are stepping up and taking control. Nixon and the Bush’s betrayed them and there is no Reagan like leader in sight so the average guy is entering the political ring for the first time. And just as importantly, the masses are throwing their support to these Tea Party candidates. For example, this week’s Delaware primary typically had around 30,000 people voting – this week it had 57,000 voters with the majority coming out to support the Tea Party candidate Christine O'Donnell who actually beat the old time Republican politician. That is a huge difference in turnout for just a primary. As I said in an earlier blog, this is not a gentle tidal wave of change, this is a tsunami heading our way in November. Finally, the Silent Majority are truly silent no more.

How to Respond to Muslim Blackmail and Threats

In 1983 President Reagan gave a speech to the National Association of Evangelicals in Orlando Florida. This is the speech in which he first called Russia an “evil empire”. According to Wikipedia, Reagan also made a case in this speech for deploying NATO nuclear armed missiles in Western Europe in response to the Soviet Union installing new nuclear missiles in Eastern Europe. Liberals had a cow. They were terrified that Russia would retaliate somehow. They thought that Reagan was rash to provoke the communists not only with words but then with the actual placement of nuclear missiles. Liberals moved the hand of the doomsday clock a bit closer to 12 as they anxiously worried that the USSR would retaliate against what Reagan said in that speech.

Luckily the Democrats weren’t running the country and instead we had President Reagan. This great leader presented a determined front and not once back downed when confronted with Russia’s blackmail threats to harm us if we didn’t remove our missiles or abandon the idea of a Star Wars defense or even arrogantly used terms like the evil empire. There was also a huge uprising from the UN and other countries but our leader, unlike the clamoring liberals, was not afraid of what anyone else might think of us; Reagan basically could care less and kept to his path of standing up for America. Of course we all know now that it was Russia who blinked in this cold war and the course of history changed dramatically including the fall of the Berlin Wall pictured left. But what would have happened if Reagan was fearful of Russian retaliation and, like the Democrats, worried that Americans might be killed and therefore gave in to Russia’s threats? How different might history be if Reagan didn’t have the fortitude to identify Russia for what it was – an evil empire that needed to be destroyed.

If this country had the guts to go toe-to-toe against a large country with nuclear weapons then why can’t we stand up to a bunch of street rabble with stones, homemade explosives and a few guns? Please understand that I don’t agree with Rev. Terry Jones who plans to burn the Quran in retaliation of 9-11. But this is America where he has the right to do this just as liberals and anarchists have the right to burn the flag. I hope the Reverend will decide that it is wrong but it would be more harmful in the long run if he backed down because of threats from Muslims worldwide.

I am deeply disappointed in General Petraeus for passing on the Muslims threats of harming our soldiers if Rev. Jones goes forward with his book burning. This is blackmail, pure and simple and the US should never back down to it. In fact I wouldn’t be surprised to discover that the threats were issued by street rabble rousers, probably the same Arabs who were cheering in the street after 9-11. We must not empower this group which is exactly what would happen if Rev. Jones backs down because of their threats. So shame on the General for even giving voice to their blackmail threats.

If we back down to their threats then we have established a very harmful pattern. For what will we back down to next? There is a lot of passion and anger over the building of the mosque in NY City. What would happen if General Petraeus gets on TV to tell us that Muslims are threatening to kill soldiers if we don’t let them build the mosque? Do we back down then?

Actually, the two events are very similar. Muslims can build the mosque in NYC but it would be wrong and insensitive to Americans while on the other hand Rev. Jones can burn the Quran but that also would be wrong and insensitive to the Muslims. The difference, however, is that Americans might protest in the streets about the mosque but it never would even occur to us to take to the streets threatening to kill Muslims if they don’t move the proposed mosques. Yet no one thinks twice about Arabs taking to the street in protest with burning effigies and threatening to kill us, this time because of the book burning. Why are they held to a lesser standard than we are?

Reverend Jones is wrong to want to burn the Quran but he is right when he asks when do we stop backing down to them. I also think that once again the mainstream media is slanting the news. I was listening to a local radio talk show and to my surprise all the callers were backing the Reverend. Like me, they didn’t agree with what he planned to do but believed he had the right to do it. And yet the MSM portrays only those protesting against the book burning. In fact the MSM is guilty of escalating the fear of retaliation if the minister burns Qurans on Saturday with the slanted stories they broadcast on their news programs. (It is also interesting to note that the Arab world didn't threaten us like this when Bush was president as I think they feared Bush who they saw as some cowboy who they didn't know what he would do next. Only now when Barrack Hussein Obama is president do they feel free to blackmail us...)

In the light of this standoff – the Rev. threatening to burn the Quran vs. Muslims threatening to kill our soldiers in retaliation if the Quarn is burned – I can’t help but wonder what would Reagan do? Just as Reagan believed the USSR was the evil empire, Rev. Jones believes that Islam and the Quran are evil. Perhaps I am wrong but if Reagan were our president today I can almost hear him state that America has freedom of speech which protects Rev. Jones. Though Reagan may disagree with burning the Quran, if the Middle East street Arabs actually harm one hair on a US soldier in retaliation then Reagan will bomb them back because nobody threatens our soldiers or tries to blackmail us. And if they do then they will regret it. {sigh} I do miss Reagan for instead of a staunch patriot who would stand up for America we have a conciliator and appeasement seeking President and General who apologize for this country and worry about what some thugs might do.. God help us if they manage to force Rev. Jones to back down to the street Arabs threats.

Postscript. Sometimes I amaze myself. I wrote this Weds. afternoon and set it aside as I became busy with other things. Then last night while I watched tennis the Imam in charge of the NY City mosque got on Larry King’s show and sure enough he threatened an explosion of anger and violence if America doesn’t let them build the mosque at that location by Ground Zero. I wish I had gotten this one wrong but here it is, the next threat. Forget the Rev. in Florida with burning the Quran. America is faced with these new threats of violence – now what? General what is your response – do we back down on this, too? And if so, what will come next? Or do we act like proud Americans and tell that Imam and the Arab street rabble that America does not and will never respond to blackmail and threats. Mainly I just wish somebody, anybody in Washington has the nerve, as Reagan did, to basically tell them to go to hell!

Babies, Debt and Erasing History

Times are not good. We are in the middle of a recession or maybe it’s a depression or a double-dip but a rose by any other name… People are hurting. Jobs are scarce. Businesses are closing since no one has any income to buy things. In fact there were two recent statistics that caught my eye. People are not having children and they have stopped running up their credit card debt. For once it seems as if the public is actually being responsible. Times really must be tough!

There was an Associated Press release out today that stated we had the lowest birth rate in 100 years with a current birthrate of 13.7 births for every 1000 people. (Although my family is doing their best to bring the number up and yes that is a picture of the newest addition David James Roberts.) Now I am simply quoting an AP report but it seems to me that it would make more sense to state the number of births for every woman or better yet every woman in the child-bearing age range rather than per person. It strikes me as being more than a bit silly to include men and children or even women pasta certain age. But as this is how it was shown then this is what I am stuck with – 13.7 births per 1000 people. In comparison, in 1932 the birthrate dipped below 20 births per 1000 people (another AP phrase so I don’t know the exact number). The lower birthrate today is not surprising considering there was no pill back then. The AP report mentioned another reason for our lower birthrate – fewer births by immigrants. Actually what they were saying is that our bad economy has deterred foreigners from moving here. I suppose that could be the silver lining in a very stormy cloud!

According to CNNMoney, the amount of credit card debt consumers are carrying dropped to an eight-year low and delinquencies continued to decline in the second quarter as consumers look to shore up their savings. The report goes on to state that credit card debt fell 4.1% to an average $4,591 during the quarter. This is the fifth straight quarterly decline and the first time since 2002 that credit card debt has dropped below $5,000. This is pretty amazing news. You would think that the high unemployment might lead people to depend more on their credit cards but apparently not. You can’t help but feel a bit optimistic about people and the future. In fact the politicians should take note that we understand we have to tighten our belts, deny buying and maxing out our credit cards and even hold off on making major life changes. Too bad Obama, Pelosi and Reid don’t understand this. No wonder people are mad – we are doing the responsible thing yet watch helplessly as our Congress continue to spend, increase our debt and make major life changes. Then again, a message may be coming their way in November.

In the midst of our deepening recession, there is one statistic that has not hit the news. Don’t you just know that if a Republican was in office that we would be inundated with reports about the increase in homeless families, overflowing shelters and touching stories about ex-servicemen living on the streets. But I haven’t seen a word about it – have you? Not even when temps were hitting record highs making living on the streets life threatening. I really had to search before I found even one recent story by a mainstream media outlet, in this instance CNN Money which stated that the great recession drove more families into homeless shelters in 2009. The report went on to say that 170,000 families needed shelter last year, up from 159,000 in 2008. I somehow must have missed all the coverage this summer by mainstream media about this growing problem.

Speaking of missing things, I had a strange experience that I just have to mention. For another story I wanted to go back and take another look at all the pictures from Michelle’s trip to Spain. Specifically I wanted to review the pictures of her surrounded by all the security men while she was shopping. When I first wrote that story there was a large selection including a picture showing a very bored First Daughter which I thought I might now use for another story. There was just one problem – all the pictures are now missing. I googled Michelle Obama Spain shopping and not a single picture remains. Oh sure, there are a few showing the First Lady with the King of Spain and even one of her getting off a plane but not one of her shopping. Now I am not going crazy as I know they had been posted during her trip since I used this one in my blog. But now? They are all gone, including the one I used. I’ve heard of revisionism history but this is a bit scary. I thought the internet was a place of freedom and yet somehow somebody, the Obama administration I assume, has managed to delete or hide or misplace these photos. Call me naïve but I didn’t know this was possible. I guess it is.

I couldn’t help but wonder if the Obama administration is truly rewriting history. So I tested out one more image – to find a picture of President Obama with Jeremiah Wright. There was one – that’s it. A lot of picture of just Wright but when I googled Jeremiah Wright and Obama only one picture remains and all other pictures from their friendship, going to his church and having Wright as his spiritual advisor are gone. Sort of like trying to find a picture of Obama with a cigarette even though he continues to smoke or even trying to find many snapshots of Obama on the golf course. Come to think of it, yes, there are a few pictures showing Obama golfing but I have rarely seen pictures of his golfing partner. Who are they and better yet, why is it that much of a secret? This secrecy is very scary. And these were just a few minor issues but I wonder what else is being kept out of the news or disappearing from the web. Why isn't there more of an outcry about this and where are the determined journalists and photographers who have the courage to take these pictures… and keep them on the web for history’s sake.

Another Strange Florida Election

Florida elections, oh my. There is just something about Florida elections that end up resonating across the whole nation. Our primaries Tuesday were no exemption as we had a billionaire, a multi-millionaire, career politicians, a Tea Party hero, at least one honest to goodness crook, multi millions spent on nasty ads with some sleazy politics thrown in, too. What fun!

In the Senate race, only Democrats had a choice between former state trooper Kendrick Meeks and billionaire Jeff Green. No matter how much money Green poured into his campaign voters simply couldn’t get past his sleaze factor. Green had made his money by betting against our housing market and while people were losing houses he was raking in the money. In this race, the nice guy did finish first and by a wide margin winning 57% to Green’s 31%.

This Senate race is now set between Meeks (D), Rubio (R) and Florida Governor Crist who dropped out of the Republican primary to run as an Independent when he realized that lose, and badly to state senator Marco Rubio. This relative newcomer was a Tea Party candidate before there was a Tea Party. It doesn’t hurt that Rubio is a good looking, charming, second generation Cuban-American who is living the America dream and has become the poster boy for the Tea Party.

No one was surprised when Crist declared himself as an Independent. His leftish tendencies were starting to show what with his much publicized hug with Obama and what killed his chances as a Republican was his acceptance of Obama’s stimulus money while other Republican Governors were refusing it. Although pleased that Crist dropped out of the Republican primary, many Republicans were concerned that the Republican vote would be split between Crist and Rubio which would open up the way for Meek to win. I now believe the opposite will happen.

This summer the new power couple seemed to be Obama and Crist as the news constantly showed the two of them side by side and deep in conversation as they strolled down Florida beaches after the BP oil spill. Not only had Obama sent a couple of top aides to assist Crist but the Governor showed a complete lack of respect for his former party when he refused to return campaign money.. These former supporters are enraged that their money, donated initially to a Republican candidate, is now being used by that candidate to further far left issues.

Based on all of this, I think that instead of splitting the Republican voters with Rubio, Crist’s leftward turn means that he and Meek’s will now split the Democrat vote while Rubio garners all the Republican voters and becomes our next Senator.

And why should non Floridians care? Because if I am wrong and Crist does win he will join the Democrat party and be one more Senate vote for Obama. But the race for Governor is even more important nationally particularly with the upcoming 2012 presidential race. Just think of the importance of Florida in the 2004 and 2000 presidential elections. The new Governor of Florida could once again be a pivotal player in 2012.

In the gubernatorial race, Florida Republicans did have a clear choice between two very different men – career politician Bill McCollum and multi-millionaire Rob Scott. McCollum was backed by all the big name Republican politicians while Scott admitted to criminal charges and yet against everyone’s predictions Rob Scott won the Republican primary. How did this happen?

Bill McCollum, who has been around for decades, is from my District in Florida so I remember him as far back as when he was a Congressman helping to impeach Clinton. I never really liked the man although for less than lofty reasons – he just looks like such a dork. For years now I have tried to recall who McCollum reminds me of and I finally came up with it. For those of you over 50 you might remember the old TV show My Three Sons in which the youngest son, Ernie, is a rather geeky looking kid with a chipmunk cheeks, large thick glasses and a goofy smile. (And how I can pull that name out after all these years but can’t remember the important things my teachers tried to teach me is beyond me!)

Anyway, not only does McCollum look geeky but he always seemed so earnest, prim and rather humorless. To be fair to him, I think he has been a very patient man, doing whatever the party wanted him to do, including his current stint as Florida’s Attorney General. By all accounts McCollum should have won the Republican primary for Governor. And he would be celebrating his primary win if it hadn’t been for Rick Scott entering the fray.

If you live in Florida, you would know that Rick Scott made his millions in the healthcare industry. Not only was he the CEO of the largest network of hospitals but he also has the dubious distinction of having quit just before the healthcare chain was fined $1.7BILLION in Medicare fraud case. No doubt about it, this man was crooked and all he can say is he’s learned and moved on. So it was the kind of election where you held your nose and voted for either a professional politician or a crook.

To everyone’s surprise, the crook won. Why? Yes it was partly due to Scott’s vast pocket having poured nearly $40 million into his campaign. But it was the content of the ads that swayed voters when Rick Scott hopped on the Tea Party bandwagon and rode it straight across the finishing line. As soon as a new Tea Party issue surfaced, Scott would have an appropriate ad espousing the far right views and criticizing McCollum be it the Arizona immigration law or the NYC mosque issue.

National pundits have been saying for a while that people are angry at the Obama administration and even career politicians on both sides. They have been predicting a tidal wave of change as voters throw out the old and vote in conservative politicians. Yet I have worried that perhaps analysts have overstated this or that Republicans might get too cocky and sure about themselves and might ultimately lose in November. After Florida’s primary I no longer am the least bit worried. If voters are willing to vote in a known crook then their anger at the current group of politicians can’t be overstated. In fact instead of a projected tidal wave electing Republicans in November it will be more like a tsunami obliterating everything in its path and revealing a brand new landscape when it is finished.

Not Exactly Your Average Summer Vacation...

The First Lady and youngest first daughter, Sasha, are currently visiting Spain. At first it sounded as if it would be a nice mother-daughter trip. In my mind I imagined the twosome visiting old historical places and turning the vacation into a semi-educational trip. Why not? It’s a perk that goes with being the wife and daughter of the President of the USA and it wouldn’t be the first time a First Lady took a child overseas. I recall images of Hillary and Chelsea or the Carters and daughter Amy taking trips around the world visiting orphanages and hospitals. And it doesn’t hurt our image for the world to get a glimpse of the First Daughter doing good deeds. At least this is what I thought until I read an article on the NYDAilyNews.com all of which I confirmed via other sources.

It turns out that the mainstream media swallowed the line fed to them by the White House that this visit was "a private, mother-daughter trip with longtime family friends". First this “trip” is only for four days. That’s not a trip but a long weekend. Plus what few reporters have dared to mention is that this “private” mother-daughter trip includes not a handful but 40 of Michelle’s closest friends. Who has 40 close friends? And I’m sure Sasha will get a lot of private time with her Mom with all these people around. Yeh right.

This entourage along with approximately 70 Secret Service agents flew first class in Air Force 2. When they landed in Spain there were an additional 250 Spanish personnel waiting for them, which means that roughly 360 people accompanied this private mother-daughter trip. A picture of them shopping shows the First Lady and Sasha surrounded by the massive security detail. (And, again I wonder, must Mrs. Obama always bare her shoulders? Doesn’t this woman own any shirts or dresses that have sleeves?)

While in Spain they will be on the very chic Costa del Sol on the coast of southern Spain. There they will stay at Hotel Villa Padierna a 5-star hotel nestled in the hills above the resort town. Their luxurious hotel has been described as “posh”, "trendy" and “a millionaire’s playground” overlooking the coast. Oh great, just what a nine year old needs. Yet the First Lady and her 40 closest friends reserved 60 rooms at this elegant resort, more than a third of the 160 rooms available. The price? Room rates are as high as $2,500 for a room per night to $6,500 per night for a villa which includes 24-hour butler service, and private pool and garden. Gee, I wonder which type of room Michelle will have….

I’m sorry but this just doesn’t seem right. Not when the rest of the country is suffering with no end in site. Even more importantly is that this lavish spending is not a one-time incident. Remember their $70,000+ date night? And on their recent vacation in Maine they had the gall to fly their dog up in his own plane! They justified this by saying Bo was accompanied with other staffers but still why even bother with the dog at all? This might be acceptable if they were going to be in Maine for a few weeks but all my research points to their being in Maine for a weekend! I keep hoping I have this wrong for who would fly a friggin’ dog in another plane to join the family for what, just 3 days? Surely the First Kids could go without their dog for a few days and I bet they could find someone in the White House to walk Bo while they were gone. But sadly, for our country, this is a true story.

What makes all of this so disgusting is that the Obama’s try to portray themselves as an average couple. In a recent ABC interview Obama said that they are “not that far removed from what most Americans are going through." He also said "it was just a few years ago that we had high credit card balances, we had two kids, thinking about college. We had our own retirement accounts, wondering if we were going to be able to get enough assets in there." Oh right, just your run of the mill couple struggling to make ends meet in this deepening recession.

Our country may be drowning in debt, the economy is not bouncing back and unemployment is still high, but I'm sure everyone feels better knowing that our leader has been relaxing with his rounds of golf. In fact what reporters have managed to keep quiet is the fact that Obama has played 41 rounds of golf in the past 18 months for a total of about 200 man-hours. That’s the equivalent of twenty five eight-hour work days, or five work weeks spent hitting a little white ball which is reminiscent of Nero fiddling while Rome burned! For comparison, Bush2 played just 24 rounds of golf in his 8 years and he was seen as being a lazy, elitist, frat boy. So what does this make Obama? And did you know that Bush2 stopped playing golf entirely in October 2003 out of respect for the soldiers fighting and dying in Iraq? On the other hand in the nine weeks from April 2, 2010 – May 22 Obama played eight rounds of golf. Even after 11 people were killed in the greatest environmental disaster to hit the US, our current president managed to get in a round of golf every weekend but one. Comforting, isn’t it?

Speaking of the environmental disaster, why couldn’t Michelle and Sasha, along with their 40 best friends have picked a resort on our Gulf Coast? The Gulf is nearly clean of oil now, a fact which I think is a real miracle and a sign that the earth is a lot tougher and more resilient than environmentalists would have us believe. Anyway, the Gulf may be nearly back to normal but our tourist trade is hurting badly and sure could have used the boost a 4-day vacation by the First Lady. Hell, they could even have flown the damn dog down, too.


So while the rest of us worry and suffer as our country falls apart, our country's leader repeatedly relaxes on a Country Club’s lush golf course while his wife and her 40 closest friends spend the taxpayers money in a posh resort in Spain. Not surprising that some conservative media, after learning of the First Lady’s recent trip, are beginning to call Michelle the “material girl” or worse – a "modern Marie Antoinette". Oh well, on the bright side, thanks to Michelle’s anti-obesity campaign at least we don’t have to worry about the First Couple lecturing us to ”let them eat cake”.