Monday, October 31, 2011

November is Pulmonary Hypertension Month




PULMONARY HYPERTENSION, or PH, is High Blood Pressure in the Arteries of the Lungs that can lead to Heart Failure.

If you or someone you know has been diagnosed with or is being evaluated for pulmonary hypertension, there is a lot you will want to know about the disease. Explore this section to learn about the symptoms of pulmonary hypertension, the various diagnostic tests and treatment options, the different types of PH and much more.

What are the Symptoms of Pulmonary Hypertension?
PH patients experience symptoms such as shortness of breath, dizziness and fatigue, and the severity of symptoms usually correlates with the progression of the disease.

Who Gets Pulmonary Hypertension?
PH affects people of all ages, races and ethnic backgrounds. Although anyone can get PH, there are risk factors that make some people more susceptible.

How Is Pulmonary Hypertension Diagnosed?
There are a number of different tests used to diagnose PH. Learn about the different diagnostic tests that your doctor may perform.

What are the Treatment Options for Pulmonary Hypertension?
While there is currently no cure for PH, different treatment options are available to help you manage your disease and feel better day to day.

What Kind of Doctors Treat Pulmonary Hypertension?
Pulmonary hypertension patients are encouraged to seek treatment from a PH specialist. Find a PH-treating physician in your area.

What are the Different Types of Pulmonary Hypertension?
There are several different types of pulmonary hypertension, and treatment may vary depending on the type of PH you have.

Editorial : This writer has been diagnosed with PH ! Shortness of Breath, Not much fun. I am being treated at Vanderbilt Pulmonary in Nashville. PH is a relatively new diesease. It is not contagious. At one time every lung disorder was called COPD ! No longer the case. Be aware of your lungs, and get the correct diagnoses. Dr.`s Anna Hemnes and Ivan Robbins are the PH Dr.`s at Vandy...They are terrific. However, they are fighting lions with a switch.

Saturday, October 29, 2011

It`s Social Security & Medicare...Not Broken...Hands off


Take From The Poor & Give to the Rich !





The Democrats on the so-called Super Committee took a disturbing step this week, when they made a major concession to Republicans – proposing $200 billion in cuts to Medicare.

And the Wall Street Journal reports that Democrats are also supporting changing the cost-of-living formula — cutting current and future Social Security benefits.

With private pensions of the 99% being ransacked by the 1%, the last thing we need to do now is weaken our pillars of retirement security. Sign the petition to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and House Democratic Leader Pelosi: Don't let the Super Committee cut Social Security and Medicare.





We can stop the Super Committee.

Democrats on the committee are working in close consultation with their Senate and House leaders. If we let them know that the 99% believe Social Security and Medicare cuts are both cruel policy and suicidal politics, we can push them back from the brink.

We have repeatedly used our people power to stop Washington from slashing our retirement security. And we can do it again.

Sign the petition http://action.ourfuture.org/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=156 to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi: Don't let the Super Committee cut Social Security and Medicare. The only way a dirty deal to decimate Social Security and Medicare will happen is in the back room. It's up to us to force this issue into the sunshine. We know that if the public actually has the final word on how to cut our long-term deficit, the 1% would be comfortably paying their fair share instead of the 99% getting another kick in the teeth. We would be raising taxes on millionaires and taxing reckless Wall Street speculation, as well as getting rid of wasteful military spending that only fattens the wallets of private contractors. We don't need to gut Social Security and Medicare. And we need to tell Washington that we know we don't.

Sign the petition to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi: Don't let the Super Committee cut Social Security and Medicare.




Social Security and Medicare are still with us because we've kept on fighting for them. Don't stop now.

Thanks for All That You do ,


Underdog = Don Jones



Speas mea in Deo est.

Thursday, October 27, 2011

A Fight for America`s Wealth ! A Fight Against Greed !



Today`s News ~ Depressing !

By Don Jones = Underdog...10/27/11


I`m a news junkie. Today`s news is so sad/depressing. There is a war going on in our beloved America, for our money and minds. The Republican party wants all of the money to go to, our already wealthy and very rich. The Democrats want everything to be paid for by tax increases. Let me clear something up for everyone. The middle class has been paying most of the country`s debts for years. When "Dubya" Bush cut the tax for the ultra rich, someone had to take up the slack ! What we did was, start to borrow. Now we owe amounts I can`t even begin to write. Republicans say, the Ultra Rich need the tax breaks to invest in jobs ? If that is/was the case, why are we not just covered up in jobs now ? Democrats on the other hand keep spending the tax break money, that we no longer have. Whats up with that ? Republicans want to cut Social Security and Medicare. WHY ? Oh, I forgot, they have Republicans and Democrats alike, borrowed from our Social Security Trust fund. Excuse me, but Whats that all about ? If they borrow from US, the Social Security fund, does that translate to me borrowing from myself ? Do huge amounts of money corrupt ? Is it kinda like borrowing money from a 401-K and not paying it back ? Have we all gone NUTS ? No. Just very GREEDY ! Are politicians, almost all of them taking caring of me ? Or, perhaps it is the politician, they are taking care of. We have, Occupy Wall-Street and now all over the country, protests to stop the GREED ! Last night on the news, Some of our cities`s looked like third world countries`s. Police beating up our fellow citizens for a peaceful protest. Beware when our good guys/gals go bad. If we keep on this path, I truly believe a true revolution could and will occur. I truly believe in our Country and our Constitution and Bill of Rights ! Not just for a few but for all of our Citizens. You may not agree with what I write or say, but, you must say, that I have the right to say/write it ! As I do you. No jobs = Less Tax`s. No Healthcare = The Poor ! More Wars = the Poor ! No Unions= The Poor ! No Middle Class = No America ! I could go on, but, I think you get the picture ? ! I do not pretend to have all of the answers, although I do have some. One last comment, Have you noticed the caliber of Men and Women our Presidential race is attracting ? Not too GOOD ! You Bet`Cha ! Our race to the bottom is almost complete.

Deus Meumque Jus

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Supercommittee on Social Security...Need to Hear from YOU !


Strengthen Social Security...Don`t Cut It !

http://www.progressivesunited.org/action/super-committee-strengthen-soc-sec?sc=ctsc_strengthen_em


The Supercommittee is having their first public meeting in months, and we need to make sure they hear from us.


Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid are on the Supercommittee’s chopping block. It’s up to us to get them off the table. Each of these vital programs provides income security or health care to more than 1 out of 6 Massachusetts residents.
We need the Supercommittee to hear from you, they are accepting public comments right now and we need to overwhelm them with the voices of average Americans across the country. That's why we have partnered with Progressives United to to call on people across the country to write into the Super Committee and tell them Hands Off Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.

Make you voice heard and submit your comments directly the super committee -- tell them Hands Off Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.





Social Security does not add a penny to the deficit it should not even be under discussion. The average income of Medicare beneficiaries is about $22,000 a year; today’s Medicare beneficiaries cannot afford to have their benefits cut; today’s hard working Americans cannot afford to have their eligibility for Medicare benefits raised by two years, from 65 to 67. And as more and more people lose employer-provided health insurance, the last thing the nation’s seniors, people with disabilities, and low-income children who depend on Medicaid need is for the federal government to slash the program. Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid did not cause the run-up in federal deficits. So politicians in Washington shouldn’t come calling on us to clean up the mess. Make you voice heard and submit your comments directly the super committee -- tell them Hands Off Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.
If you want Congress to keep its hands off Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, now is the time to ACT. We need your help TODAY ! Click below !




Thanks for All You do !


Underdog = Don Jones


Speas mea in Deo est.

Monday, October 24, 2011

Less for Unions = More for CEO`s


Attacking Unions = Attacking People !


Whether on Wall Street or in the heartland, corporations are continuing to squeeze workers for all they can.


American Crystal Sugar is no different. Despite record profits three years in a row, on August 1, the company locked out more than 1,300 workers in Iowa, Minnesota, and North Dakota. Rather than negotiate a fair deal with its workforce, management chose to try to break the union.Will you help American Crystal workers get back on the job – and back supporting their families?
Sign our petition to CEO Dave Berg TODAY to urge him to end the lockout.
Locked-out workers just wanted a fair wage increase and affordable healthcare coverage. Instead, American Crystal pushed to double their healthcare costs and weaken job security. And now, both lives and livelihoods are on the line. Dan Dumas is an American Crystal employee who desperately wants to get back to work. His daughter Kayla was a victim of a horrible car accident and was in a coma for three months. While Kayla has made considerable progress, her recovery and therapy hang in the balance since Dan's healthcare coverage was cut off in August.1
There's too much at stake! Sign our petition to American Crystal Sugar NOW.
Together, the workers, company, and growers have helped to build the local economy, support families, and make their communities flourish. Now American Crystal's destructive lockout is putting it all in jeopardy. Around the country, people are fighting back against this corporate greed and standing up for working Americans. Will you stand up and fight back too ?
Tell American Crystal's CEO Dave Berg not to turn his back on workers and local communities.

Thanks for all that you do for workers everywhere.

Liz, Hilary, Beth, Zoe, Michael, Bryan, and the American Rights at Work team



Editorial : Liz Cattaneo(upper center) is Seretary-Treasurer of the AFL-CIO...She is doing a great job !


Speas mea in Deo

Saturday, October 22, 2011

Tennessee`s Diane Black (R) District#6 Representing Who ?




Contact Cong. Black here > https://black.house.gov/contact-me


House to Vote on Rep. Diane Black (R) Tennessee District#6
Bill Paring Down Health Law's Medicaid Expansion
By Julian Pecquet - 10/21/11

The House will vote next week on legislation that will prevent as many as 1 million middle-income Americans from becoming eligible for Medicaid under the healthcare reform law, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor(upper right) (R-Va.) announced Friday.The Medicaid eligibility bill, sponsored by Rep. Diane Black (R-Tenn.)(upper left), is the last bill on the leader's weekly schedule. It cuts the deficit by about $13 billion over 10 years and is expected to pass with bipartisan support. The health law currently counts only the taxable portion of Social Security benefits when calculating Medicaid eligibility, allowing up to a million middle-income early retirees to potentially be eligible for a program meant to help low-income people. Black's bill would replace the healthcare law's Modified Adjusted Gross Income (MAGI) with the more restrictive eligibility standard for federal assistance programs. Black said her bill was a matter of "fairness" during markup in the Ways and Means Committee last week. It cleared the panel 23-12, with Rep. Ron Kind (D-Wis.) voting with Republicans. Without the change, Black said at the time, the law "could result in individuals whose incomes are up to 425 percent of the poverty level receiving Medicaid. This is unacceptable."Many Democrats have concerns, however.They point out that the MAGI definition was chosen to create a seamless transition between eligibility for Medicaid and for insurance subsidies under the healthcare law. By counting Social Security benefits as income, Black's bill tightens the eligibility standard not only for Medicaid but for private plan subsidies as well. During markup, Rep. Joseph Crowley (D-N.Y.) called the Black bill "Republicans' first step on the slippery slope to limit middle-class Americans' ability to claim certain deductions for retirement security, college tuition expenses or even adoption assistance.


Editorial : Remember, Congress lady Black, is a multi-millionaire and does not have any of these problems of the poor ! If she has aligned herself with Mr. Cantor, we know where he`s from. How do you like her now Tennesseans ?

Friday, October 21, 2011

The Rich Get Richer...The Poor, Well You Know !




Billion$ in Profits, Zero in Taxes
Wednesday, October 19, 2011 Posted by Jim Hightower
Listen to this Commentary



Let's play, "Scamming the System !" It's the exciting and richly rewarding game that allows every American to use offshore income shelters and a labyrinth of loopholes to dodge their tax responsibilities. To get in the game, all you need is a few dozen tax lawyers, a flock of lobbyists, and an office in the Cayman Islands.
What ? You don't have any of those things ? Well now – that's your fault, isn't it?
But them that's got – including Boeing, eBay, GE, Verizon, and at least a couple of dozen other brand-name players – are in the game big time. A new report by the Institute for Policy Studies reveals that these multibillion-dollar giants pay far more to their CEOs than they pay in taxes to help fund our nation's crucial needs.
In fact, IPS reports that these top executives got their fat paychecks precisely because they were so focused on tax dodging. The corporations analyzed in the report averaged $1.9 billion in profits last year, yet paid zero in federal income taxes – instead, manipulating the system to get an average of $400 million each in refunds from the IRS! For being such skilled scammers, the chieftains of these corporations raked in an average of $16 million in personal pay last year – way above the average pay for CEOs of other big businesses.
Meanwhile, corporations are lobbying Washington to be given a tax cut. They wail that the U.S. corporate tax rate of 35 percent is higher than any other industrial nation except Japan and that this "burden" is hobbling their global competitiveness. B.S.as the IPS expos̩ documents, these scammers aren't paying anywhere near 35 percent Рif anything.
Wow, these greedheads really put the "sin" in cynical. To help stop them from gaming us, check out the Institute's reform recommendations Here>

www.ips-dc.org.

Lux e tenebris

War in Iraq is Over ! Did We Win ?






Contact the President Here > http://www.whitehouse.gov/



Iraq War ~ Did We Win ? If Yes, What did We Win ?


The United States will withdraw almost all its troops from Iraq by the end of the year, as a current agreement with Iraq dictates. Only about 150 troops, a negligible force, will remain to assist in arms sales.
The United States had expected that some of the roughly 40,000 Americans in Iraq would remain there to aid in training and security. But the two nations were unable to reach a deal on a key issue regarding legal immunity for U.S. troops.


Editorial : President Obama, inherited a War/Mess ! I`m not sure about all of this quite yet ? When the Troops come home, I`ll be more positive. This is wonderful news, do not misunderstand me. We have sacrificed too many lives. We spent too much money. So, the question remains, "Did We Win"? If we did, what did we win ? And did we pay/cost too much ?

Fiat Lux

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Upper Management, Makes Big Bucks~Workers Make Zip !








FLASHBACK: Gov. Haslam (R) Tennessee

Raises Cabinet Salaries 11 Percent


Not bad, if you can get it !?

Posted:Oct 14, 2011

by Tim Wetzel





Call Gov. Haslam Here > 615-741-2001


Contact Governor`s /Your Web-Site > http://www.tn.gov/governor/

"It's my philosophy that in government we should probably have fewer people --
but people that we pay better."
-Gov. Bill Haslam


THIS WEEKEND:
Nearly 1,000 State Employees On Food
Stamps:




Nearly 1,000 Tennessee state employees have such low salaries that they must rely on government assistance to put food on their tables.
Robert O'Connell with the Tennessee State Employee Association said they were shocked when they discovered the number of state workers on food stamps.
"We were floored by the number of people," said O'Connell. "I don't think Tennesseans are going to be proud that we are paying this large group not enough to feed their families." The TSEA fired off a letter to Governor Bill Haslam demanding the state pay more. The group believes part of the problem is that state salaries haven't kept up with the cost of living. After it made a public records request, the state employee association learned 964 state workers were on food stamps. The Department of Environment and Conservation had 129 employees on food stamps. The Department of Corrections had 191 employees on public aid, and the
Department of Human Services had 228 workers on welfare.
Ironically, DHS which gives out food stamps, had the largest number of workers on the program. O'Connell said if salaries aren't raised, state workers will start to leave the public sector. "You won't have your potholes patched. You won't have the drunk driver stopped by the highway patrolman, and you won't have the DCS worker saving some children, if you don't pay them enough," said O'Connell. "Eventually people of quality will leave public service. According to the TSEA, some state workers make as little as $14,000 a year. The medians salary for a state employee is $31,000 a year.
Email: twetzel@newschannel5.comFacebook: Facebook.com/NC5TimWetzelTwitter : Twitter.com/NC5_TimWetzel



Editorial : Let me see, I give all of my appointed cabinet members a raise of 11% and then tell my state workers to eat cake or sign up for food stamps. Are you happy now Tennesseans ? Better wake up. Hey folks, I could`nt possibly make up stuff like this. The facts are much better.

Monday, October 17, 2011

Order Out of Chaos ?







The Rise of the Regressive Right and the Reawakening of America
10/16/11

By : Robert Reich, Former Sec. of Labor


Contact Your Senator Here >http://www.senate.gov/

A fundamental war has been waged in this nation since its founding, between progressive forces pushing us forward and regressive forces pulling us backward.


We are going to battle once again.

Progressives believe in openness, equal opportunity, and tolerance. Progressives assume we're all in it together: We all benefit from public investments in schools and health care and infrastructure. And we all do better with strong safety nets, reasonable constraints on Wall Street and big business, and a truly progressive tax system. Progressives worry when the rich and privileged become powerful enough to undermine democracy.

Regressives take the opposite positions.

Eric Cantor, Paul Ryan, Rick Perry, Michele Bachmann and the other tribunes of today's Republican right aren't really conservatives. Their goal isn't to conserve what we have. It's to take us backwards. They'd like to return to the 1920s -- before Social Security, unemployment insurance, labor laws, the minimum wage, Medicare and Medicaid, worker safety laws, the Environmental Protection Act, the Glass-Steagall Act, the Securities and Exchange Act, and the Voting Rights Act. In the 1920s Wall Street was unfettered, the rich grew far richer and everyone else went deep into debt, and the nation closed its doors to immigrants. Rather than conserve the economy, these regressives want to resurrect the classical economics of the 1920s -- the view that economic downturns are best addressed by doing nothing until the "rot" is purged out of the system (as Andrew Mellon, Herbert Hoover's Treasury Secretary, so decorously put it). In truth, if they had their way we'd be back in the late nineteenth century -- before the federal income tax, antitrust laws, the Pure Food and Drug Act, and the Federal Reserve. A time when robber barons -- railroad, financial, and oil titans -- ran the country. A time of wrenching squalor for the many and mind-numbing wealth for the few. Listen carefully to today's Republican right and you hear the same Social Darwinism Americans were fed more than a century ago to justify the brazen inequality of the Gilded Age: Survival of the fittest. Don't help the poor or unemployed or anyone who's fallen on bad times, they say, because this only encourages laziness. America will be strong only if we reward the rich and punish the needy. The regressive right has slowly consolidated power over the last three decades as income and wealth have concentrated at the top. In the late 1970s the richest 1 percent of Americans received 9 percent of total income and held 18 percent of the nation's wealth; by 2007, they had more than 23 percent of total income and 35 percent of America's wealth. CEOs of the 1970s were paid 40 times the average worker's wage; now CEOs receive 300 times the typical workers' wage. This concentration of income and wealth has generated the political heft to deregulate Wall Street and halve top tax rates. It has bankrolled the so-called Tea Party movement, and captured the House of Representatives and many state governments. Through a sequence of presidential appointments it has also overtaken the Supreme Court. Scalia, Alito, Thomas, and Roberts (and, all too often, Kennedy) claim they're conservative jurists. But they're judicial activists bent on overturning 75 years of jurisprudence by resurrecting states' rights, treating the 2nd Amendment as if America still relied on local militias, narrowing the Commerce Clause, and calling money speech and corporations people. Yet the great arc of American history reveals an unmistakable pattern. Whenever privilege and power conspire to pull us backward, the nation eventually rallies and moves forward. Sometimes it takes an economic shock like the bursting of a giant speculative bubble; sometimes we just reach a tipping point where the frustrations of average Americans turn into action. Look at the Progressive reforms between 1900 and 1916; the New Deal of the 1930s; the Civil Rights struggle of the 1950s and 1960s; the widening opportunities for women, minorities, people with disabilities, and gays; and the environmental reforms of the 1970s. In each of these eras, regressive forces reignited the progressive ideals on which America is built. The result was fundamental reform. Perhaps this is what's beginning to happen again across America.



Editorial: When Good People Go Bad, Better Watchout !


Ordo ab Chao








Sunday, October 16, 2011

Drug Company`s get the Goldmine, Seniors get the Shaft !






Social Security COLA Increase Finally Coming, but Offset by Medicare Premiums


Contact Congress Here > http://www.contactingthecongress.org/


After two years without an inflation adjustment, the Social Security Administration is expected to announce a 2012 cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) of more than 3 percent on October 19th. The annual Social Security COLA is determined by a formula that averages inflation for the third quarter, as reflected by the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W). No COLA was awarded in 2010 or 2011 due to a spike in the third quarter of 2008, which resulted in a 5.8 percent COLA for 2009. By law, subsequent Social Security payments couldn’t rise until the CPI-W exceeded the 2008 level. Many seniors will see a substantial part of the COLA consumed by a higher premium for Medicare Part B (doctor visits and outpatient services), which usually is deducted from Social Security payments. For those who receive the average benefit of $1,177 per month, a 3.5 percent COLA would lift their gross 2012 payment to $1,218. Assuming that the official Part B premium is, as projected, $106.60, seniors could pay $10.20 more monthly for Part B, reducing their net benefit to $1,207 – an increase of 2.63 percent. However, if you are among the one-third of seniors who receive a monthly benefit between $500 and $1,000, that could translate to a COLA of 2.04 percent after Part B premiums. Part B’s impact on Social Security is a reminder that seniors are affected by different types of inflation than the general population, mainly due to medical costs. To learn more, Here > http://reut.rs/pr4i0E.


____________________________________________________________________ COLAs and the Super Committee

The Congressional Super Committee is said to be taking a hard look at shrinking the national debt through cutting Social Security COLAs, by implementing a formula change using the so-called “chained CPI.” This index reflects changes that consumers make in their purchasing across dissimilar items in response to price changes. The theory is that a spike in gasoline prices will prompt consumers to spend less on fuel, perhaps more on food. And so on. However it has been shown that the current CPI-W measure doesn’t reflect the living costs experienced by the elderly, especially health care costs. The members of the Super Committee are Sens. Patty Murray (D-WA) - co-chair; Max Baucus (D-MT); John Kerry (D-MA); Jon Kyl (R-AZ); Pat Toomey (R-PA); and Rob Portman (R-OH); as well as Reps. Jeb Hensarling (R-TX) - co-chair; Dave Camp (R- MI); Fred Upton (R-MI); James Clyburn (D-SC); Xavier Becerra (D-CA) and Chris Van Hollen (D-MD). If you are a constituent of one of these elected officials, it’s time to speak up! Send an electronic post card explaining why the Committee should not cut Social Security, Medicare, or Medicaid here > http://bit.ly/r00CWA.


------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- New Ad Campaign Using Scare Tactics and Misinformation to Confuse Seniors...Hey, That`s Me !


Better Read the Fine Print !


A group calling itself the American Action Network, chaired by former Republican Minnesota Senator Norm Coleman and initially run by House Majority Leader Eric Cantor’s (R-VA) former chief of staff, is running a $1.6 million campaign by placing newspaper ads and sending direct mail pieces into a number of states and congressional districts, thanking Republican House and Senate members for defending Medicare against the Obama Administration. However, what they are thanking the Republican members for is actually another windfall for drug companies. The Alliance, as well as many other seniors and consumer groups, supports rebates on prescription drug prices for Medicare beneficiaries whose incomes are low enough that they qualify for Medicaid. These are the “dual-eligibles.” The Obama Administration has proposed allowing these rebates in its recommendations to the Super Committee. In fact, current law is a windfall for the drug industry and the proposal in the President’s recommendations to the Super Committee would eliminate it and save the Medicare program $135 billion over 10 years. The advertisement’s contention that Medicare premiums would increase as a result of this change has been viewed with great skepticism by independent analysts. PolitiFact, a Pulitzer Prize-winning media effort to evaluate political claims, has cited experts from Georgetown, Johns Hopkins, and Rutgers who say that the linkage between these prescription drug rebates and higher premiums is highly speculative and vastly overstated. “Sadly, this new campaign aimed at retirees only fuels fear and confusion among the very people it claims to be trying to help.


Editorial : Remember, Social Security is not an entitlement program. It is YOUR MONEY ! Or Maybe it is an entitlement program. It`s YOUR MONEY !

Supercommittee/Ways & Means Chairman Dave Camp(R) Michigan District#4

Rep. Camp Representing You ? Not Me !



Washington D.C. Office:
341 Cannon House Office Building Washington, DC 20515
Phone: 202-225-3561
Fax: 202-225-9679

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-Mich.) has raked in hundreds of thousands of dollars in contributions since his appointment to the deficit-reduction supercommittee in August. Camp raised $705,000 in the third quarter of 2011, more than $475,000 of it after receiving an appointment to the supercommittee on Aug. 10, according to a report filed with the Federal Election Commission. The healthcare industry provided Camp’s biggest source of funds. Healthcare companies and lobbyists hired to represent them gave Camp’s personal re-election fund at least $55,000 since his appointment to the supercommittee, according to fundraising data filed with the FEC.The supercommittee will likely make significant cuts to government healthcare spending if it reaches agreement on a deficit-reduction package by its Nov. 23 deadline. As chairman of the Ways and Means panel, Camp has jurisdiction over Medicare and Medicaid. Camp also received contributions for oil companies, which may lose tens of billions of dollars in federal tax breaks. Democrats have repeatedly demanded their elimination, most recently in the first version of the American Jobs Act.


Editorial : I would give you his web/our web-site, but, he only takes e-mail from his District#4-Michigan constituents ! Let me see, he is representing ME/YOU on the SUPERCOMMITTEE but you can`t e-mail him...but, you can phone his office in Washington DC. And you wonder why the American people are fed up ? Have you seen the protesters in New York and across the country ? Frustrated, Fed up, Cynical ? You Bet`Cha. When the "Good Guy Goes Bad" Better watch out !

Friday, October 14, 2011

Income Inequality ~ Our Race to the Bottom






Danger: Income Inequality Threatens National Stability
by Tula Connell, Oct 14, 2011



Income inequality has become so severe in this nation that people in Really Important Positions (except for most Republicans in Congress) are starting to take note–and issue warnings.

Saying “income inequality is just getting worse and worse and worse,” James Chanos, president and founder of the New York-based investment firm Kynikos Associates, told Bloomberg this week that the widening gap between rich and poor is reshaping the U.S. economy, leaving it more vulnerable to recurring financial crises and less likely to generate enduring expansions. As Bloomberg paraphrased his comments: Left unchecked, the decades-long trend toward increasing inequality may condemn Wall Street to a generation of unimpressive returns and even shake social stability… Separately, Nouriel Roubini, chairman of Roubini Global Economics and economics professor at New York University, published an article yesterday describing “The Instability of Inequality.” In it, Roubini argues that “globalization, unfettered financial capitalism, andredistribution of income and wealth from labor to capital could lead capitalism to self- destruct,”


Which is why:

Even before the Great Depression, Europe’s enlightened “bourgeois” classes recognized that, to avoid revolution, workers’ rights needed to be protected, wage and labor conditions improved, and a welfare state created to redistribute wealth and finance public goods – education, health care, and a social safety net.

Today, Roubini warned, the United States and many other countries are ignoring these lessons at their peril. Any economic model that does not properly address inequality will eventually face a crisis of legitimacy. Unless the relative economic roles of the market and the state are rebalanced, the protests of 2011 will become more severe, with social and political instability eventually harming long-term economic growth and welfare. The incredible tenacity of protestors at Occupy Wall Street actions around the country has ratcheted up this much-needed discussion, one in which even the son of a billionaire sides with the 99 percent.



Says Howard Buffet, Warren Buffet’s son:

“There has never been a larger gap between earnings in this country. There has never been a time in my lifetime when the governement is going to cut an incredible amount of programs that support poor people and feed them.”


Ordo ab Chao

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Why #OccupyWallStreet? Four Reasons from DC Douglas


Class War...Better listen up ! Banks are no more than Loan-Sharks and fast cashers ~Times, They are a changin. Not for the Better. Ya Think ?

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Senator Bob Corker(R) Tennessee~Votes for China !


My Senate colleagues shouldn't be provoking a trade war with China.

By U.S. Senator BOB CORKER (R) Tennessee


Contact Senator Corker Here > http://www.corker.senate.gov/public/


There's no question about it: China manipulates its currency. The value of the yuan is largely determined not by market forces but by a "managed float." Beijing sets a target range within which the yuan can be converted into U.S. dollars via markets in Hong Kong. Under most analyses of purchasing power parity, the yuan should probably be at a higher value relative to the dollar.

None of these statements are controversial. The real questions are: What does the managed float mean for America, and what should be done about it ? On the former, the managed float of the yuan means that U.S. imports from China are cheaper than they would otherwise be. It also means that China sits on large dollar reserves that get funneled back into U.S. financial assets (mainly Treasuries and mortgage-backed securities), putting downward pressure on U.S. interest rates. In addition, it means that if the U.S. could produce the same goods and services at the same price as China, we would be at a comparative disadvantage. The reality, of course, is that the U.S. does not produce the same goods and services at the same price. This is partially because China's labor costs are about one-thirtieth of U.S. labor costs,
and the U.S. has come to specialize in higher-tech production and service industries. It's also because the U.S. does not have nearly as friendly a business environment for manufacturing as we should.
On the latter question—what should we do about this—the answer is: not start a trade war. Unfortunately that would be the unintended consequence of the Currency Exchange Rate Oversight Reform Act. The bill seeks to create U.S. jobs by imposing tariffs on imports from China in the amount that China undervalues its currency. The bill's actual effect, though, won't be to bring production from China to the U.S.—only to make the things that we buy from China more expensive.
Why ? Because China is unlikely to respond to a tariff on all imports by doing what we demand they do. More likely, China would retaliate with tariffs of its own and by cutting off business with U.S. companies. Rather than spending $480 billion to purchase 4,300 aircraft produced by Boeing in the U.S. over the next 20 years, for example, China could take that business to Airbus and make France the world's leader in aviation. In 2010, the U.S. imported $365 billion worth of goods from China. This bill would potentially inflate the price U.S. consumers and businesses paid for those items by 20%-30%. That's about $60 billion-$100 billion in extra costs taken from the U.S. economy in the middle of a recession.
Business leaders know this legislation won't create American jobs, which is why organizations like the Chamber of Commerce, Business Roundtable, Club for Growth, National Retail Federation and many others are joining together to oppose it. If we want to compete with China in manufacturing, we need to create a better business climate for manufacturing in the U.S. We should also address China's disregard for intellectual property rights, push China to end preferential procurement policies and to invest in manufacturing plants in the U.S., and ensure that we maintain access to China's 1.3 billion consumers. These are the right policy responses toward Beijing. China's currency has increased about 30% relative to the dollar in recent years, and it will likely rise more through internal pressures. Exports to China have increased six-fold in just the past few years, and China has continued to open up its financial system to modernization. If China were to change course and throw up more barriers, we would then be justified in a more aggressive approach. But a trade war is not a good answer, especially in the midst of a recession and an unemployment crisis. We should be working to strengthen our exports, to hold China accountable at the World Trade Organization, and to demand protection of intellectual-property rights. In 1930, Congress passed the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act. In a moment of populism, legislators reached for simple answers to complex problems. The result was a deeper depression and a decade of increased joblessness. We must not repeat these mistakes.

Mr. Corker, a Republican senator from Tennessee, is on the Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee.


Editorial : In laymens language, Senator Corker Voted for China ! This is the same Senator who voted against minimum wage. Whenever a politician says we`re moving to service oriented work force, better lookout. Anti-Union, = Anti-People ! How do you like him now Tennesseans ? I only wish, we could export Mr. Corker to CHINA ! Remember, I did`nt write the above. Mr. Corker did.






United States Congress at Work ! Well Paid ! Overpaid ! You Bet`Cha !


Well Paid Congre$$...Great Job, If You Can Get It ?
House Republicans: Let's end the congressional death benefit
By Pete Kasperowicz - 10/07/11






Rep. Bill Posey (R-Fla.) and six other House Republicans — including presidential candidate Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) — have introduced a proposal to terminate the financial benefits members of Congress receive if they die while in office. Under current law, members receive a full year's salary if they die in office. Posey said that while this payment was originally a form of life insurance for members, its existence is harder to justify in light of the current fiscal crisis. "I believe members of Congress should do what other Americans do, purchase their own life insurance," Posey said. "And with so many Americans struggling to make ends meet — mostly because of bad policy coming out of Washington — this taxpayer funded 'gratuity' just adds more insult to injury. It's no wonder Americans have such a low opinion of Congress." Another co-sponsor, Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.), said if members of Congress want to provide for their families, they will "need to look somewhere other than this taxpayer-funded perk." The salary for rank-and-file members of the House is $174,000, but those in leadership positions earn more; House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) is paid $223,500 a year.
Members of the Senate are paid on a similar scale, although Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) is paid $193,400 a year less than Boehner.


Editorial : It seems we keep our Congress persons, very well funded ! Republicans got another one correct. What`dya bet it does not get passed ? I know, how bout a bi-partisan passing...When pigs fly, maybe. Contact your Congressman/Woman here. > http://www.contactingthecongress.org/ or click on title ! They work for US....Yeah, when pigs fly again ! God forbid, that should live like us ordinary folks.

Monday, October 10, 2011

Banks Have Become > LOAN SHARKS







Banking, Not What it Once Was ! You Bet`Cha !


Last week, Bank of America announced it will start charging its customers $5 a month just to access their own money with a Debit Card. If you're a Bank of America customer who doesn't appreciate being gouged with excessive fees, you should show Bank of America what a competitive marketplace looks like and find a bank or credit union that values their customers. We can't let B of A get away with this -- and we've got to speak out, loud and clear, to show other banks that it is unacceptable to pad already excessive profits on the backs of hard-working Americans.

Click here > http://action.dickdurbin.com/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=8209&tag=nowaybofa_e101011c&lt < to forward a message to CEO Brian Moynihan right now: Urge him to reverse his decision to charge debit card customers a $5 monthly fee, and send a powerful message that every bank will hear.


I see this ending up one of two ways:

Outcome #1:
Bank of America gets an earful from so many customers and potential customers -- like you -- that it decides against making monthly fees the new "normal" for American debit card users.

OR

Outcome #2: Too few folks notice and speak up about the new fees, sending a message to other big banks that they can charge this monthly fee to their debit card customers, too.

Outcome #2 is completely unacceptable -- but I need you to speak out to make sure it doesn't happen.

In 2007, we sent thousands of emails to convince BP's CEO to give up his company's plan to dump more toxic chemicals into Lake Michigan. The DickDurbin.com community has proven that we can take on some of the biggest special interests around.
Now let's put that same kind of pressure on Bank of America's CEO to make sure he knows these new debit card fees are simply unacceptable -- and to make sure every single bank gets the message.

Click here >
http://action.dickdurbin.com/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=8209&tag=nowaybofa_e101011c <
Thanks for helping us chalk up another victory for the DickDurbin.com community on behalf of the American people.

Sincerely,


Senator Dick Durbin, (D) Ill










Sunday, October 09, 2011

Senate to Vote on Jobs Act... e-mail them Here


U.S. Senate to Vote on Jobs Act
10/09/11

Contact your Senators here > http://salsa.afge.org/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=2968


The U.S. Senate will vote on the American Jobs Act as soon as Tuesday, October 11 !

The Jobs Act will create jobs, improve our schools, and rebuild our roads. Better yet, it will be paid for by a simple, common sense tax on millionaires – a 5.6% tax on the richest of the rich. Finally, a bill that makes total sense... create jobs, make the rich pay their fair share, and no mention of cutting federal employee jobs, pay, or pensions. E-mail your Senators right now. http://salsa.afge.org/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=2968 Urge them to vote in favor of "cloture" – allowing the American Jobs Act to come to a vote on the full Senate floor. And urge them to cast a second vote in favor of the American Jobs Act. This isn't one of those times when we're forced to choose between the lesser of two evils. This is the good versus the bad and the ugly. The American Jobs Act and the millionaire tax is a game changer. It shifts the debate on Capitol Hill from "cut, cut, cut" to creating jobs. And it does so by placing the burden on those who can afford it the most – the 315,000 households that make more than $1 million a year. That's why we need to put every Senator on the spot. They need to know that we are paying attention – and their vote will have consequences. Contact your Senators right now. Urge them to support cloture and final passage of the American Jobs Act. Contacting your Senators on this one is a must. We've been playing defense for almost 11 months.


E-mail your Senators right now... click the link, get it done, and feel proud that you took a stand. http://salsa.afge.org/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=2968

Thanks,

Underdog = Don Jones