An open letter to Congressman Adam Schiff. August 10, 2009

Congressman Schiff,

Here are my questions for your town hall meeting.

1. How are you going to pay for this Health Care Train Wreck (HCTW)?

2. Can you show the public a powerpoint presentation of precise facts and figures on exactly where the funds are going to come from to pay for the HCTW?

3. How is Barack Obama going to prevent illegal immigrants from benefiting from his HCTW.

4. How is Barack Obama going to prevent illegal immigrants from rushing over the border to sign up for his HCTW?

5. One of the methods that has been tabled is to tax health care benefits. If that method is chosen, will the healthcare benefits of the SEIU, UAW, United Steel workers and every other member of any union have their healthcare benefits taxed?

6. If Barack Obama’s HCTW passes and presents itself with a business model like Wal Mart, how will private healthcare survive? When Barack Obama says he want to provide “Affordable” healthcare, Describe affordable. 10 % less than average, 20% less than average, 50% less than average, 75% less than average, 85% less than average? Tell me.

7. If Barack Obama’s HCTW hammers the healthcare industry on costs much like Wal Mart does to it’s venders, what incentives do the healthcare industry have to expand and build facilities, hire personal and promote R&D in healthcare medicine?

8. Barack Obama’s HCTW proposes to cover 45 Million uninsured people with healthcare.  At this time the healthcare industry does not have adequate facilities to take care of the people that have insurance now.

Do you think that people will be interested in going to medical school if they will not be able to earn more than $30,000 a year because of payment limits in the Obama HCTW?

9. Congressman Schiff besides your degree in law, do you have an MBA?

10. Congressman Schiff, do you have any kind of degree in economics?

Finally I command you to vote NO against Barack Obama’s Healthcare Train Wreck.

I command you to vote NO against Barack Obama’s “Cap and Tax” Train Wreck.

STMARIE

California, The Unions, Education and The Democratic Party: Catalyst for Tea Parties on July 4th 2009. May 23, 2009

The events that are unfolding in California today (5/23/09) are unprecedented and will affect every state in The United States of America. The people have spoken and they have said “NO MORE NEW TAXES” A catalyst for a perfect storm on Tea Party Day July 4th, 2009.

What has transpired over the years in California that I have been in here (1980) is nothing less than tragic.

I moved to a state that was relatively easy to get a job if you really wanted one. If you didn’t want to work and wanted to be on welfare it was a lot more difficult to accomplish that goal.

California was led by the Democratic party from a land of sunshine, plenty of work and an occasional earthquake to a land of excruciating high taxes, huge numbers of illegal immigrants, easy welfare accommodations for anyone, strong control by the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) and SCAQMD (South Coast Air Quality Management District) and radically powerful, strong unions that have crippled the work force with a total disregard or understanding of how the economy works.  Every day now there are protests in the streets by these unions demanding that their particular financial interests should be continually supported by the California government that is fiscally broken. They fail to see that the economy in California has completely collapsed.

Due to the Democratic mantra of  “Tax and Spend” California has become the most unfriendly environment for both small and large businesses to flourish in. Consequently a lot of businesses have closed or have left California for other states and more than likely other countries.

An example of this is when Lockeed closed down it’s Burbank facilities instantly putting 15,000 people out of work.  That is the figure just for Lockeed. It doesn’t address all the subcontractors for small parts and materials that went into the building of the aircraft in that facility.

Another example of that is the General Motors Plant in Van Nuys, CA.  Built in 1947 and closed in 1992.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Van_Nuys_Assembly

This plant towards the end built some of the worst cars ever assembled by General Motors. The Chevrolet Corvair, Camaro, Nova and Firebird.

While it is true that the plant was old, the property and the location were ideal for GM to build cars specifically for the California market.  With some effort the palnt could have been rebuilt and modified for newer assembly line could have been built. How ever the decision was made to move this assembly plant to Sainte-Thérèse Assembly in Quebec, Canada.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Therese_Assembly

So the issue at hand is jobs. As I have written about in the past, government does not create jobs. private enterprise creates jobs. The Democrats have completely damaged the business environment here in California. In the process of damaging the business environment the Democrats have diminished the tax base dramatically at the same time they have tried to make up for the lack jobs by huge tax rates for the people that still have jobs and businesses that are still open. The squeeze has to end somewhere or sometime and that somewhere and sometime is now.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090522/ap_on_re_us/us_california_day_of_reckoning

I voted for Arnold Schwarzenegger (R-CA) hoping that he could get the job done.  In the beginning he was doing a great job.  But the Democrats saw his power and popularity as a threat and stone walled his every move and he finally capitulated to the Democrats and agreed to raise State Income Taxes, DMV (Department of Motor Vehicle) taxes, and State Sales Tax which is the most destructive tax a legislator could ever raise.  This has exacerbated the crumbling economy here in California.

As long as California is a Democratically controlled state it will never ever regain the grand status that has left us in the late 70’s and the 80’s. The Democratic stranglehold on the State of California will be very hard to break because of two simple facts. 1. The number of business owners that would lobby against the Democrats is dwindling. The number of employees that expect their employers to provide all kind of services for free greatly out number the employers. 2. The number of people that expect the California Government to provide everything for free is in control of who is put in office.

In fact California is so damaged that there is serious discussion about rewriting the California Constitution.  The California Constitution is not broken, the Democratic party that is interpreting the California Constitution is broken.

How is rewriting the California Constitution going to help the people of California get new jobs created by new companies that start and flourish and old companies that expand and grow and hire people?

I’m sure that with the state of California being run by Democrats, the “New and Improved” version of the California Constitution will be so severely flawed and skewed towards the Democratic mantra of “Tax & Spend” that the State of California will just continue to deteriorate at a much greatly increased speed.

Here is the next thing to think about. California has always been on the leading edge of trends that eventually move through out the rest of the states. If the California Constitution gets re-written will the following happen?

1. Will the Democrats in the other 49 states try to rewrite their own states constituion?

2. Will Barack Obama and the Obama Administration try to rewrite the US Constitution making the United States an even greater ‘Land of Entitlement”? Thus creating a land that contains a plethora of welfare available to anyone from the United States or any other country just by asking for it and not proving that an individual really needs welfare funds to begin with?

For some reason in past years there has been a fairly complex and sometimes efficient system of checks and balances between the Democrats and the Republicans.  But all that has changed with the deteriorating economy.

I have a comment about education in California.  I understand and I am in sympathy of what is happening in the schools with the cutbacks and overcrowding.  But here is a question. Do you remember what John Kennedy said” “Ask not what your country can do for you, Rather ask what you can do for your country!” I have to admit for a Democrat he was connected to reality more than any other Democrat or Republican for that matter by saying this.

So here is my point.  When some one decides to have a child, the responsibility of education should be partially funded by the individuals that have children that are being taught in the primarily the K-12 education system.  Junior Colleges and State colleges are already paying tuition. To believe that education can be completely funded by state and local property taxes is absurd.  I believe that the parents of these children should pay something towards enrollment for students.  This tuition payed can only be used in that school that the tuition was payed to.  Not to all the schools in the district. Maybe it is a small amount to subsidize, but it is something that that will help ease the financial burden of the California educational system. Which leads to why I brought up John Kennedy’s famous statement. Not all property tax payers have children in the educational system especially older citizens. Why should the burden of funding people that have children in the system be places on people that are not using the system.  This is not to say that people that do not have children in the education system should not pay anything. That is not what I am saying.  What I’m saying is that the people that do have children in the education system have to pay some kind of a tuition to offset the shrinking tax revenue do to loss of jobs, poorer paying jobs that does not generate high volumes of income tax and of course the number of foreclosure on homes that is diminishing property taxes.  I do not know the numbers exactly but the logic is that the greater majority of people with children are renters and do not pay any property tax yet their children are in the schools.  The amount of property tax on a commercial apartment building doesn’t even come close to paying for all the kids in that building. OK so you ask why doesn’t the landlord pay higher taxes? Well the local county could raise taxes…..but guess what?  You are right.  Rent would go through the roof and people would not be able to afford the apartment that they are renting nor would they have a big enough deposit to move to a different building. In general raising taxes is always a bad thing.

It all goes back to what I believe.

If the Democrats can keep people poor, uneducated, unemployed and desperate they will always have a voter base.

STMARIE

Barack Obama, Social Healthcare and the Democrats. February 3, 2009

Yesterday I received my annual bad news from my Health Insurance Company. My monthly premium went from $461 a Month to $597 a month payable every two months for a total of $1194 every two months.

I’m single not married and no kids. I just can’t imagine what this would cost for a family of four.

So what are Barack Obama and the Democrats choices here?

1.  The federal government can impose price guidelines on insurance companies for premium limits.

This is is not a good idea for the government to interfere with private enterprise as this will for certain cause a deterioration in healthcare services as the companies are locked into federally mandated rates. We saw the results of this when Bill Clinton imposed a mandate for lending institutions to meet quotas for loan applications.

2. The federal govenment can provide subsidies to the taxpayers with reimbursement checks to cover health care premiums.

This is a horrible idea. Who would qualify for these checks?  Tax payers that pay over a certain amount ins taxes? Economically challenged (I don’t like the word poor) who pay very little into the tax system that supports this program? The middle class that always seems to support everything the federal government spends money on? Illegal Immigrants who don’t belong in this country to begin with? Would you have to prove that you are paying for and have an active healthcare plan that the individual is already paying for so you can get a reimbursement for the paid premium?  Who would get these checks and where would the funds com from to pay for it?

3. The federal government can provide all the healthcare for free.

Ok this is a very, very bad idea for a number of reasons.  How many of you have know a veteran of the US Armed forces?  How many of you know the quality of healthcare they have received at any Veterans Administration Hospital? I have had two of my best friends who were in the military die because of the deplorable and incompetent administration in the Veterans Administration health care system. Time after time they were denied the proper health care treatment that was needed.  Because both of my friends could not afford any other healthcare they could not receive treatment out side of the VA system. One of these two friends of mine was in the Hines VA Hospital in Chicago for over a year.  Think of that. Michael was in that hospital for over a year. He did not go home for one year. What efficient and properly run hospital keeps a person for a year in a bed in the hospital? Hospitals in the public sector strive to heal and get a person out of the hospital as soon as possible.  During that time Michael was in the VA hospital he received very little information on his condition. I used to call him all the time while he was in and all he could tell me is: “They don’t know what is exactly wrong or how to fix it.”  To this day I really do not know what exactly Michael’s condition was only that they had removed a lot of his innards.  No, he did not have cancer. Based on this experience with my best High School friend, I can not put any faith what so ever in Government instituted and administered healthcare. Because of the deteriorated quality of life that the VA left him with, Michael overdosed this past Christmas Eve ( 2008 ) taking his own life.

My second friend Carl battled with the VA for years with a heart problem. The VA told him at first that he was OK. Nothing was wrong. But over a period of time Carl felt his heart get out of rhythm causing him to get very tired. After a 5 year battle he finally got a pacemaker and even then the VA would not change his status to “disabled” so he could get military disability payments. It finally was determined that Carl needed a new heart.  Again the battle went on for another 4 years to get approval from the VA for new heart.  Carl died on the operating table at Loma Linda Hospital while being prepared for heart surgery. All because of the incompetency of the Veterans Administration Hospital System.

When you sign that piece of recruitment paper the Government guarantees your healthcare for the rest of your life from the Veterans Administration Hospital, so why should the people volunteering to serve our country ever have to worry about quality health care for the rest of their lives?

4. The federal government can give very large tax credits and deductions to businesses that pay for half of the health care premiums for their employees and give tax credits to individuals who are self employed so they can afford to buy health insurance.

I think the last option is the best. Here is why.  If you give all businesses small and large the incentive to provide healthcare to all employees and owners, the work force will stay healthier.  And guess what? If employees are kept in good health then the employees will be more productive, miss less days being sick and guess what?  Yes, all vested in this tax incentive program will pay more taxes because they will be working more and earning more money.

Here is the point I’m trying to make.  If the Federal Government can not even run the Veterans Administration efficiently, How are they going to provide health care to the entire US Population?

Next is how are we going to pay for this?  60% income tax?

So either you pay a lot to the government in taxes for healthcare or you pay the insurance companies, hospitals and attorneys a lot of money. Either way the citizens of the USA have to pay for healthcare somehow. I tend to believe that the government provided healthcare would have a lot of pork in it and the quality of health care would be abysmal at best.

People who receive government healthcare in socialistic countries like Canada tell of waiting very long periods of time to get a non-emergency appointment with a doctor because there are millions of people on this program. Not a good thing as non-emergency problems can change rapidly and sometimes it is to late to take evasive action to prevent a deteriorating condition.

One way or another the citizens of the USA are going to have to pay for health care. Nothing is free…… nothing. We all pay for it somehow.  The notion that “Free Health Care” from the government is just more propaganda from the Democratic party to lure votes and popularity among the Democrats in office and those that are running for office.

ST

Obama and “His National Security Force” November 11, 2008

In my past blogs I have spoke of Barack Obama having “Dictator Tendencies”  This has been what I see in the way he addresses the nation. It is the persona that he presents to me.  I have had discussions about this with other people and they have told me that to them he speaks just like a normal person.  I have argued that it is not so.  Just look at the way he delivered his speeches in comparison to any other president or president elect.  Any other person would have showed their human compassionate side.  It was so obvious that Barack Obama delivered speeches that made him look like he is the “Only Voice of Authority” and he should never be allowed to be challenged.

In the conversations people have told me that I was the only one that ever saw that in Barack Obama.  But he often also said things that seemed to just slip by the mass crowds and be absorbed as absolute truth. Like for example that “Electing John Mc Cain is the same as putting George W. Bush back into office.” That was the most absurd lie that he ever told. 

So now we analyze more things that he has said. 

Ok so what is a “National Security Force?”  Please explain.  Another more creative person than I maybe makes a “National Security Force” a lot clearer.

Some how or other I think a “National Security Force” is a lot different than the individual states “National Guard.” If Barack Obama intended to indicate that he wanted to bolster the “National Guard” why did he not use the term “National Guard?”  To me the National Guard is an organization of “Peace Keepers” and humanitarians that come to the aid of one specific incident or disaster at a time like a hurricane, Tornado or even a local civil disturbance.  The National Guard is not a “Federal Police Force” like Barack Obama suggests in one of his speeches above. If Barack Obama had said “In addition to our armed forces we have to build up our National Guard to protect our borders from any hostile invasion, illegal immigration and insuring our national security.” I would have been a lot more comfortable with his speech.  

And again it would seem by most of my friends that I am reading to much into this.  But I’m not the only one that sees this pattern with Barack Obama.

Republican Warns of Obama Dictatorship

And again I have to go back to this logo

 

What does this mean?  OK Red, white and blue that is were the similarity to the US flag ends.

What do the three strips represent?

The dot in the center represents one unified country with no states or opposing entities.

The blue could mean blue sky.

What does this mean? Is this the new logo for the “National Security Force?”

I have to go back to young Barack’s Mentor Frank Marshal Davis who was a member of the Communist Party of the United States of America (CPUSA).

It just seems that so much of Barack’s persona leads back to the possible conversations that Barack had between himself and Frank Marshal Davis when Barack was 10-18 years old.  I still believe that this fact is a ticking time bomb with Barack Obama.

ST

Obama Presidency an Illegal Immigrant’s Dream October 30, 2008

Ok, Speaking of Illegal Immigration. It appears that Barack Obama again proves that he is not a patriot. He doesn’t care about the laws of this country. Barack Obama will tell you any lie to get a vote.

It appears that he just want to give citizenship away for free.  Ok on so he may put up a little test and make the Illegal immigrants pay a small fee. What I mean by giving it away for free is that these people will not have to pay the dues that legal immigrants who enter this country and denounce their citizenship from their native countries to become an American Citizen of the United States of American and an American Patriot.

Obama Presidency an Illegal Immigrant’s Dream

If Barack Obama was a real patriot he would be damn proud of I.C.E and what they are doing to protect the sovereignty of this great country.

Bob Barr for President 2008

ST