California Fixes Good Samaritan Law

California Legislators finally correct the wrongdoing of the State Supreme Court!

On August 6, 2009 Governor Schwarzenegger signed Assembly Bill 83 (Feuer/Benoit), legislation which encourages individuals to act as "Good Samaritans" and voluntarily help rescue others in peril. The legislation goes into effect immediately.

“Now Good Samaritans have no reason to hesitate to responsibly help someone in an emergency out of fear that they might be sued, " Assembly Member Mike Feuer said. "This legislation encourages Californians to look out for each other at a time when public resources are all too scarce. I'm proud of the broad coalition that came together to make this common sense law possible." The bill garnered unanimous bi-partisan support in its passage through the Legislature, and it created a broad and unusual alliance of support from law enforcement and rescue agencies, as well as the plaintiffs and defense bars and the American Heart Association.

“As a former Highway Patrol Commander, I’ve experienced many situations where Good Samaritans arrived first on the scene, making the difference between life and death for accident victims,” commented Senator John J. Benoit (R-Bermuda Dunes), a 31-year law enforcement veteran and principal co-author of AB 83. “Good Samaritans show kindness to others and their good acts should be encouraged, rather than discouraged.”

AB 83 reverses a recent court decision and clarifies the Legislature's intent to shield all Good Samaritans from lawsuits if they act responsibility – regardless of whether their rescue assistance is of a medical or non-medical nature. In the court case of Van Horn v. Watson, the California Supreme Court ruled that the state’s Good Samaritan statute only partially protected those who voluntarily act as Good Samaritans from possible negligence lawsuits. The Supreme Court held that such volunteer rescuers would only be shielded from lawsuits if they provided “medical care” at the scene of an emergency; they would not be protected from possible liability if they provided "non-medical care."

Another supporter of the legislation, Christine D. Spagnoli, president of Consumer Attorneys of California, stated: “This bill strikes an important balance between the human desire to help people who are in distress, and the rights of victims. Consumer attorneys are delighted to join police, firefighters, paramedics and insurance and business groups in endorsing this measure.”

“Assemblyman Feuer and his co-authors deserve a big thanks for acting quickly and fixing a quirky law that threatened to penalize people who performed noble acts in helping others in an emergency," said John H. Sullivan, president of the Civil Justice Association of California (CJAC).

Assembly Member Feuer was moved to introduce AB 83 by personal experience. While driving home from work on a Los Angeles freeway we witnessed the driver of a pickup truck swerve and lose control, overturning in traffic. Feuer helped pull the driver and his family from the overturned vehicle while others blocked traffic on the busy freeway.

Catching the Seniors Off Guard!

Today I received a solicitation from AARP's United Healthcare Insurance Company for the AARP Medicare Supplement Insurance.

I thoroughly read through each and every page of the material I received, and not once did it mention what coverage I would receive! It did suggest they have a variety of plans giving me a choice of options. Yet not once did they tell me what each of those plans did, or did not cover. It did however tell me about there being a pre-existing condition exclusion and enough gobbledy-gook about that perhaps not applying, that it would take a Miami lawyer to tell you whether you were or were not qualified under pre-existing health care coverages or not. They use the term "other exclusions may apply" but don't tell you what those exclusions might be.

The insert sheet shows plans A through L yet doesn't fully explain what you do or do not get under each plan. The heading states "See Outlines of Coverage Section for details about ALL Plans". That would be nice except there was NO Outlines of coverage section included. I did receive a rate sheet however that would allow me to choose a rate starting from $$75.60 all the way to $145.60 for "Early Enrollment Discount rates" and from $108 to $208 in the future. A supplemental piece of paper included in the package states that the plan rates shown in this package are only good for 2009. Yet the solicitation and application are for coverage effective 1/1/2010! Thus if your Medicare rates increase, so will this. And then you have no idea what you will be paying!

Finally, reading the printed page, the kicker is this statement:" This material describes the plans available through the AARP Health Care Options program but is not considered a health insurance contract or insurance certificate.

Folks, you aren't getting health insurance or health coverage, but a plan of some sort that seems very undefined. After reading it again, I can't determine what I would be paying for. And, I have experience in the insurance and healthcare field, unlike most others who have to wade through the Medicare minefield all alone and uneducated about the pitfalls.

The cover letter says call them and I, frankly, won't do that. I have had dealings with AARP in the past and they seem to have the phones handled by sharks who simply want to sell you something. I once called about auto insurance and the woman hounded me on the phone to sign up, although the coverage she was hawking was hundreds more than the AAA coverage I already had, and the AARP program even had worse coverage to boot! Then I was subject to a barrage of unwanted mail and phone solicitations for months trying to sell me more insurance. Still receive tons of junk about some form of insurance from these people just about every week.

If you can't get a clear answer to what you're buying, don't buy it. Paying for something when you don't know what you're getting is what I call paying for "air biscuits." Sounds good but no substance.

Finally, on Page 31 of the December 2009 AARP Bulletin, they have a Scam Alert on buying worthless or less than value insurance policies. Maybe they should have named themselves in that article as Consumer Reports and others have in the past!

http://bulletin.aarp.org/yourmoney/scamalert/articles/when_health_insurance_is_phony_.html

AARP Backs Obamacare and Medicare Cuts!

Today, December 2, AARP supported $460 billion dollars in Medicare cuts to fund the Obamacare health care reform bill. As Republicans tried to have the cuts restored, the AARP stated the cuts by the Democrats were just ways of eliminating waste and inefficiency within the Medicare system.

This bill will increase seniors' Medicare premiums by over $60 Billion Dollars!

What they will do is destroy the Medicare Advantage program that provides additional services and coverages to Medicare recipients who sign up for the plans. And those plans offer the extra services at no extra cost to the senior citizen in most cases. Better coverage, less cost when you are ill and can least afford it, and no more money out of your pocket at the beginning. No wonder AARP opposes that. If you can get that. why would you want the often costly and sometimes questionable coverage of AARP "supplemental insurance" programs and "prescription drug" programs that can be covered by Medicare Advantage programs with the premiums you already pay as part of your Medicare monthly costs?

Screwed by the association that seniors trust, the AARP is like a dog that bites the hand that feeds it. How seniors can trust these people is beyond me. It nauseates me to think how they deceive their members and then push for a bill that will help fill their coffers. YES, fill the AARP coffers since they offer supplemental insurance plans! And how many recognize that the AARP makes more money on revenues from hawking insurance and other products than from membership, grants and contributions?

When your Medicare benefits are cut and you need extra coverage, the AARP is going to be hawking that coverage, just as they do now. Read my past posts on their coverages, and what Consumer Reports says about some of those coverages.

Even back in 1988, Money magazine laid open the devious practices of the AARP, which was originally funded by an insurance broker named Leonard Davis, who later founded Colonial Penn Insurance, which later replaced Continental Insurance as AARP's insurer! Even Consumers Union (Consumer Reports) found fault with them back then! Read the entire story here:

http://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/moneymag_archive/1988/10/01/84702/index.htm

Think the executives who are not volunteers at AARP will be hurting on Medicare? Not a chance. According to the New York Times Business Section, December 3, 2009, "Horace B. Deets, Executive Director of the AARP earned $369,000 plus $141,806 in retirement benefits."

Barry Rand, the new CEO of AARP has an annual salary of $575,000 according to his bio published in USA Today on March 12, 2009. You can bet he won't be worrying about Medicare!

At the risk of being "politically incorrect, here's a link to what Capitol Hill is saying about the AARP back door dealings with the Democraps:

http://www.gop.gov/policy-news/09/10/20/democrats-cut-back-room-deals

Shame on AARP and their underhanded plan for screwing America's seniors!

SDGE San Diego Gouge and Extort

Some interesting facts you probably didn't think of about your residential electric bill:

If you are overcharged on your electric bill one month as a result of an incorrect meter reading, you think, and are probably told by SDG&E, they it will be lower next month and it will even out. Not so!

Facts are that any electricity you are billed for, whether you use it or not, over the "baseline allowance" of 326 kilowatt hours is charged at a higher tier rate. The rates are based at up to 100% of baseline, 101% to 130% of baseline, 131% to 200% of baseline and then another charge of 131% to 200% of baseline for some odd reason. I'm sure SDG&E can explain away the second charge that is higher for half the month than the earlier charge but that's beside the point here.

The next month, if your meter is read correctly, your bill will be lower. Lots lower, since you will be getting billed likely at the under 100% baseline usage, and thus, the lowest rate. But you already paid a premium rate the month before for electricity you never used, and SDG&E didn't give you credit on your bill for your overcharge, either, did they? You just got gouged by the utility that you have no choice but to use.

Your protection? Check the date your meter has been read in the past, learn to read your meter, and read it every month. Both gas and electric if you're wise. Because you can't trust the gas and electric company to be right every time, and when they're wrong you'll come up on the short end.

Smart Meters:

You probably heard SDG&E is spending 500 million dollars to install a million "Smart Meters in San Diego County. Their publicity and bill inserts and media would have you think this is all for your benefit, and how you'll be able to watch your meters on-line and be able to track your own energy use. Right? When the hell did the electric company do anything good for YOUR pocket that didn't line theirs?

Truth is that THEY will be able to watch your energy use, and in the future, you will see peak demand pricing just like the big energy users. If you use energy during peak hours you will pay a big price for it. It will be Big Brother Utility's way of keeping their thumb on you, to be sure you don't use more at any given time than they want you to, and if you do, they'll slam you with a big surcharge for using more than you should. In this manner they can avoid building more power plants, and make you pay for plugging in your coffee pot when you come home from work, for that extra cup of coffee. It won't be worth it! There's nothing in this for you, unless you want to spend your time at the computer watching your electric and gas meter. Incidentally, having the computer on just adds to the electric bill...should there be a credit for checking your own meter?

Oh, by the way, those "smart meters"? They're presently dumb! They have to be read by meter readers, and there are already reports of severe overcharging, as the meter readers apparently have not gotten used to reading them yet. Once again, learn to read them every month and don't depend on SDG&E to do so. If you see a mistake, call them on it immediately, or you'll end up paying the bill, and the credit you get next month will not be equal to what you paid this month.

Finally, expect BIG problems when the system goes fully computerized. Can you imagine what will happen when you put 1 million meters on line? Mistakes will likely be rampant, so read those meters, and try and keep SDG&E honest. Because if you don't tell them they made a mistake, they sure as hell won't tell you!

Swine Flu and Obamacare

This is simply a test question. There is only one question and one chance to get it right. Your life depends on the right answer. Ready? Do you trust a government that screams paranoia about the severity of the H1N1 "Swine Flu" and tells people the importance of being vaccinated if they are in a high risk group, then can't provide the vaccine in the amounts originally promised to the public?

YES or NO? Fast...you must make a decision. Because the next decision the government will likely make could be forcing Obamacare upon you and your family, like it or not. And, you need to make every effort to tell your senators your feelings about having that edict rammed down your throat, or up another orifice, before it happens and it's too late.

What happened to the original "every American being covered by health insurance"? That sure didn't last long. Those tall tale figures waned from perhaps a hundred million additional insured people to what, 36 million or so at last count? And the bill for covering one-third the number never dropped a dime, rather it seems to have remained the same or even increased?

And nobody will see the benefits of this 1.2 trillion dollar debacle (plus the billions spent by the current politicians playing with the bill to get this far) for about four years. All the while we'll be paying for it in the form of reduced Medicare benefits, reduced Medicare Advantage benefits, increased taxes and God knows what else they have cooked up to screw the taxpayer.

It comes down to a simple question. How can a government that can't get the swine flu vaccine out to the public, during a declared public health emergency, be counted on to handle a huge national health care reform en total? The simple answer is that they can't.

Does that surprise you?

Here it is the middle of November and the H1Ni vaccine is nowhere to be found, except in some public health clinics, and that's on a spotty basis. Healthcare workers are being told they must wait for vaccinations, as are senior citizens and others with cardiac and specific needs for immunization. Can you imagine having a true pandemic sweep a city or county, and all the healthcare workers who are supposed to aid the sick are instead ill themselves, too ill to care for those who need their skilled medical help? That could happen due to the manner in which the current vaccine shortage seems to be going. YOU could end up having to take care of yourself and not be able to seek medical aid. That's a scary thought.

Some figures:

• The Obama administration ordered 250 million doses of vaccine.
• They confidently predicted that 120 million doses woule be available by now (Nov 14).
• Only about 42 million doses have been received by the government as of Thursday and not all of those have been distributed.

According to Fox News "A study released Tuesday from Purdue University said it may be too late for the H1N1 vaccine to be of any benefit to Americans, as they may contract the virus before the vaccine takes effect. The study said most people would be infected during the month of October at a time when the vaccine is not available to most Americans."

Of course, the government won't admit this. "Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleeen Sebelius disagreed and said government health officials anticipate a spike in both seasonal and H1N1 cases going forward, not a drop off — meaning that the vaccine will not reach the majority of Americans too late. She added that even those infected with H1N1 in the spring should consider getting the vaccine once widespread availability is made."

Believe what you will. It's no different than fighting a war. If they sent you into battle with no defensive weapon or bullets, how good would you feel? The flu enemy is insidious and silent, but just as deadly to many. Yet the promises of a shield to stop the flu bullet just isn't coming in time for many.

AARP Endorses Obamacare

I knew it would happen. It was inevitable. The AARP jumped on the Obama bandwagon, screwed all 40 million of its members, and endorsed Obamacare, even if it means that Medicare will feel a huge hit in the future as a result of the proposed healthcare "reform" package.

In their latest "bulletin" dated November 2009, sent to members, AARP once again promises not to endorse any plan that will hurt Medicare recipients. On page 34 of that bulletin, Barry A Rand, CEO, states "We have made it clear to the president and congress that we will fight with the strength of our entire membership, nearly 40 million people, to protect your benefits. We will block any proposals that eliminate benefits, raise out-of-pocket costs, reduce access to care or lead to rationing." Yet the same day that bulletin arrives in my mail, AARP endorses just such a plan that will strip 500 billion dollars away from the Medicare Advantage plan payments so many of the nation's senior citizens depend upon for care. It is those Medicare Advantage plans, administered through private insurance companies, that make drugs affordable, doctor and hospital visits affordable, and keep the costs of simply living within the reach of many of America's aging population. Medicare is a crutch and these plans provide a walker if you look at it that way. Without them, many of us still could not afford the hight cost of medical care, even through medicare!

Even one of their own AARP members on Page 40 of the November 2009 bulletin asks "Does AARP believe that when Medicare cuts 14 percent from its payments to Medicare Advantage plans, the 25 percent of Medicare recipients enrolled in those plans will not lose benefits?" AARP didn't respond. No surprise there!

Yet, the AARP, an organization formed by and alleged to serve the senior population, sucks up to Obama's healthcare reform like a Hoover to dog dander. They have become as deceitful and politically charged and absolutely have an agenda that does not serve the greater good of the senior citizens. Millions have walked away from the AARP and joined other Senior Groups, simply due to disgust and the alliance the AARP has formed with the current administration.

I do wonder if there are back door deals, pockets being lined, or what promises are being made, to get the AARP in such lockstep with this healthcare reform bill? How can they publish statements that they won't support changes that will hurt the seniors, and on the same day align themselves with changes that will do just that?

Wake up Senior America. Time to boot these people out of your life and look for something better on the horizon. They are not doing you any favors and are selling you down the river while telling you otherwise. Look at who runs the AARP and you'll find it's not people on Medicare who really care about what happens to us. It's people making money from the organization who have it as a job just like any other. Think of AARP as a political action committee that uses it's hulk to get what they want, and not what YOU need!

Why Does AARP Support Any Healthcare Reform?

I read the AARP position papers in the newsletters, magazines and other media, and although they say attempt to say they are taking a neutral position to Obama's reform plan, AARP demands change in the healthcare system. While most of the members are significantly older than the 50 years old required to join, and should be covered by Medicare, the AARP then focuses on the prescription cost "donut hole" that impacts only a small percentage of overall Americans on Medicare, especially those who choose a decent Medicare Advantage HMO policy including prescription coverage!

The shame is that the senior citizens actually believe in AARP and the tripe they throw at their gullible audiences. Like the recent TV commercial showing the ambulance being blocked at every opportunity, by what supposedly were insurers and/or Republicans?

Sure, AARP wants to see health care reform pass, regardless how poorly the reform might be. They want to keep receiving a cut from those supplemental policies they keep hawking on TV, the media, and their own magazine and tabloid.

The fact is that Consumers Union looked at some of those policies and found them to be nearly useless in providing decent coverage–some people paid much more than the policy actually covered; some covered virtually nothing while collecting stiff premiums.

Many senior citizens don’t have a clue what they’re buying when insurance is involved. Sadly, they seem to be assured that if AARP says it’s good, it must be.

I talk to many who praise the coverage they purchased because they never had to use it. But when we review the policy, they are astounded to find they have little coverage at all.

No, I’m not an insurance counselor or agent, just someone who hates to see the older generation get ripped off when they can’t possibly understand what they’re getting.

To me it’s no different than a roofer selling you a new roof, and the first time it rains, the roof leaks and you find out there is a rain exclusion. Or the first several thousand dollars in water damage is excluded, and the policy only covers several thousand dollars.

Oh, I’m sure there are some good policies to be had, but try and differentiate between them unless you have some insurance background, and basic policy language understanding is difficult, if not impossible. Even with “plain language” policies, my spouse, who is a nurse, and I, often sit and pore over the contracts for a long time to ferret out what’s good and bad. And we don’t think we’re even close to the “average” consumer.

Maybe that is a case for reform, but you know what happens when the government gets involved. They never simplify anything. Look at your tax forms. Other than create one that says “send in all you made,” simple just is not in the government vocabulary.

The bottom line is that just because some organization says something is good, or bad, you need to make your own mind up. Like the life insurance policies that promise coverage for only so much per "unit" which in many cases is per $1000. When you multiply the monthly cost times the number of "units" you need for a decent burial and then multiply that times 12 for an annual payment, you can see that in about ten years you pay the entire cost of your funeral up front. Now if you expect to die sooner, maybe it's a good deal but read the fine print to be sure there are no exclusions that prohibit your passing on within the first several years. If there are, you could be throwing your money in a hole...and it won't even be your own grave!

Driving You to Insanity...Really

How long has it been since you took a road trip? No, a real road trip I mean, not just a few miles or even a hundred or so. I mean a thousand or more in a day or two, when you drove the vast interstate highway system, that concrete and asphalt ribbon that runs through the country like the veins and capillaries of a body, pouring life into every small city and burg along the way. And sucking the life out of so many drivers along with it!


Let's start out with some observations:

• Rest Areas: Why do some states have many rest areas and others have virtually none? And is it just a coincidence that those that have fewer rest areas have the most that are closed? California seems to lead the West in this area where you can travel long distances with no rest areas and just when you think you're lucky enough to come upon one, those dreaded orange cones announce that your bladder isn't getting any relief just yet, and your muscles tighten for another long ride.


• Drivers who live in the fast lane, regardless of their speed. Most states post signs and have laws stating that slower traffic is to keep right. It just doesn't matter. People will drive in the left lane and stay there, slowing down all the traffic behind them. That increases the potential for an accident as drivers perilously swerve around them on the right to gain distance and get back in the fast lane to pass other slower vehicles and trucks.


• Speaking of passing, many drivers will pull out to pass slower vehicles and then simply slow down to the speed of the vehicle they are passing or a tiny bit faster and then take eons to make the pass, if at all. You know the ones...the speed limit is 65, they come up on another vehicle moving at 66 and then slow down to 64 to pass. Takes about a half hour but they don't care. They seem to have no place to go and all day to get there.


• Highway construction: Why the hell don't they take down the signs that tell you the right or left lane is closed ahead when they are done for the day and nothing at all is closed? They could at least cover the sign or turn it sideways or something. You have all these drivers switching lanes, or speeding up, or slowing down anticipating something that never happens. And the DOT wonders why motorists have such a blatantly "don't give a rat's behind" attitude toward road construction? Because it seems the road construction is a 24 hour issue that never gets settled or done or even properly delineated in many cases.


• Pavement: Ever notice how the right hand truck lanes are all beat to crap from the heavy duty trucks and the ruts from the heavy loads? So the trucks don't want to drive in the mess they created and move to the middle lane when they can and leave the right lane empty, thus creating the same ruts in the middle lane. Wonder where they will go when the center lane is all screwed up too? I don't blame the truckers for not wanting to bounce like a jack-in-the-box down the highway, but they did create the problem with their trucks. Lets see them force some action by the DOT and Congress to come up with a plan to fix the roads so they don't have these problems. Incidentally, why in hell would any state use blacktop on their highways anyway, knowing full well it won't stand up to truck weights? Might want to ask the northwest states that question.


• Speaking of poor roads, driving in at least one state, you find the lanes are crowned to the point that you must constantly fight the wheel to remain straight down the road. It's not alignment or anything else, simply that the road tracks so badly you can't remain in the lane without working at it pretty intensely. I know they call the BMW the "ultimate driving machine" but really, who wants to wrestle with the wheel for hundreds of miles on what's supposed to be a decent highway system.


• Motels: Why would anyone build a motel that backs up to the interstate so close that trucks make the building shake like an earthquake? We stayed in a Best Western that was a nice place except that I was sure we were on an earthquake fault, until I realized it was the big rigs going past. The funny thing is that we had to drive a ways off the interstate to get there, but it circles back on the highway and in the dark, you couldn't tell. Actually, from the courtyard it was not nearly as noisy as in the room! Sometimes being dead tired is a blessing...


• More on motels...doesn't anyone think there are likely families traveling along the highway and that there should be some really nice hotels available. At least some that don't appear outside like a truckstop or a no-tell-motel? Many we encountered had so many semi's parked outside it was difficult to tel if they were motels or truckstops. I'm not ragging on truckers, but if the motels expect family clientele, they need to have some that are family oriented, where you don't need to run through a gamut of tankers and 40 foot boxes to reach the front door. Then again, I do understand that most clients of the motels are likely truckers moving goods up and down Interstate 5 so that's who they cater to.

• GPS downloads: Incidentally, if you download the programs for your GPS that tell you that your favorite hotel chain has a hotel at the next exit, don't expect that it will be a decent place anyway. Just because it's a national chain means nothing. And those "diamond" ratings? In some cases they should be replaced by small piles of you know what, or perhaps cockroaches. That would better signify what the hotels are like. Sometimes I wonder when the last time AAA has been to the hotel to give it a rating at all.


• One more on motels...don't shampoo the carpets if you're going to rent the room out. It makes the customers feet wet and really pisses them off when they take their shoes off! Plus, the shampooer doesn't get the carpet clean as evidenced by the filth on my white socks. Nice clean room otherwise, but hold the shampoo for warmer weather!


• Road signs: Some states post road signs well ahead so you can be prepared to make whatever moves are necessary and safe to exit or change lanes. Others seem to find it amusing to place the signs where you have to either guess, or make evasive maneuvers to exit in a hurry. Take lodging signs. Why not use English that says HOLIDAY INN or BEST WESTERN or similar. Why use a logo that you can't hardly see at night especially when the reflectivity is mostly worn off. Do they expect you to get off at every exit to see what the hell is really there? I sure guess so, since that's how we found all the creepy hotels that we wouldn't stay at! As you're cruising past the exit, you see the eatery or motel that you wish you had stopped at...after it's too late. Then you're doomed to the Roach Motel at the exit from hell.

Back to reality, road trips can be fun, yet exhausting. If you have lots of time and can take in the scenery, stop often, and have an enormous bladder, you're good to go. Otherwise, road trips put a lot of pressure on you to get where you're going and then you can relax. But there's always the trip home.

Giving Mortgages to Illegals? More Michelle Malkin

ACORN’s illegal alien home loan racket

By Michelle Malkin • September 18, 2009 08:33 AM

My column today blasts ACORN Housing Corporation’s criminal-enabling home loan program for illegal aliens. To paraphrase Jon Stewart: Where the hell is everyone?

AHC is one of the endless non-profit arms of ACORN. Their response to the BigGovernment.com sting videos hasn’t received as much attention as the national ACORN flagship’s. You can read AHC’s CYA reaction here.

***

ACORN’s illegal alien home loan racket
by Michelle Malkin
Creators Syndicate
Copyright 2009

There’s one thing more shocking than the illegal alien smuggling advice that an ACORN official in San Diego gave undercover journalists James O’Keefe and Hannah Giles. It’s the illegal alien criminal racket that ACORN has already been operating with the full knowledge of the U.S. government.

On Wednesday, O’Keefe and Giles published the fifth in a series of BigGovernment.com sting videos. ACORN official Juan Carlos Vera coached the pimp-and-prostitute-posing pair on how best to pull off a border-busting smuggling operation. It would be “better from Tijuana,” he counseled on videotape. Carlos Vera then generously offered the investigative couple his Mexican “contacts” to bring 12 illegal alien girls into the country for prostitution.

GOP California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger now wants an investigation. But neither the Terminator nor any other California public officials raised a peep when the very same San Diego ACORN office publicly announced a partnership with Citibank to secure home loans for illegal aliens. In 2005, Citibank and ACORN Housing Corporation – which has received tens of millions of tax dollars under the Bush administration alone — began recruiting Mexican illegal aliens for a lucrative program offering loans with below-market interest rates, down-payment assistance and no mortgage insurance requirements. Instead of Social Security numbers required of law-abiding citizens, the program allows illegal alien applicants to supply loosely-monitored tax identification numbers issued by the IRS.

The San Diego Union-Tribune reported that “undocumented residents” comprise a vast market representing a potential sum of “$44 billion in mortgages.” Citibank enlarged its portfolio of subprime and other risky loans. ACORN enlarged its membership rolls. The program now operates in Miami; New York City; Jersey City, N.J.; Baltimore; Washington, D.C.; Chicago; Bridgeport, Conn., and at all of ACORN Housing’s 12 California offices. San Diego ACORN officials advised illegal alien recruits that their bank partners would take applicants who had little or no credit, or even “nontraditional records of credit, such as utility payments and documentation of private loan payments.”

The risk the banks bear is the price they pay to keep ACORN protesters and Hispanic lobbyists from the National Council of La Raza screaming about “predatory lending” off their backs. These professional grievance-mongers have turned the 1977 Community Reinvestment Act – which forced lenders to sacrifice underwriting standards for “diversity” – into lucrative “business” opportunities. Or rather, politically correct blackmail. As the Consumer Rights League noted in a 2008 report on the group’s successful shakedowns of financial institutions, “an agreement with Citibank, a significant ACORN donor and partner, showed that some activists become less active when deals are in place.”

In the wake of the sting videos, ACORN officials are making a great show of clamoring for “reform.” ACORN chief executive Bertha Lewis blamed the debacles across the country on the “indefensible action of a handful of our employees.” But the corruption is systemic. ACORN has long thrown rank-and-file operatives under the bus to cover for its management’s indefensible conduct. And ACORN’s highly-touted advisory watchdogs include inherently conflicted foxes guarding the henhouse:

ACORN advisory council member Henry Cisneros resigned from his post as Clinton HUD Secretary after lying to FBI agents about payments to a former mistress.

ACORN advisory council member Andy Stern is president of the SEIU, the Big Labor organization plagued by embezzlement scandals and inextricably linked to ACORN’s disgraced founder Wade Rathke. (And see my document drop here on ACORN’s “nurturing” of SEIU Local 100.)

And ACORN advisory council member Eric Eve of Citigroup is a champion of the ACORN/Citibank illegal alien loan program that openly undermines immigration laws and integrity in banking.

The truth is more sordid than any fictional scenarios caught on tape: ACORN is a criminal enterprise.

Posted in: ACORN Watch, Immigration, SEIU

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ACORN and Obama, Courtesy of Michelle Malkin

Obama plays dumb on ACORN

By Michelle Malkin • September 20, 2009 11:21 AM

Photoshop credit: Leo Alberti

Channeling clueless Charlie Gibson and Nancy Pelosi, President Obama is playing dumb about ACORN. Here’s what he said on ABC’s This Week this morning:

STEPHANOPOULOS: But have your — have some of your allies made it easier for — handed your opponents some ammunition, like ACORN, for example…

OBAMA: Well, look, the — you know, I think that — are there folks in the Democratic camp or on the left who haven’t — haven’t always operated in ways that I’d appreciate? Absolutely.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Congress said they should cut off all funding for ACORN.

OBAMA: Is — is — is…

STEPHANOPOULOS: … all funding for ACORN. Are you for that?

OBAMA: Is that true on the other side, as well? Of course that’s true.

STEPHANOPOULOS: How about the funding for ACORN?

OBAMA: You know, it’s — frankly, it’s not really something I’ve followed closely. I didn’t even know that ACORN was getting a whole lot of federal money.

STEPHANOPOULOS: Both the Senate and the House have voted to cut it off.

OBAMA: You know, what I know is, is that what I saw on that video was certainly inappropriate and deserves to be investigated.

STEPHANOPOULOS: So you’re not committing to — to cut off the federal funding?

OBAMA: George, this is not the biggest issue facing the country. It’s not something I’m paying a lot of attention to.

It strains credulity — no, it snaps credulity in half — to believe Obama “didn’t even know” that ACORN was “getting a whole lot of federal money” given his extensive legal services on behalf of the group and training for its voter education arm, Project Vote. (Go re-read my column from June 2008, “The ACORN Obama knows,” and all the links for a refresher course.)

Repeat after me: Obama is ACORN. ACORN is Obama. Barack Obama can no more disown ACORN than he could disown his own shadow.

Now that the White House supports an investigation, Congress should make sure to investigate:

1) How Team Obama hid its $800,000 campaign payment to ACORN through front group “Citizen Services, Inc.”;

2) How Team Obama shared donor lists with the president’s old employer, ACORN affiliate Project Vote, a 501(c)(3) organization, which is prohibited from engaging in political activity (Mr. President, meet Anita MonCrief);

3) And how Project Vote and hundreds of myriad entities intermingled non-profit, tax-exempt funding with the national ACORN flagship’s political operations — a buried story Obama would know about if he read NYTimes reporter Stephanie Strom’s report last October before she was muzzled as Election Day drew near.

Bring it on.

My comments: Once again our fearless leader only knows or pretends to know what he wants to know or hear. He plays ostrich when it's convenient and later says that we need to investigate Acorn. Sure...but he'll be sure the investigation is superficial and doesn't uncover too much because of his past dealings with ACORN, although we already seem to know much about that. Hmm...has the nut fallen right on the tree in this case?

Start a Fire and Charge the Rate Payers

San Diego Gas and Electric, often referred to as San Diego Gouge and Extort, has come up with yet another way to shift the burden away from their shareholders and on to the backs of their customers. Charge them for the costs of the lawsuits they lost as a result of their alleged negligence in the huge wildfires in San Diego County! My God, man, isn't that akin to an arsonist charging you for the cost of their matches?

I realize they didn't start the fires intentionally, and that SDG&E are not arsonists, but both Cal-Fire and the California Public Utilities Commission has determined that three of the worst fires, the Witch, Guejit0 and Rice Fires, were caused by SDG&E's power lines malfunctioning during Santa Ana winds. Those malfunctions caused destruction of thousands of acres of wildland and over a thousand homes.

So, now we receive word that SDG&E and Southern California Gas Company, Pacific Gas & Electric and Southern California Edison are asking for a rate increase, called the Wildfire Claims Cost Recovery, that will allow them to recoup uninsured costs associated with wildfires. Even as a result of their own alleged negligence? Isn't that sweet? Here's what their bill insert says:

"In the face of a potential insurance crisis that may limit the utilities' ability to obtain insurance coverage, the application asks for CPUC to approve for each utility to establish a Wildfire Expense Balancing Account (WEBA) to record for future recovery all uninsured costs arising from wildfires, including:

1. Payments to satisfy wildfire claims, including any, co-insurance and deductible expense paid by the utilities;
2. Outside legal costs incurred in the defense of wildfire claims;
3. Premiums for insurance against wildfire claims;
4. The cost of financing these amounts"

In my way of thinking, this is like asking a judge to allow a negligent or drunk driver to receive fees from the parties he hit in an accident, to pay for his increased insurance costs, and to pay for legal defense costs in the event he gets sued again for negligent or drunk driving! Only every ratepayer will be paying these fees, including those who lost their homes and property in past fires resulting from malfunctions in utility equipment or lines.

Sure they are getting nailed with increased insurance costs. If you are deemed negligent, insurance companies raise your premium, or find you an unacceptable risk and do not want you. That's the facts of life. So the utilities want the ratepayers to cover the big insurance costs because they screwed up? Is that part of this message? Once again, pass the guilt on to the people who rely upon you for services and have nowhere else to turn for the product.

And, what's this about the gas utilities joining in? What do they know that we don't know? Are they concerned that regulators and gas transmission lines will turn into blowtorches and incinerators in the event of a wildfire? If so, why not get off the dime and be sure that can't happen, rather than get the ratepayers to cover their costs for any losses they might incur.

What happened to big business standing the losses they incur? Don't tell me or any other ratepayer that SDG&E isn't making money. Pass the expenses on to the stockholders just like every other corporation does. You make some money, you lose some money. Most of the time you seem to be rolling in the dough and whenever you get a chance you're squeezing the ratepayer with some scheme to suck more money out of their pocket. Spending money stuffing the mail with energy saving tips while raising the rates. Shame on you.

Yup, San Diego Gouge and Extort hits it right on the nail head. What the hell happened when corporations had a conscience? Oh, wait, that was way back when the government lost theirs too....

Tha California Public Utilities Commission should say NO loud and clear to these utilities; tell them to grow up and stand on their own two feet. Cut payments to their shareholders. Let the fat cats in the big offices take a cut in salary; lay off some of the administrative help like the rest of the busineses have had to do. . And., maybe slow down the SDG&E trucks we see driving at 20 plus miles over the speed limit and save some fuel costs that could help keep our bills in check. And save wear and tear on the trucks too.

Politicians all Lie...So What's the Problem?

If you simply remove all doubt about the veracity of any and all politicians, and understand there is always going to be a time that they will lie, you won't wonder if they are telling the truth. You will always wonder if they are lying or not and disbelieve just about everything they say. The only question is exactly what part of the truth they have distorted or put a "spin" on to make it a lie, or so far from the truth that it really isn't the truth but they want to make believe it really is. You remember the old adage.."How can you tell if a politician is lying? Their mouth is moving!" Unless they're a good ventriloquist, that's probably true.

Take Bill Clinton. Please take him! You remember the immoral ex-president who "never had sex" with Monica Lewinsky. Now he's saying that Congressman Joe Wilson's outburst telling Obama "you Lie" was "racially motivated"? What a jerk. The same Bill Clinton who couldn't tell the truth if it smacked him in the face like an open book, written in first grade language? The same Bill Clinton who was disbarred from the US Supreme Court and who had his Arkansas law license suspended for five years in 2001? The same Bill Clinton who is the subject of many pieces, both online and off detailing nothing but lies emanating from him and his cabinet and his cover ups? And he has the balls to accuse anyone of anything? During his wife's campaign, he did everything he could to smear Obama (who I am not defending incidentally) and now wants to jump on the political bandwagon once again, by denigrating Wilson for his remark.

You GO, Joe! Maybe it wasn't in great decorum to make that remark, but you were right on target. We the people are sick and tired of the lies, and the run around, from the mealy-mouthed politicians who tell us things that are blatant lies and untruths, then backpedal, and can't remember the crap they told us before, stating we just didn't understand what they said. Or in Obama's words, he should have "calibrated" it differently.

They have enough hot air to float the entire state of New Mexico, let alone the balloons that race there!

Obama Goes to Montana and Spins and Spins

No, he wasn't caught up in a tornado, unfortunately. Just that he and the spin doctors, according to the below, put the usual spin on their left-winged political agenda, and the truth is nowhere to be seen. Not in the press, and certainly not in the glib drivel that emanates from his oration.

As if there isn't enough bullshit in Montana (Yes, they have a huge number of bulls in that state..it's a great cattle market) the American people were fed a line about how receptive the people of Montana were to Obama and his health care plan. As the e-mail below points out, it was all allegedly staged as a giant, highly expensive ruse. Conning the people is Washington's game, and the current administration are geniuses at it. I guess if you stage it right, even the trip into the cyanide showers at Auschwitz could seem inviting, couldn't it? Another person with a moustache had a way with words that led a nation to ruin; a pied piper of sorts. Seems like the tactics are reappearing once again by isolating the dissenters and creating an illusion of support by the masses. As Kathy points out, smoke and mirrors, lots of them at our expense.

The e-mail, exactly as received:

Hello All,

By now you have probably heard that President Obama came to Montana last Friday. However, there are many things that the major news has not covered. I feel that since Bill and I live here and we were at the airport on Friday I should share some facts with you. Whatever you decide to do with the information is up to you. If you chose to share this email with others I do ask that you DELETE my email address before you forward this on.

On Wednesday, August 5th it was announced locally that the President would be coming here. There are many groups here that are against his healthcare and huge spending so those groups began talking and deciding on what they were going to do. The White House would not release ANY details other than the date.

On about Tuesday Bill found out that they would be holding the "Town Hall" at the airport. (This is only because Bill knows EVERYONE at the airport) Our airport is actually located outside of Belgrade (tiny town) in a very remote location. Nothing is around there. They chose to use a hangar that is the most remotely located hangar. You could not pick a more remote location, and you can not get to it easily. It is totally secluded from the public.

FYI: We have many areas in Belgrade and Bozeman which could have held a large amount of folks with sufficient parking. (gymnasiums/auditoriums). All of which have chairs and tables, and would not have to be SHIPPED IN!! $$$$$

During the week, cargo by the TONS was being shipped in constantly. Airport employees could not believe how it just kept coming. Though it was our President coming several expressed how excessive it was, especially during a recession. $$$$$

Late Tuesday/early Wednesday the 12th, they said that tickets would be handed out on Thursday 9am at two locations and the president would be arriving around 12:30 Friday.

Thursday morning about 600 tickets were passed out. However, 1500 were printed at a Local printing shop per White House request. Hmmmm......900 tickets just DISAPPEARED.

This same morning someone called into the radio from the local UPS branch and said that THOUSANDS of Dollars of Lobster were shipped in for Obama. Montana has some of the best beef in the nation!!! And it would have been really wonderful to help out the local economy. Anyone heard of the Recession?? Just think...with all of the traveling the White House is doing. $$$$$ One can only imagine what else we are paying for.

On Friday Bill and I got out to the airport about 10:45am. The groups that wanted to protest Obama's spending and healthcare had gotten a permit to protest and that area was roped off. But that was not to be. A large bus carrying SEIU (Service Employees International Union) members drove up onto the area (illegal)and unloaded right there. It was quite a commotion and there were specifically 2 SEIU men trying to make trouble and start a fight. Police did get involved and arrested the one man but they said they did not have the manpower to remove the SEIU crowd.

The SEIU crowd was very organized and young. About 99% were under the age of 30 and they were not locals! They had bullhorns and PROFESSIONALLY made signs. Some even wore preprinted T-shirts. Oh, and Planned Parenthood folks were with them.....professing abortion rights with their T-shirts and preprinted signs. (BTW, all these folks did have a permit to protest in ANOTHER area)

Those against healthcare/spending moved away from the SEIU crowd to avoid confrontation. They were orderly and respectful. Even though SEIU kept coming over and walking through, continuing to be very intimidating and aggressive at the direction of the one SEIU man.

So we had Montana folks from ALL OVER the state with their homemade signs and their DOGS with homemade signs. We had cowboys, nurses, doctors you name it. There was even a guy from Texas who had been driving through. He found out about the occasion, went to the store, made a sign, and came to protest.

If you are wondering about the press.....Well, all of the major networks were over by that remote hangar I mentioned. They were conveniently parked on the other side of the buildings FAR away. None of these crowds were even visible to them. I have my doubts that they knew anything about the crowds.

We did have some local news media around us from this state and Idaho . Speaking of the local media...they were invited. However, all questions were to be turned into the White House in advance of the event. Wouldn't want anyone to have to think off the top of their head.

It was very obvious that it was meant to be totally controlled by the White House. Everything was orchestrated down to the last detail to make it appear that Montana is just crazy for Obama and government healthcare. Even those people that talked about their insurance woes........the White House called our local HRDC (Human Resource and Development Committee) and asked for names. Then the White House asked those folks to come. Smoke and mirrors...EVERYTHING was staged!!!!!!!!!!!

I am very dismayed about what I learned about our current White House. The amount of control and manipulation was unbelievable. I felt I was not living in the United States of America , more like the USSR !! I was physically nauseous. Bill and I have been around when Presidents or Heads of State visit. It has NEVER been like this. I am truly very frightened for our country. America needs your prayers and your voices. If you care about our country please get involved. Know the issues. And let Congress hear your voices again and again!! If they are willing to put forth so much effort to BULLY a small town one can only imagine what is going on in Washington DC . Scary!!

Kathy

Bozeman , Montana

You decide. Does this sound like another Obama staged "Town Hall Meeting" where he buses in supporters once again and isolates his opponents? Sure sounds like it to me.

Rebates - Screwing the Public Even if You Jump Through the Hoops!

Rebates. The promise of cold, hard cash back for making their brand your choice! You buy the product, carefully read the rules, fill out the coupon, circle the date and purchased item on the receipt, cut out the UPC Code from the package, put the dated register receipt, UPC Code and register receipt in an envelope with the rebate address carefully printed on the outside and with your 44 cent stamp attached. Then you wait, and wait. Sometimes, you actually win, and then, sometimes you actually get screwed, as happened to me today.

This is no huge rebate, just $7.99 on a bag of Tyson frozen chicken. But after doing all the above and especially circling the purchase date (which I always do as sometimes I know it could be hard to find) today I receive a card in the mail from CMS Rebate Center telling me my rebate is not qualified because "Reg receipt did not contain a valid purchase date." WTF??

Luckily, I make copies of each and every rebate I send in and sure enough, there big as day is the purchase date of 7/19/09 circled on the store identified register receipt. The rebate period is from 5/1/09 to 10/31/09 so it sure was a valid date!

The rebate company states to resubmit the "missing information" within "7 business days" to an address they provide. I'm resubmitting it, and submitting copies to the Better Business Bureau, Consumer Affairs and filed a complaint with Tyson Foods.

Why? Because I think this is just another way to screw the consumer out of their rebate. Who could miss the purchase date circled? Do they employ the visually handicapped to read the submissions? What next...they'll say it wasn't returned within the seven business days and therefore invalid? Would save them lots of money to just send out postcards instead of rebates, wouldn't it? We all have heard about how some rebate companies have scammed their customers by refunding the money, but not to the consumer. And others who make big bucks by the number of rebates they can deny rather than by the number of rebates they fulfill.

As an investigator, I don't get mad. I generally get even at some time, sooner or later. I could tell you of getting ripped off for five thousand dollars some years back, that cost a company millions in the end, but that's a story for another day.

UPDATE: After writing to Tyson (who simply asked what I bought and no further response...no more of their products for me) and calling the rebate company (who were very nice on the phone I might add) I received a notice in my e-mail today, September 1, stating my rebate was being processed and would be received in two to four weeks. All of this for a rebate, which still brings the question of how many thousands are not getting their rebates because they don't complain?

I suggest people buy products with instant savings and let the stores know that the store should be doing the instant rebate and the work if they want to sell the product. Bags of old outdated chicken left on a shelf would tell the company more than you could imagine!

The REAL ObamaCare Plan

First off, for those who doubt this at all, Dr. Janda's writings and factual statements have been authenticated on Snopes.com at the following URL:

http://www.snopes.com/politics/soapbox/janda.asp

Written by Dr. Dave Janda

Thursday, 23 July 2009
As a physician who has authored books on preventative health care, I was given the opportunity to be the keynote speaker at a Congressional Dinner at The Capitol Building in Washington last Friday (7/17).

The presentation was entitled Health Care Reform, The Power & Profit of Prevention, and I was gratified that it was well received.

In preparation for the presentation, I read the latest version of "reform" as authored by The Obama Administration and supported by Speaker Pelosi and Senator Reid. Here is the link to the 1,018 page document:

http://edlabor.house.gov/documents/111/pdf/publications/AAHCA-BillText-071409.pdf

Let me summarize just a few salient points of the above plan. First, however, it should be clear that the same warning notice must be placed on The ObamaCare Plan as on a pack of cigarettes: Consuming this product will be hazardous to your health.

The underlying method of cutting costs throughout the plan is based on rationing and denying care. There is no focus on preventing health care need whatever. The plan's method is the most inhumane and unethical approach to cutting costs I can imagine as a physician.

The rationing of care is implemented through The National Health Care Board, according to the plan. This illustrious Board "will approve or reject treatment for patients based on the cost per treatment divided by the number of years the patient will benefit from the treatment."

Translation.....if you are over 65 or have been recently diagnosed as having an advanced form of cardiac disease or aggressive cancer.....dream on if you think you will get treated.....pick out your coffin.

Oh, you say this could never happen? Sorry.... this is the same model they use in Britain .

The plan mandates that there will be little or no advanced treatments to be available in the future. It creates The Federal Coordinating Council For Comparative Effectiveness Research, the purpose of which is "to slow the development of new medications and technologies in order to reduce costs." Yes, this is to be the law.

The plan also outlines that doctors and hospitals will be overseen and reviewed by The National Coordinator For Health Information and Technology.

This " coordinator" will "monitor treatments being delivered to make sure doctors and hospitals are strictly following government guidelines that are deemed appropriate." It goes on to say....."Doctors and hospitals not adhering to guidelines will face penalties."

According to those in Congress, penalties could include large six figure financial fines and possible imprisonment.

So according to The ObamaCare Plan....if your doctor saves your life you might have to go to the prison to see your doctor for follow -up appointments. I believe this is the same model Stalin used in the former Soviet Union .

Section 102 has the Orwellian title, "Protecting the Choice to Keep Current Coverage." What this section really mandates is that it is illegal to keep your private insurance if your status changes - e.g., if you lose or change your job, retire from your job and become a senior, graduate from college and get your first job. Yes, illegal.

When Mr. Obama hosted a conference call with bloggers urging them to pressure Congress to pass his health plan as soon as possible, a blogger from Maine referenced an Investors Business Daily article that claimed Section 102 of the House health legislation would outlaw private insurance.

He asked: "Is this true? Will people be able to keep their insurance and will insurers be able to write new policies even though H.R. 3200 is passed?" Mr. Obama replied: "You know, I have to say that I am not familiar with the provision you are talking about."

Then there is Section 1233 of The ObamaCare Plan, devoted to "Advanced Care Planning." After each American turns 65 years of age they have to go to a mandated counseling program that is designed to end life sooner.

This session is to occur every 5 years unless the person has developed a chronic illness then it must be done every year. The topics in this session will include, "how to decline hydration, nutrition and how to initiate hospice care." It is no wonder The Obama Administration does not like my emphasis on Prevention. For Mr. Obama, prevention is the "enemy" as people would live longer.

I rest my case. The ObamaCare Plan is hazardous to the health of every American.

After I finished my Capitol Hill presentation, I was asked by a Congressman in the question-answer session: "I'll be doing a number of network interviews on the Obama Health Care Plan. If I am asked what is the one word to describe the plan what should I answer."

The answer is simple, honest, direct, analytical, sad but truthful. I told him that one word is FASCIST.

Then I added, "I hope you'll have the courage to use that word, Congressman. No other word is more appropriate."
Dr. Dave Janda, MD, is an orthopedic surgeon, and a world-recognized expert on the prevention of sports injuries, particularly in children. His web site is noinjury.com

Democrats and Obama's Town Hall Meetings

First off, Obama pre-loaded his town hall meeting in Portsmouth, NH with a bunch of shills. The meeting was quiet and, as usual, Obama didn't answer any question directly, but did the usual dance around the questions leaving lots of room to change the story according to his whim in the future. The little girl who asked the health care question was pre-primed and was the daughter of a contributor and an Obama activist! Not a child with a simple question, but an Obama plant. Not even from New Hampshire, but from Massachusetts! Some say Obama even had people bused to the meeting from other states to assure a friendly crowd. What a bunch of crap that was.

Look at the video above. He compares the proposed health care system to the Post Office. Losing money every year, increasing the rates twice a year lately, cutting services and going broke. Yet he indicates that FedEx and UPS are doing fine. Hmm, sound like they need to let the private insurers handle this one with some government subsidies somehow? We definitely do not need a health care system that runs like the Post Office. Or, maybe when you reach end-of-life you suddenly go "postal"?

Far from the way the congressmen and senators were received at town hall meetings across the country. The public damn near tore their heads off about how the health care issue was being handled, spending and other issues. And Senator Arlen Specter had the unmitigated gall to state that the disgruntled Americans "were not necessarily representative of America". He must be a freaking idiot to think that and make that statement. Just who in hell does he think goes to those meetings to stand up and voice their opinions? People from Russia? No, Senator, Americans who are sick and tired of getting screwed by the way fast and loose spending politicians work on Capitol Hill. Those Pennsylvanians had your butt in their sights and were about to run you through the corn binder!

And it happened all over America. Yet the politicians think it's a minor issue and only a few loud-mouth Americans are speaking out. The crying shame is that more people didn't shout out on Election Day 2008 when it would have counted! But you can get these jerks out of office as soon as possible. Want to rock their world? Simply vote every incumbent Democrat out of office and put in a Republican and do the same for the Republicans. A completely fresh slate! And maybe start a campaign to impeach the egotistical, narcissistic leader who's at the head of this mess we're in?

One press release stated a "narrow slice of Americans who not only don't trust government, but also have come to regard it as a dark conspirator in their lives." WTF? That "narrow slice" is becoming a whole pie from what I see. Who decided that narrow slice theory. The yellow journalistic media who clears writings with the White House? With Obama at the helm people are becoming more and more distrustful of the government. With "planted" questioners to add to the dishonesty, tainted politicians on his staff from the very beginning. (usually they get that way after they gain entrance to office!)

Now I read that the government is worried because the right wing "militias" are once again having a resurgence in many areas of the country. The ATF as well as other official sources indicate such groups appear to be spreading rapidly, with "the most growth seen in a decade" according to the ATF. "Stresses of a poor economy, and a liberal administration lead by a black president" are among the causes for the recent rise, according to a report from the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Gun purchases are at an all-time high and building. Personally, I think the government is worried that the people will revolt over what they're doing? I don't condone that at all, and it is scary as hell to think about what could happen if something like that ever comes to being!

The politicians need to start thinking more about their constituents and less about their pockets and aligning themselves with their parties. That's one major problem...they don't vote with a conscience because I don't believe many have a conscience. They vote along party lines to pass what's best for the party no matter how bad it screws the American people, then go back later and spend billions or trillions more to try and fix what they screwed up in the first place. They're no better than the government contractors who throw away your tax dollars on $600 toilet seats, and $400 hammers, or building an aircraft that costs $44,000 an hour to fly. Then again, give them the ability to spend, spend, spend with no real oversight and it's like letting a child run loose unsupervised in a candy store. A very big and costly candy store at that!

Lack of Comments Tell Me Nobody Cares

After all this time, the blog has had but a handful of comments, yet thousands of readers. I can only suppose that means either nobody much cares, and I am completely correct in presuming America has become a country of apathetic lemmings who don't have much to share about where their country is going. Or, that most just don't give a damn about what happens in America and sit and hope for the best, come what may.

I've shared my opinions on what's gone wrong in the country, and now it's your turn. While you all pay your share of the huge tax burden the current administration is heaping on your shoulders, while you just sit and accept it, remember you heard the warnings from multiple sources, including right here. Remember the campaign promises of "not one cent in new taxes"? Last month it was let's tax the rich. Now the theme is more new taxes on the middle class! The middle class has been paying for everyone in this damned country forever, and it's going to get worse. Funny thing is how the "middle class" keeps being those who can afford it least, yet those who continually get all the freebies and screw the government on welfare and social service programs never end up becoming the middle class, no matter how much they make, because they hide it from the government. Same with the illegals who get paid in cash and don't pay taxes, and day laborers who get paid "under the table". Yet they will become beneficiaries of new healthcare legislation the "middle class" will pay for...

What is "middle class"? That all depends on who you talk to and where you live. In some areas of the country, living on $30,000 gives you a comfortable middle class lifestyle, while in California it will give you poverty. Maybe it's best to use what Wikipedia calls the Vernacular Middle Class:

Vernacular middle class

The term middle class in more colloquial language use may refer to all those individuals who might at one point or another be identified as middle class, as they occupy neither extreme of the socio-economic strata. Most of those with households income between $40,000 and $95,000 identify as "middle class." The term can also be used to describe those at the actual center of the income strata, who may also be referred to as the middle-middle class. There are many different theories on the middle-middle class. The middle-middle class may be composed of those households with annual incomes of 80% to 120% of the national median household income. Persons in this income range could, in accordance to solely economic reasoning, be referred to as the American average. Such households would boast annual incomes ranging from $35,200 to $52,800, and thus be located in the middle of the income range. Some of these households, while actually being in the middle and thus sometimes referred to as being middle class, cannot, however, afford the middle class lifestyle. Yet another definition states that the statistical middle class includes all those households with income ranging from $25,000 to $100,000. This is, however, a very vague definition, as it includes persons from all but the lowest quintile. Using this definition creates a class so economically fragmented that it would lump together those who are struggling to make ends meet with two incomes and those who are able to live the iconic middle class lifestyle with just one income and are highly educated.

Your president wants to assure his ingratiation with all the people who don't want to work, won't work and are on the eternal dole, the illegals and the minorities (wait...we're the minorities, so strike that comment) and he's willing to bankrupt the country to do so. The heads of the agencies handling the money can't account for where it has been going, and don't know how to answer factually questions from Senators and Congressman when questioned about it. They just either play dumb or are actually dumb, or a combination of both. Even overseers of entire government departments, such as the Federal reserve can't tell where trillions of dollars have gone. Or maybe they know and won't tell?

What happened to all the bail out money? Some of the banks took the money they were supposed to use to lend to people who needed mortgages, and paid off their own debts, and bought other banks. Then ended up in deep crap anyway. The CBS Evening News with Katie Couric on January 12 did a segment on this. What a shame for the American taxpayers, and the government made sure it slipped under the radar so we wouldn't see it.

So, America, sit back and get screwed. You seem to be enjoying the fruits of your voting booth antics. You pushed or poked the ballot blanks for this group of morons, and now we're all stuck with them. And sadly, our children and grandchildren will be stuck with the legacy of their overspending and huge debt. Strangely the incumbents try and place the blame on the former administration for all the failures, and pat themselves on the back for any small success. Yet look at the debt...why is it so much more today than a year ago? That wasn't the prior group giving billions away while you ate canned beans, folks.

Just ask yourself...are you and the economy better off now than you were a year ago? Is your 401(k) or retirement plan better off now than it was a year ago? Is unemployment better now than a year ago? Are there more store closings now than a year ago? Are there more bankruptcies now than a year ago? That's right, folks. You made a really bad choice. One Big Assed Mistake America...

Smaller Size, Costs More, Consumer is Screwed Again!

Has anyone noticed what's happening to many of your favorite products in the grocery store? Right before your eyes, it seems, they're shrinking!

You think you're getting a great price on ice cream in those "half gallon" cartons? Think again! Many ice cream brands went from 2 quarts or one-half gallon to 1.75 quarts and many of us didn't really notice. But now, the size has dwindled to 1.5 quarts. Yes, you're losing 25% of the ice cream you used to get to feed your family, and the stores make it seem like it's a bargain when they put it on "sale"! It's not a bargain, friends, it's just the real price you should be paying for the product if you weren't getting screwed on content and sizing!

Same with orange juice, I purchased a carton of Tropicana Trop 50 less sugar juice and found the container to contain not 64 ounces as you would expect, but 59 ounces, although at first glance the container appears similar to a standard 64 ounce half-gallon juice Pure-Pak carton. Hmm, sleight of hand here in this fast switcheroo I guess. Even the Tropicana three-quart jug has shrunk to just 89 ounces, but executives say your juice is replaced by a snap cap and new jug style. I've found that hard to swallow, literally and figuratively. Besides, plastic is as hard to digest as is the marketing ploys of these companies.

Simply Orange, that used to come in a half-gallon size container is now also 59 ounces. No notice of the smaller size here either! Florida's Natural is still found in 64 ounce half-gallon cartons but the jugs are 89 ounces and not 96 ounces anymore. Yet Minute Maid, if purchased in the bottle is 59 ounces and in the carton is 64 ounces. Yet in most stores, the bottle costs more! Hmm, less product and more plastic for the landfill or recycle bin. Nice!

Cereal boxes contain less cereal, although some boxes remain large to give you the illusion of getting more cereal than is in the box. One ploy is for the manufacturer to say thgey're going "green" and decreasing their packaging material, but not telling you that your paid-for content also went out the window as well. Shrinkage works in mysterious ways, doesn't it? Some packages of other products have decreased in size, and the manufacturers say it's to keep from increasing the price to the consumer. Bulls**t! To put it bluntly. Seems they don't tell the supermarket that!

When fuel prices went up sky-high, the manufacturers and producers used that as an excuse to raise prices. Some of that was understandable, but now that fuel prices are about two dollars a gallon less than they were a year ago, the prices haven't dropped much, if at all. What's the excuse now? Are we paying for an all-new fleet of more fuel-efficient trucks and have to do it in one year? Isn't that part of the cost of doing business? Some bought fuel on open markets and got caught when prices went down and now we're paying for the tens of thousands of gallons of fuel they paid four-fifty to five dollars a gallon for and can't back out of deals.

I'd suggest consumers boycott companies who are ripping you off on their products. Do not purchase juices and ice cream, cereal and pizza and other products where the weight or volume had been decreased without a commensurate decrease in daily pricing! Not a single sale price, but daily overall pricing. And write the companies on their web site and ell them you won't but. Flood them with phone calls at their 800 numbers.

Don't you feel screwed enough by the government, without getting it from the manufacturers, retailers and corporate America too? Then do something about it!

Damn, America, you only have so many orifices!