Archive for February, 2010

Who Cares About Health Care? (Feb. 22, 2010)

Posted in Debt/Deficits, Global Climate Change, Health Care, Housing on February 22, 2010 by e-commentary.org

. . .

Z          “No one.  Think about it.  Everyone gets free health care today.  They just follow Bush’s suggestion and wander into the emergency room.  An emergency room is not designed to handle the consequences of deferred preventive medicine and other ordinary medical needs, yet the e.r. is the dumping grounds for the populace.  When the patients cannot pay, they file bankruptcy.  Then we pay.  We have inefficient and inequitable socialized and nationalized health care right now in America.  The coverage is codified in Title 11, the Bankruptcy Code, rather than Title 42, covering Public Health and Social Welfare, in the United States Code.”

Y          “So the real economic cost to the nation as a whole is not much more and not much less than the health care proposals.”

Z          “Not when you net all the costs.  Efficient health care is critical to the health of the nation, yet the public really does not care.  Right now, everyone wants a job to go to during the day and a house to come home to at night.  What is happening outside the house to the climate and the environment is not an immediate concern.  Health care, the national Debt and other issues are secondary.”

Y          “The people are still afraid and concerned, yet they are overwhelmed by the lies and the deception.”

. . .

Bumper sticker of the week:

Streamline national health insurance

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Corporations United (Feb. 15, 2010)

Posted in Conflicts of Interest, First Amendment, Perjury/Dishonesty, Politics, Supreme Court on February 15, 2010 by e-commentary.org

“In Citizens United, five of our good friends at the Supreme Court decreed that a corporation is a legal person entitled to the First Amendment safeguards amended to the Constitution.  A legal ‘person’ is defined differently in different situations.  The typical ‘person’ is a living, breathing and sentient citizen not a corporation.”

“As I recall, a nautical vessel is also a legal ‘person,’ yet it cannot bring or maintain a lawsuit for instance.”

“Exactly.  A corporation is also a legal person, yet not one that is entitled to the full panoply of constitutional safeguards.  The decision in effect subordinates the First Amendment rights of living, breathing and sentient citizens to the financial interests of corporations.  The case reveals all the sins and crimes of the Court.  Alito recused himself in an earlier case involving a claim for punitive damages in the Exxon Valdez case because of his ownership of substantial Exxon stock.  All of the justices also have substantial stock in the very corporations they now have vested with extraordinary power.”

“There is no way to avoid the conclusion that they sought to influence the political debate and protect their corporate benefactors.  And those who decry ‘judicial activism’ are not decrying this blatantly activist and tendentious decision.”

“Roberts testified before the Senate that he would be an umpire.  He is changing the scores before reporting them and making decisions to benefit his bank account.  He rejected the very precedents he promised to uphold.  As I recall, his testimony was under oath.  You can check on that.”

“I think it is perjury to lie under oath to the Senate.  Or it was in the past.”

“The House could bring articles of impeachment for misconduct.  At a minimum, the Senate could require him to testify and explain his earlier testimony.  The proper separation of powers is jeopardized when an individual is allowed to lie to the Senate about what he will do after he is confirmed by the Senate.”

“There was a Senator Exon decades ago and there will be a dozen Senator Exxons in coming days.”

“Law in America today is a groundless and amoral ideological game.”

(Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, 558 U.S. ___ (2010).)

[See the “e-ssay” dated October 20, 2008 titled “Contemporary American Political Parties 101“ noting that the Republicans “10.  Win” and the Democrats “10.  Lose.”  See also the “e-ssay” dated February 20, 2006 titled “Perjury, The American Way.”]

(“Dissent is the highest form of patriotism.”  Howard Zinn 1922 – 2010)

Bumper stickers of the week:

The best democracy money can buy.

We the corporations . . .

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Operation Mail Call (Feb. 8, 2010)

Posted in Military, Society on February 8, 2010 by e-commentary.org

“I hated mail call.  I went every day.  There was no end in sight.  Death was the least painful alternative.  I thought I had a big, loving family.  We charged beaches until we got killed.  Then anyone who did not get killed charged another beach until we got killed.  I went every day.  In three years, I got three letters.  Three letters.  Three years.  One letter a year.  Every year, one letter.  I hated mail call.  I stood at the back.  I hate even going to the mail box today.”

Schools should obtain the names of soldiers, sailors and airmen from the DoD (Department of Defense) and establish pen pals.  The troops probably stay in contact with family and friends via e-mails, “tweets” and Facebook.  Nonetheless, the young kids on the home front should practice their penmanship and work on their syntax writing old-fashioned letters to the older kids on the front lines.  They should receive posts and posts.  A letter a month.  Operation Mail Call.

(July 24, 1930 – February 5, 2010)

Bumper sticker of the week:

A letter a month.

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Boycott Big Banks (February 1, 2010)

Posted in Bailout/Bribe, Banks and Banking System, Boycott Series on February 1, 2010 by e-commentary.org

. . .

P          “That’s the answer.  Boycott Big Banks.  The government bribes and bails them out while the people boycott them.  Shift support, transfer dollars and take business to credit unions.”

Q          “Makes sense and may make dollars and cents.  Dollars are votes.  Vote your dollars.”

P          “There are times when you may want to retain shares if you can vote the shares and shape the institution.  However, the only way to vote your shares – your dollars – is to transfer them to another institution.  I have banked at credit unions for as long as I can remember.”

Q          “I transferred my bank account to a credit union last year.  At the time, I was driven away by the bank rather than being attracted to a credit union.  The third time that the Big Bank changed its name from Big Bank to Big Bank, I transferred my accounts.”

P          “You still need to compare services and costs.  The NCUA (National Credit Union Association) rarely has to cover credit union failures whereas the FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Association) is regularly taking over failing banks and may be bankrupt itself.  When the stuff hits the fan, there may be a period of time when the FDIC may not be able to cover losses and claims despite claims about full faith and credit.”

. . .

[See the “e-ssay” dated November 2, 2009 titled “Sagacious Financial Advice From A Financial Sage” on banking and the financial world.]

Bumper stickers (and buttons) of the week:

Boycott Big Banks.

Boycott Big Banks.  Support credit unions.

I bank with a credit union.

Credit unions you can bank on.

I boycotted.  Have you?

I transferred (to a credit union).  Have you?

My money is in a credit union.

I [heart symbol] credit unions.

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