Mandating Coverage ?

This whole debate on mandating coverage is so arcane...t­he vast, vast majority of republican­s who are arguing against the mandate HAVE INSURANCE, and their coverage is more expensive because of people who DON'T HAVE COVERAGE. So, on principle (supposedl­y--more likely on political grounds) they OPPOSE something that is to everyones' benefit--e­specially theirs--be­cause it's supposedly unconstitu­tional, but the only issue of unconstitu­tionality is in requiring someone to pay for insurance from a PRIVATE PROVIDER. There's all sorts of constituti­onal ways around this, one of which being a SINGLE PAYER SYSTEM, wherein it would be paid for by a TAX. Or by levying penalties, or posting a bond. In other words, there are all sorts of ways to get the money, its just a matter of what you want to call it, and the political price you pay for calling it whatever you choose to .

Let's be clear, before Obama passed the Affordable Care Act (that, for obvious reasons, the GOP prefers to call 'Obamacare­', because they hope people won't learn the fact that it essentially­ makes care more affordable­), MANY Republican­s strongly supported the individual mandate. Not only Romney, but also 2008 candidate John McCain, and many others. So the difference between the GOP and the Dems, when it comes to HC, has NOTHING to do with the individual mandate. The main difference between GOP and Dem proposals was and is that the Dems ALSO wanted a long list of mandates for health insurance companies, AND a lot of subsidies for people who couldn't afford to buy coverage, AND the same access to HC for families and small businesses as members of Congress have, whereas the GOP has always strongly opposed these things. Conclusion­: the GOP only uses the individual mandate to try to get support for a full repeal of the Affordable Care Act, because what they actually want to repeal are the other 1999 pages of the bill ...

As one friend told me "don't mess with my health care"  He has good care provided through his wife and her high powered job. He could care less what problems others have.  This coward never even thinks about the problems his own children or other family members will face in the future.

Let me be clear. I feel that any Christian worth his or her salt should feel that health care is a right and a wish of the savior. What kind of person or Christian can you be if you care about your own care but not the care of others. I want my taxes not to go to wars or tax breaks but to the health care of my fellow citizens

It is a sin,in my opinion , to sell health care like care insurance.  People deserve better than that.

1945 to 1980 were the golden years for the middle class !

The Constitution of the United States was drafted in 1787, and included several provisions regarding slavery. Section 9 of Article I allowed the continued "importation" of such persons, Section 2 of Article IV prohibited the provision of assistance to escaping persons and required their return if successful and Section 2 of Article I defined other persons as "three-fifths" of a person for calculations of each state's official population for representation and federal taxation.[27] Article V prohibited any amendments or legislation changing the provision regarding slave importation until 1808, thereby giving the States then existing 20 years to resolve this issue.

This flaw in our Constitution allowed 100 years of free work by over 12,000,000 slaves stolen and kidnaped from their homeland. Can you imagine how much free labor this gave slave owners? 12 million workers foe over 100 years.  These slaves never worked 8hrs, a day either.

Slavery transformed America into an economic power. Enslaved men women and children labored to make millions for their masters-and apparently this tradition has continued to the present moment, despite the collapse of the pillars upon which this Republic was supposedly built.

 

Having made their fortunes in the deep south, planters turned their attentions to politics; becoming congressmen, governors and presidents. "Cotton and the slave-labor force that made the production of cotton possible were incredibly powerful economically and politically in the Nineteenth Century as in the Twenty-First Century-economic power translated into political power."

 

"In the seventy-two years between the election of George Washington and the election of Abraham Lincoln, fifty of those years see a slave-holder in the White House." It is the slave-holders who write the laws, it is slave-holders that adjudicate those laws; it is slave-holders that enforce those laws. "The United States is truly a slave-holding Republic."

 

In the north, though they had abandoned slave-labor in their own region, northerners were making huge profits from slavery. Cotton generated an extensive textile industry in New England. Insurance companies insured slaves as property (much as they do today, when corporations are allowed to insure their workers). "Many Wall Street firms got their start as middle-men in the cotton trade. Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts called it [Wall Street] 'The Lords of the Loom and the Lords of the Lash." To survive slaves made families out of strangers, to replace what was no longer present by blood alone.

Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. is just one family that made its fortune from slavery. There are too many to mention  I t is safe to say that many families that made their money from shipping, cotton tobacco, banking, ship building, textiles insurance, shoes and many others all made their fortunes  either directly or indirectly from slavery. The economy of this great country was built on slavery.

Even after slavery was abolished large companies found ways to make money from white immigrants. They had no homes of their own because with no job security and therefore no access to homes or schooling for their children.  Many died of treatable diseases because of a lack of healthcare. At the same time many wealthy families made more money than ever.

Then came the start of WWII. After the war came the magical 35 yrs. Of Union membership. The unions helped provide access to Public education. They elected Gov. Leaders that helped pass laws to aid and protect workers. They provided contracts with retirement, 40 hr. work weeks, paid vacations decent wages and health care policies. Unions banded together to help create the middle class. With Job security families could buy homes, cars and send their children to colleges.  The middle class was the American dream.

This lasted only 35 yrs. Until the election of Ronald Reagan. Regulations and Unions came under attack and have been in free fall since.  With this the middle class is in decline and Americans are being treated like slaves once again. The future looks dark and hopeless. Too bad that voters won’t wake up and vote in their own interest. They need to demand that money be taken out of politics. They need to vote for people who agree and represent the poor and declining middle class. If not, those were some 35 yrs, the so called golden yrs.

 

I have paid SSI taxes for my whole life.

I have paid SSI taxes for my whole life. I worked for two years slinging burgers for $.85 an hour. I worked in the United States Air Force for four years.  I also held side jobs during this time.  I worked in a meat packing plant for over a year. I worked at a school bus garage all through college and for two years after I started teaching school. I worked In a foundry for four years during my summers. I had my own carpet business for two years.   I paid between 5 to 10 % of my salary to SSI all this time. My employees also paid the same amount to match my contributions. I also paid 1.45% to medicare my whole working life with an employee match. This is my money and it was intended to provide a retirement check to the elderly when they retire.  The money is held in trust by a six member board.

Social Security contributions which are not needed to pay current benefits are invested in government securities which are required by law to have maturity dates with due regard to the needs of the trust funds. The government also pays interest to the trust funds, at a long term rate determined by law. The government uses the invested funds to finance other government spending. The government owes the money which the trust funds have loaned to it and the government will have to repay it as the securities come due. That is until this Congress passed legislation to allow them to default on their obligations. Never heard about that on your local news did you!

Many people think that Social Security tax contributions are held in individual interest bearing accounts earmarked for their retirement needs. Social Security is actually an intergenerational compact, in which the Social Security taxes of today's workers fund benefit payments for today's retirees. It is basically a pay-as-you-go system, but for the last decade, the trust funds have been building large reserves to help finance the retirement of the baby boom generation. By law, Social Security monies are invested in Treasury bonds. Social Security, in effect, loans money to the government, as does any other investor who buys Treasury bonds. And the government has always paid Social Security back with interest.

This debt is listed as part of the national debt.  Congress is trying to sell the American public on the idea that these funds will not be there for you and your children if cuts are not made. The Republicans are a bunch of lying ass holes.  The system is solvent until 2016 and if the Congress pays back the hard earned money they borrowed from the American workers it will be solvent until 2046.  If they really want to save it there are many easy fixes they can use.  The fact is that they have taken my and your hard earned money and are not going to pay it back.

If you are waiting for the media to make this clear to you, you will never see the day.  To pay back these loans they will have to raise taxes on the wealthy and to close tax loopholes.  Never never going to happen.  That is money I paid into the system and I want it paid back.

I am a Progressive and proud of it.

You may have heard some talking heads on TV telling you how bad Social Progressives are.  Here are some facts and you can make up your own mind.

The second Progressive movement was started by a Republican named Robert LaFollette.  He was trying to seek social and economic justice for all people.

Here are some of the reforms they championed:
1.  Civil Liberties
2.  Direct elections
3.  Fair taxes
4.  Conservation of resources
5.  Banking Reform
6.  Control of lobbyists
7.  The 17th amendment (direct election of Senators)
8.  8 hr. workday with overtime.
9.  Child Labor Laws
10 Public Education
11  19th. amendment ( womens right to vote)
12.  Trust Busting
Here a a partial list of some famous Progressives in the United States

Ben Franklin,Thomas Paine,Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson, Ralph Nader, Abraham Lincoln, Mark Twain, Teddy and Franklin Roosevelt,  Martin Luther King and finally Barack Obama.

As you can see these people were not against America or dangerous. They were trying to protect Americans against Corporations.

I felt that I needed to cover this issue again.  I have been listening to people call each other Democrats, Republicans,Conservatives.and liberals. These are the principles I believe in. I will vote for any candidate who espouses these principles.  I also take offense at anyone who would call me or any of these Progressives Socialists. I just proves how dumb they really are. I have also been accused of discussing politics on FB. I never waver from discussing issues and policies.  I could care less if a candidate is from one party or another. I care if politicians want to represent me or only voters that can give them money. I can't afford to give money to politicians so I want to now how they feel and vote on issues .

Please do not call people like me a Socialist. It is wrong and shows how uneducated you are on the definition of that movement. 

Flag and Church

I am an American. I was born here and feel fortunate to have grown up in the 50’s and 60’s when life seemed simple. I served my country four years as a radar repairman in the Air Force. Most of my time was spent on little isolated radar stations.

I have usually been proud of my country but do acknowledge the mistakes we have made in our short history. As Americans we have great freedoms that we need to protect and guard for our children and their children. I feel it is my duty to speak up when I see these freedoms attacked or weakened.

I have not been very happy the last three years since Obama was elected President. My negative feelings started when Obama was attacked for not wearing a flag pin. I thought ,really, you have to wear a flag pin to show your patriotism ?  My negative feelings continued when he was attacked for his religious practices. These feelings of mine came full circle when the president was criticized for not mentioning God  during his Thanksgiving address.

This is not the America I know. In My country respects freedom of speech and religion. One is not attacked because they do not follow the examples of the majority. My America encourages its citizens to decent and question authority.

I have noticed that many of my fellow citizens are scared to admit that they may not believe in Christianity as fervent as others. I have watched as people fall all over each other to convince their family,friends or employees that they are good Christians. I have received posts on FB that dare me not to repost religious sayings.  I also watch as my fellow citizens fly their American flags every day and profess their loyalty.

I am a good Christian and a loyal American.  I do not think that I owe it to anyone to prove this. My freedoms are very important to me and therefor I choose not to fly my flag in protest to our health care system. We are the only Major country that does not use the taxes of its citizens to  provide a national health care system. If fact our leaders are talking about taking away our Medicare system for the elderly.  I will not go to church until our religious leaders demand access to good health care for all Americans. They ask for their 10% though.

I will live my life according to the teachings of Christ and with the liberties given to me by the Bill of Rights and the Constitution.

I expect to be judged in a neg. way, by my fellow citizens. I just don’t care. I choose to protest in my own small way.  Will not fly the flag or attend any church until my rights and the needs of the sick  are respected.

In My America a person should not battle illness and have to worry about bills from so called health care providers.

Why I support the 99% and the OWS movement.

1.  No other country pays their executives like American companies. Look at Toyota. They have been kicking Ford's butts for decades and yet the Toyota CEO was paid $900,000 in 2008 and Ford's got $187 MILLION! What makes us think we can have a sustainabl­e economy if we're paying our CEOs 200% more than the foreign competitor­s that are out performing them? Japan has a 30% flat corp tax and we all know American corps aren't paying anywhere close to the 35% corp rate after all their Bush Tax Cuts. Japan also has free basic medical care for it's people, yet we keep hearing the corporate whiners claiming taxes are killing them and they need less regulation­. What a load of BS! I'm crying a river for the rich man.

2.  "Job creators" is the second biggest lie ever perpetrate­d on the American public, right behind "Trickle-d­own" economics. Of course, the goals of both are the same: Enrich the rich and obliterate democracy.

3.  There are lots of people who still have jobs, and homes and cars and whose kids are in college etc. who do not, yet, consider themselves hard done by. That is mainly because to date they have some isolation from the economic downturn. Their turn will come and they will join those protesting­, if not in body at least in mind. Eventually the movement will develop a common goal and focus on achieving that goal. When they have the organizati­on and support necessary to call say a national strike and have it happen, then they will become a power and politicall­y minded people (shudder) will flock to their banner. Not until. Fragmentat­ion, divide and conquer remain the strength behind the establishm­ent an a myriad of issues currently hold sway.

4.  I feel sometimes like those in the middle class don't actually comprehend the kind of wealth enjoyed at the very top... they see the Kardhashia­n's and the Paris Hiltons, and they believe this is the top. But they never see the super yachts (larger than many military vehicles) - with the heli-pads on top; the private islands, the 20 homes scattered around the globe... nor do they have the experience to know that frankly, the more money one makes the less work one actually performs.

5.  If you work hard and go to school you may feel insulated from these issues. I promise you that soon you will see the light when your middle class lifestyle is gone. The American dream used to be accomplished by hard work and sacrifice. Not anymore. Soon all of the middle class will become worker bees and like it.  Who cares if a few lazy people support OWS. The goals of OWS are to protect the middle class working Americans. They do not want to save social programs like welfare. Their aim is to save programs that workers already have their money invested in like Medicare and SSI.  I know some of you feel safe and insulated from bad times but just wait and see what the future holds for you. America is still a wealthy country and it is not too late to fix these economic problems. Soon it will be.  We need to get our health care spending under control and pay people a fair wage for their work. We don't need food stamps and welfare programs. We need to stop the income gap from getting larger. There is only so much of a pie to go around.

The supercommittee negotiations have failed.

 The supercommittee negotiations have failed. Why? Because Republicans simply REFUSED to make billionaires and big corporations lift even one finger to help reduce the debt. In fact, they’re demanding TAX CUTS for their biggest benefactors, the top 1%.

Instead, here’s who Republicans think should shoulder the burden: Seniors on Medicare. Middle class families who want to send their children to college. Every American receiving Social Security. The unemployed and all those who are suffering the most in this economy.

There’s no other word for it but disgraceful. Democratic senators won’t stand for it. I won’t stand for it. And I know you won’t, either. It’s time to unite with one clear voice and demand that Republicans stop putting the wealthy at the head of the line.

We’ve ended up at this stalemate because these radicalized Republicans refuse to deal. If we don’t stand our ground now – and if we allow them to take the Senate in 2012 – we will lose our ability to stop them from unraveling our social safety net right out from under the Americans whose lives depend on it.

That’s why we’re speaking out, and saying “no more. It’s time for Republicans to listen to the vast majority of Americans and stop putting billionaires before the rest of the country. Americans need to support OWS and make their demands known at the ballot box this year. People must come out and vote their own interests or the American dream will be put on hold for generations. Your children will suffer as living and working conditions will revert back to the 20's.

This issue is that important folks. This is no time to vote a Party line. The Republican position on these issues are transparent in their aim to support and protect the wealthy. Stand up now before it is too late. Your children and grandchildren will either remember your courage or lament your stupidity.

Wallmart sucks

Wallmart,

I know that I have called Wallmart evil in the past and I plan on doing so again on the eve of a day of thanks. I have no thanks for Wallmart moving into my community.  They treat their workers like slaves.  I could write about all the wrongs done to employees but would rather go in another direction in this blog.

Wallmart keeps its prices low by using a couple of different practices.  They pressure  suppliers to keep pri !ces low or they will not carry their product in their stores. Many suppliers are able to meet Wallmarts demand by making products of cheaper materials. Let me give you an example.  Hanes makes a t-shirt with a lay flat collar. The shirt Hanes sells in Wallmart ,at a cheaper price, must be made from cheaper materials than the one they make for other stores like Penneys,  I found this out by buying shirts from both places. There is a big price difference but Wallmart’s t-shirts do not hold up as well. The ones from Penney’s or Kohls, seem to be made from better materials. Tires are another example, Firestone and Goodyear sell tires at Wallmart that look the same and have the same name as their best sellers but are not the same. They are made from cheaper materials. Ask your local tire dealer.

I have no proof but I have heard that Wallmart also sells outdated computers in new shells in order to make more money. They also deal with companies that use child labor to produce inferior products.

I would not trust anything sold at Wallmart. Customers have no idea what they are buying or where it comes from. Wallmare is simply a new looking junk store.  I would not even trust a coffee cup bought at that store let alone food products.

I once asked an employee if they carried bike chain lube for my bike. They said no and could not order any because they did no ordering but just sold what was delivered to their store.

Fracking Ohio

Fracking in Ohio has become an issue because of  Marcellus Shale. These companies pay a huge amount of money to the mineral rights to a piece of land. They pay anywhere from $100,000 to $250.000 for farm land between 50 and 100 acres. This is usually a negotiated one time lump sum payment to the land owner. 

Next they divide the land in 650 acre sections to drill in. Fracking is a practice of drilling down then sideways under the property of others. A lot of dangerous chemicals are used to pump this gas out.

If your land lies anywhere in this 650 acre plot you are entitled to royalties equal to the percent of land you own.  Once a well starts producing a land owner of a plot about the size of a 75 acre farm could receive royalty payments as high as $3,000 to $5,000 a month for as long as 10 to 15 yrs.

If you own a small farm you could be in line to receive as much as $250,000 to $500,000 for your gas rights.  This anmount of money is too large for most residents of Columbiana County to pass up. Most farmers are not thinking about their water table of the future of the water in their area. The promise of money has blinded them.


I just hope we all don't have to pay for their greed.  Time will  tell.

Looking back at History.

I have not written a blog in a while because I felt all tapped out. As I watch the Republican debates I wonder if my recall of recent history is real or a figment of my imagination ? 

Didn’t President Bush destroy a balanced budget by giving out tax cuts to everyone?

Didn’t President Bush start two wars without paying for them?

Didn’t President Bush tell the public that the economy was sound and two weeks later tells Congress that the economy was in danger of complete collapse?

Didn’t President Bush insist on the Tarp bailout to save the banking system from a complete collapse?

Did I remember these events correct or not?

Enter President Obama full of hope and change.

Didn’t the Republicans refuse to vote for any bills that the Democratic Party sponsered?

Didn’t the Republican leaders state that their main goal was not to help the country but to make Obama a one term President?

The Republicans have refused to talk about any bill or budget that would both, raise taxes and cut spending. They refuse to acknowledge that their party played a big part in the mess our economy is in. They would rather protect the wealthy than the working middle class. How can voters agree with them? I find it hard to believe that voters support a party that wants to cut programs paid for by pay role taxes like SSI or Medicare.  Medicare has not raised its 1.45% tax on workers since it started. Since that time medical costs have risen 10 times faster then  workers pay. Why does the Republican party blame the program instead of high medical costs? 

The Republic Party has been on a 65 year quest to get rid of SSI and a 50 yr. quest to destroy Medicare.  The fact is that the wealthy do not want to pay any amount to these programs to help the masses. They love their money way too much and resent poor or working families. They wonder why they deserve anything except a paycheck. A public education for everyoue ?  They ask Why.

Is this the kind of society that good Christians really foresee in the future?  If the elderly could not afford their health care in 1962 how can they afford them today without these programs?

Is this problem that hard to understand or am I just too idealistic? Can't we just fix these programs?  Didn't Rpnald Reagan fix SSI with a modest tax increase?

I causes me wonder that Republicans blame Obama for all the problems we face today when the past President and Congress caused their share of them. Instead of trying to help the President they are trying to make it worse and blame everything on him.  The history on this issue is not that old and I find it offensive that people today choose to overlook the past and blame all problems on Obama.

I also find it hard to be around or even have a discussion with morons that hate so much and can’t see the forest through the trees.  Sometimes I just want to say to them that it is not political but historical.  The facts are the facts. These people give no credit to Obama and no blame to Bush. Are we all Americans or menbers of just a Political Party ?

J T must go.

A judge should maintain and enforce high standards of conduct and should personally observe those standards, so that the integrity and independen­ce of the judiciary may be preserved. 
A judge should not: solicit funds for, pay an assessment to, or make a contributi­on to a political organizati­on or candidate, or attend or purchase a ticket for a dinner o other event sponsored by a political organizati­on or candidate. (From: CODE OF CONDUCT FOR rUNITED STATES JUDGES)

How independen­t can a judge be in cases that directly affect Koch industries­, if his inept wife received $ $680.000 from a Koch-funde­d organizati­on for basically doing nothing? If the US justice system has wants to maintain an ounce of integrity, Thomas needs to go. 

 

How can a man of the Court hold a grudge that long?  He must have a serious character flaw that makes me believe Miss Hill.

 

 

Let's fix our problems. Social Security.

Social Security. The Social Security program faces a long term financing shortfall. The trust fund’s reserves are currently projected to cover payments until the end of 2037.


Increase worker and employer contributions. Workers and their employers currently pay 6.2 percent of earnings up to $106,800 into the Social Security system, or a maximum of $6,622 each per year. Self-employed workers are required to pay 12.4 percent of pay up to the same cap. If the contribution rate were increased by 1.1 percent to 7.3 percent of earnings, Social Security’s projected deficit would be eliminated. Using this fix, a worker making $43,451 in 2010 would face a tax increase of $478 a year, or $9.19 a week, and the employer would face an identical increase.

Boost future contributions. Taxes don’t need to be increased immediately because there is currently enough money in the Social Security trust fund to pay out scheduled benefits. For example, the Social Security tax bite could be increased from 6.2 percent to 7.2 percent for workers and employers in 2022, and to 8.2 percent in 2052, which would also completely eliminate the shortfall. Alternatively, taxes could be gradually ramped up by 1/20 percent annually for 20 years, which would decrease the Social Security deficit by about 69 percent.

Modify the Social Security tax cap. Workers pay into the Social Security system on earnings up to $106,800 in 2010. About 83 percent of worker earnings were subject to Social Security payroll taxes in 2008. If all earned income above $106,800 annually were subject to Social Security contributions but did not count toward benefits, Social Security’s projected deficit would be completely eliminated. If the higher income counted toward Social Security benefits, about 95 percent of the shortfall would be absolved. Other ideas: apply a new Social Security formula to earnings above the current cap or raise the amount of the income cap to apply to 90 percent of all worker earnings.

Veterans Day

The conservative claim that most youth enlist due to patriotism and the desire to "serve one's country" is misleading. The Pentagon's own surveys show that something vague and abstract called "duty to country" motivates only a portion of enlistees.

The vast majority of young people wind up in the military for different reasons, ranging from economic pressure to the desire to escape a dead-end situation at home to the promise of citizenship.

Over all, disenfranchisement may be one of the most accurate words for why some youth enlist.

When mandatory military service ended in 1973, the volunteer military was born. By the early 1980s, the term "poverty draft" had gained belief  the belief that the enlisted ranks of the military were made up of young people with limited economic opportunities. 

Recruiters may not explicitly target "the poor," but there is mounting evidence that they target those whose career options are severely limited. According to a 2007 Associated Press analysis, "nearly three-fourths of [U.S. troops] killed in Iraq came from towns where the per capita income was below the national average. More than half came from towns where the percentage of people living in poverty topped the national average."

I will not bring up race in this discussion but it is a part of it. When I enlisted I did so because of limited options. It was either join or be drafted.  I had no money for a higher education or any pull for a guard appointment.

You can thank a vet today but I would have felt a lot better if all of able youth would have been made to join the military to serve their country.  Military people serving 7 or 8 tours is a sin. I think most vets got the short end of the stick and the rest of you got off Scott free.  I have two family members that got deferment after deferment to stay out of serving in the 60's. I have two family members serving that never completed High school. Something is wrong here. So today  don't thank me for serving 4 yrs. because I had no choise.

 . I just wish all citizens my age would have had to carry more of the load. The same is true of today.  Very few wealthy patriots are doing any thing but making more money off of these wars. Don't thank Veterans today but give them a job.or help in some way. They carried the load for the rest of you. I was given the GI Bill that helped pay for most of my school. Thanks for that.

SB 5 may be dead but the dream lives on.Beware!

As happy as I personally am about the results last night, I seem to recall a certain "shellacking­" the Dems took in the mid-terms, leading me to believe that this country is suffering some kind of Bipolar voting disorder.

Everyone has become so reactionar­y, which is ultimately the result of people being terrified. They vote for whomever or whatever seems to have the "answer" in that given moment, rather than realizing that silver bullets are only for werewolves­. Face it folks, this is going to be rough for a very long time and all of you would do well to support logical legislatio­n, rather than reacting to whichever direction the pendulum swings tomorrow.

I would like to remind my teacher friends that the Devil still runs the state and the fallen Angels still run the Legislature. They can close and consolidate schools if they want to. Do not think you have won. Be vigilant and keep up the good fight for what is right. Remember the 99% is still fighting for all of us. Please support them.

Ohioans should recall this servant of the rich governor Kasich. You can be sure he will come up with another push to decimate collective bargaining for government employees and then onto reducing wages for the employees of corporatio­ns. With reduce government cost, then the state can give more tax cuts to the rich. What a perfect cycle of deceit for the 99%.

Lady Liberty is standing a lot taller tonight!

Fracking Poses Risks in Ohio.

In their quest to expand in the state, the oil and gas industry in Ohio is quick to say that hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, is safe and has little impact on the environment. However, some in the state are concerned that Ohio’s gas drilling regulations aren’t strong enough to ensure people there won’t see the same type of water contamination problems that have plagued the industry elsewhere.

n July 2009, the Cleveland Plain Dealer reported that Ohio’s laws governing gas drilling were among the most lenient in the nation. Since then the state legislature passed Senate Bill 165, the first comprehensive overhaul of drilling regulations in 25 years. However, critics of the new law, which meets the approval of the oil and gas lobby, complain that it does not do enough to protect public health and the environment.

It is up to states to regulate hydraulic fracturing, thanks to the so-called “Halliburton Loophole.” This loophole, which exempts fracking from the Safe Drinking Water Act, was included in the 2005 Energy Act. It was pushed by then-Vice President Dick Cheney, once head of Halliburton, a major player in the fracking



 Some Facts About Fracking:

• Drillers are exempt from EPA guidelines like the Clean Water Act and the Clean Air Act
• Drilling releases Nitrogen Oxide and Volatile Organic Compounds, resulting in destructive surface smog. In fact, In the drilling rig-studded Upper Green River Basin of Wyoming, levels of smog-forming ozone reached 123 parts per billion earlier this year—worse than the worst day in Los Angeles all last year.
• Researchers have found almost 600 different chemicals in fracking fluid, including benzene, a known carcinogen
• Over 80,000 pounds of the fracking fluid are injected into the earth's crust to frack each well. Wells can be fracked over a dozen times during the production cycle.
• Up to 80% of the Fracking Fluid remains in the ground and is not biodegradable
• Injection wells to dispose of contaminated fracking water in Arkansas were linked to hundreds of recent earthquakes and ordered to shut down.

Are large land owners in Ohis selling our health and safe drinking water down the drain just to make a a little cash? Will our drinking water be in daanger from all these wells. Are the series of new earthquakes in Ohio a being caused by this drilling?

T Boone Pickens is a big proponent of this drilling and is also the largest owner of clean water in America. Can anyone put two and two together !

The men behind the war on women.

I remember when one of the most virelently expressed arguments against JFK being elected was that he, as a Catholic, would "do the Pope's bidding."

Times have changed. But only on the surface.

Because there's no difference between Catholic Bishops and "Christian­" evangelica­ls doing their best to make women "barefoot and pregnant" again....o­r Wall Street doing the same thing to workers.

Like most giant, controllin­g institutio­ns, the Catholic Church is about power and money. Look at the real motives of the institutio­ns that try to control people, not just women, and it's always about power and money. They say it's about "freedom" or "decency" or "the will of God" but dig down below the bull and you'll find.....t­he desire to get, or keep, power and money.

Abortion is a personal decision involving a woman's right to her own reproducti­ve system. It is not the role of government to determine specific morality - but to uphold the Constituti­on. The right of a women to privacy has been upheld by the Supreme Court - and is not the premise of lawmakers to take that right away. Since when can religious lobbyists decide what a woman may do with her body? We have turned the clock back nearly forty years, and it is horrifying to see where this country is going. Enough. Just enough.

I can't stand to see men of God ,who allow and protect child molesters, point their fingers at woman and tell them what they must do. Most of these men are ignorant on the subject of sex and contraception any way.