Today I saw my tax dollars being wasted

I saw my tax dollars’ being wasted again today.

I sighed after reading the junk mail then threw it out.

The federal government sent me a letter notifying me that I would soon be receiving the census form.

Hey. Thanks for the heads up.

I wonder how much that cost in supplies, man power and postage to get that letter to every household in America?

The same federal government has been utilizing my tax dollars to buy television, internet and radio ads for various subjects …including the census.

Every time I hear our President make a speech, it sounds like a commercial. An extension of whatever media ad the government is buying at the time.

About a year ago I noticed an explosion of government web sites. Everything from census.gov to flu.gov. Every imaginable subject now has a dedicated government web site associated with it. There must be a small army of people brainstorming new government web sites — then creating and formatting them.

Similarly, I’ve gone to government sites that used to have time sensitive updates on them now abandoned with old information.

I listen closely to the advertisements. Then I wait.

I hear words of fiscal responsibility. I hear words of job creation.

It was only in January that our President stood before the American people and announced that  job creation was this years’ priority.

Then Obama promptly expanded the federal budget and went on another personal campaign to push his health care agenda (i.e. live commercials).

Since returning from his Christmas vacation to Hawaii, Obama has jetted from one town to another pushing the health care agenda. These personal appearances aren’t open to the public, but rather to ticket holders only. I’ve heard he’s made over fifty personal appearances to push health care.

That’s alot of days to be out of the office.

Today I heard that the President was going to postpone his next trip (for a couple days) to avail himself to sign Health Care into law. His daughters will be on spring break from school and the family plan is to visit Indonesia, Guam and Australia.

 I wonder why they chose to visit those countries.

Americans’ are being squeezed financially from every direction while watching their hard earned money being squandered by those same squeezing institutions.

Are Americans on the brink of doing a national audit on the government books now that they’ve been forced to critique and adjust their own finances?

Will the public do an audit on the local government expenditures their tax dollars are paying for?

Will the public continue to finance budgets without closely scrutinizing salaries, perks and pensions?

Will the public ever grow weary of hearing the phrase “underpaid and underfunded” without a peek at the numbers?

Will Americans continue to believe the ad campaigns unchallenged?

In the meantime I challenge you to move out of your comfort zone. This weeks challenge is to listen online to radio station WA0K (news-talk 138o) while you’re surfing the net. Lemme know what you think about the station content.

Wouldn’t it have been great if someone in that army of web designers possessed the cleverness to design a census questionaire online? Think of all the tax dollars in postage and handling that would have saved. 

Census moves towards healthcare questions

When the 2010 Census worker knocks on your door you will be required to answer more than the customary household questions if the recently introduced Bill is passed. New questions about your daily living may be added.

The “Disability Data Modernization Act” requires that “standard functional ability” questionnaires be used in the taking of any decennial census (the ten year census) of population or American Community Survey.

In any questionnaire distributed or otherwise used, the Katz Basic Activities of Daily Living (ADL) scale and the Lawton-Brody Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL) scale shall be included to provide a reliable indicator of need for long-term care.

These indexes are said to be two of the most widely accepted and used indices of function by hospitals, researchers, federal agencies and Long-Term Care facilities for 40 years.

This Bill, which has been referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs was introduced by the (now former) Senator Mel Martinez (R-FL), Mel Martinez served a US Senator for Florida between January 2005 and September 2009 and will be resuming his legal career. Martinez rose to the US Senate as the first Cuban-American.

Types of questions included in a Katz ADL scale revolve around an individuals’ ability to bathe, dress, feed, toilette and transfer oneself.

Questions in the Lawton-Brody IADL scale include ability to manage finances, dispense own medication, use a phone, shop, prepare food, perform housework, laundry and transportation abilities.

An internet search on your favorite search engine for “Katz ADL” and “Lawton-Brody IADL” will bring up the activity questions. (or view a sample here)

Read the bill S 1127

When Obama goes prime time — why you should listen

Listen to the speeches — but with a different perspective.

Every con game uses three ingredients against the target: Sell the dream. Push the greed button. Stress urgency.

 Every con man walking free or in jail is an articulate speaker. Who would give their trust to a man who could not use the right words to convince his targets to trust him?

Articulate speaking is no way to judge or rate the integrity of a person.

–Mark S. McGrew

The dream: Listen for him to sell you the dream

The greed button: Listen for him to assure you it’s not coming out of your pocketbook

Urgency: Listen for him to tell you it needs to happen swiftly

Instead of just listening to another moving speech — listen to the words with the new perspective.

Other articles of interest: 

Healthcare for all Americans – the “fine print”

New IRS rules and penalties defined in health care bill

Legislation for those who vote FOR the bill to drop their federal insurance and use the publicly offered health care insurance

Things your parents taught you:

If it sounds too good to be true — it probably isn’t (the dream and greed button)

Sleep on it overnight before making a decision (the urgency button)

New IRS rules and penalties defined in health care bill

Additional items found in the healthcare bill can be seen in an updated article titled: Whitehouse asks public to report healthcare “disinformation”

Should the health care bill pass, a special section has been dedicated for your IRS requirements and penalties. These IRS rules are set in place to verify that you uphold your individual responsibility of coverage for health insurance.

Section 401 of the Health Care Bill is titled: Tax on individuals without acceptable health care coverage

According to the health care bill, the IRS code will be changed.

Under the new bill, everyone has an “individual responsibility” to secure health insurance.

Should you not have “acceptable” health care coverage at any time during the year a tax will be imposed on you.

Should you not have health coverage for a portion of the year – you will pay a tax penalty of the same ratio.

The tax imposed shall not be greater than the annual national average of an “acceptable” policy which will be determined by the Secretary, in coordination with the Health Choices Commissioner.

Failure to provide coverage for more than one individual will result in tax penalty based on “family coverage” rates as opposed to “self-only coverage.”

Interestingly, members of Congress are curiously exempt from the government-run health care option, keeping their existing health plans and services on Capitol Hill. 
 

The health care bill is over 1,000 pages. Should you wish to scan the bill to see how it will personally affect you it can be seen here:

HR 3200

 In part (quoted from text of bill):

 (c) Exceptions.–

“(1) Dependents.–Subsection (a) shall not apply to any individual for any taxable year if a deduction is allowable under section 151 with respect to such individual to another taxpayer for any taxable year beginning in the same calendar year as such taxable year.

`(2) Nonresident aliens.–Subsection (a) shall not apply to any individual who is a nonresident alien.

“(3) Individuals residing outside united states.–Any qualified individual (as defined in section 911(d)) (and any qualifying child residing with such individual) shall be treated for purposes of this section as covered by acceptable coverage during the period described in subparagraph (A) or (B) of section 911(d)(1), whichever is applicable.

“(4) Individuals residing in possessions of the united states.–Any individual who is a bona fide resident of any possession of the United States (as determined under section 937(a)) for any taxable year (and any qualifying child residing with such individual) shall be treated for purposes of this section as covered by acceptable coverage during such taxable year.

“(5) Religious conscience exemption.–

“(A) In general.–Subsection (a) shall not apply to any individual (and any qualifying child residing with such individual) for any period if such individual has in effect an exemption which certifies that such individual is a member of a recognized religious sect or division thereof described in section 1402(g)(1) and an adherent of established tenets or teachings of such sect or division as described in such section.

“(B) Exemption.–An application for the exemption described in subparagraph (A) shall be filed with the Secretary at such time and in such form and manner as the Secretary may prescribe. Any such exemption granted by the Secretary shall be effective for such period as the Secretary determines appropriate.

“(d) Acceptable Coverage Requirement.–

“(1) In general.–The requirements of this subsection are met with respect to any individual for any period if such individual (and each qualifying child of such individual) is covered by acceptable coverage at all times during such period.

“(2) Acceptable coverage.–For purposes of this section, the term `acceptable coverage’ means any of the following:

“(A) Qualified health benefits plan coverage.– Coverage under a qualified health benefits plan (as defined in section 100(c) of the America’s Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009).

“(B) Grandfathered health insurance coverage; coverage under grandfathered employment-based health plan.–Coverage under a grandfathered health insurance coverage (as defined in subsection (a) of section 102 of the America’s Affordable Health Choices Act of 2009) or under a current employment-based health plan (within the meaning of subsection (b) of such section).

“(C) Medicare.–Coverage under part A of title XVIII of the Social Security Act.

“(D) Medicaid.–Coverage for medical assistance under title XIX of the Social Security Act.

“(E) Members of the armed forces and dependents (including tricare).–Coverage under chapter 55 of title 10, United States Code, including similar coverage furnished under section 1781 of title 38 of such Code.

“(F) VA.–Coverage under the veteran’s health care program under chapter 17 of title 38, United States Code, but only if the coverage for the individual involved is determined by the Secretary in coordination with the Health Choices Commissioner to be not less than the level specified by the Secretary of the Treasury, in coordination with the Secretary of Veteran’s Affairs and the Health Choices Commissioner, based on the individual’s priority for services as provided under section 1705(a) of such title.

“(G) Other coverage.–Such other health benefits coverage as the Secretary, in coordination with the Health Choices Commissioner, recognizes for purposes of this subsection.

Another articles of interest:

Why you should listen to his prime time speech

Healthcare for all Americans – the “fine print”

Legislation for those who vote FOR the bill to drop their federal insurance and use the publicly offered health care insurance

Odd news for June 22

There is alot of odd news I found today, June 22. A study may indicate why humans may have more cancer than chimpanzees, the World Bank offers a new global report, the US is accused of provoking a nuclear war, carbon laws opposed in Australia, and more. 

Congress urges more funds focusing on epidemic prostate cancer for African-Americans — The Resolution urges Federal agencies to address that health crisis by designating funds for education, awareness outreach, and research specifically focused on how prostate cancer affects African-American men [read it at the Examiner]

Cancer In Humans: Cost Of Being Smarter Than Chimps? — A new study suggests that humans cognitively superior brains means more instances of cancer compared to chimpanzees [read it at Science Daily]

World Bank expects global economy to remain “uncertain”  — On its newly-released Global Development Finance report on the sidelines of the ABCDE, the bank projected that the world economy would contract 2.9 percent, down from its forecast of a minus 1.75 percent last March [read it at xinhuanet.com]

DPRK newspaper accuses U.S. of providing nuclear umbrella to S Korea — Rodong Sinmun, an official daily of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), on Monday accused the United States of attempting to provoke a nuclear war on the Korean Peninsula [read it at xinhuanet.com]

Benefits denied for daughter in donor case — A 10-year-old Los Angeles girl conceived with her dead father’s frozen sperm is not entitled to his Social Security benefits, a federal appeals court panel has ruled [read it at chron.com]

Australian Senate poised to defeat carbon laws — The Australian parliament’s upper-house Senate began debating plans for the government’s carbon trading scheme on Monday with little sign the package of 11 bills will pass [read it at khaleejtimes.com]

Bill would fund DHS data center consolidation  — A  Senate Appropriations Committee subcommittee … approved a bill to fund the Homeland Security Department for fiscal 2010 that would provide “significant funding” to consolidate the department’s 24 data centers into two secure facilities [read it at Federal Computer Week]

iSuppli: ‘Historic’ plunge in PC shipments — First-quarter global PC shipments fell 8.1% year-over-year, according to market researcher iSuppli Corp., dragged down by weaker-than-expected desktop PC shipments [read it at Computer World]

Novartis accused of exploiting loophole in drug scheme — The Swiss drug firm Novartis has come under fire for accepting a benefit aimed at rewarding the creation of new drugs for developing countries — for a drug that was first registered a decade ago [read it at scidev.net]

See the archives of obscure news

Obscure news for June 8

Obscure news found on June 8 include topics of guns, planes, ACORN, abduction, government contracts, consumer tracking, police, more H1N1 pandemic funding and lots more. Enjoy!

See the swine flu H1N1 updated statistics [read it on this site]

Pregnant W.Va. woman murdered and baby taken — Authorities are investigating after a pregnant West Virginia woman is found dead in Oregon. Police say her baby was taken from her body [read it at cbs59.com]

Yankees to become first club to stream games online in home market — The New York Yankees will become the first club in Major League Baseball to stream live games online in their home market [read it at BizOfBaseball.Com] 

Obama and ACORN officials set sights on gun owners — ACORN, the publicly funded national organization linked to voter fraud in several states, is now actively interfering with the exercise of firearm civil rights in New Jersey, and the Second Amendment Foundation is calling for an immediate federal investigation [read it at CanadaFreePress.Com]

Gun technology to prevent cop-on-cop shooting not ready — The NYPD is also interested in an engineer trying to obtain a patent for a device that would equip guns with infrared technology that would allow police officers to identify each other [read it at Newsday.Com]

Coke’s RFID-based dispenseers redefine business intelligence – Beginning this summer, the Freestyle drink dispensers will give consumers more than 100 beverage choices – and provide the beverage maker with valuable consumption data [read it at InformationWeek.Com]

United States DoD contracts for June 5, 2009 – See who got the contracts [read it at Defense Professionals]

White House seeks more money in case of a H1N1 pandemic emergency — The White House requested new funding for swine flu from Congress last week and also sought an additional $3.1 billion from the unspent stimulus funds in case of a pandemic emergency, according to various news sources [read it at News-Medical.Net]

Airlines develop guidelines for RFID (radio frequency identification) on parts — International standards will soon be published for radio-frequency identification of parts on aircraft. RFID on parts offer maintenance to identify parts beyond line of sight [read it at Aviation Week]

Chess battles rage in court, not on boards — Lawsuits pending in Springfield are the latest in a legal brawl that spans the nation and pits some of the greatest minds in chess against each other [read it at The State Journal-Register]

Korea resolute on Canadian beef import ban — After the first mad cows disease case was reported in Canada, South Korea banned all their imports after May 2003. Canada has since reported 16 confirmed cases since that time. The brain wasting illness is suspected of causing the fatal variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans [read it at Korean Times]

Breaking down ‘public option’ health insurance — As health care reform kicks into high gear in Washington, D.C., one of the fiercest political fights is over creating something called a “public option” insurance plan. Yet few Americans even know what it is, what it might be, or how it’s supposed to work [read it at Helenair.Com]

Kenya’s Parliament sliding into dictatorship, clergy warn — In a joint memorandum presented to Prime Minister Raila Odinga on Thursday, the religious leaders cautioned Parliament against placing itself above the people in the debate on a new constitution [read it at Nation.Com]

From Willnevergiveup archives: Identity theft – personal info left on resale equipment

United States fact: The 2009 estimated US birth rate is 13.82 births/1,000 population  [source: CIA]

View archived news on this site