"I am sick of illegals getting all the benefits, and not paying their fair share."
I was told it takes five years residence to qualify for food stamps. The notion that supports this, is that within that time, the individual would have paid any number of taxes, through sales transactions and property rental or ownership payments to have earned such coverage. The term "illegal" is not descriptive in characterizing what specific social services one has earned.
Taxes are not interchangeable, nor are they collectively part of one big pot. Driver's license fees, inspection, and registration fees go to pay for roads, bridges, and other transportation needs. Hospital and educational programs are funded mainly through property taxes. So paying your fair share of any government service is or should be based on how long you have utilized those sorts of services. Whether or not one paid in-district rates, or in-state rates would have nothing to do with one's status as a citizen, but rather if you were a resident of that district or state, and for how long.
While all of this is true, "illegals" are still missing out on paying the all important income tax. Which is why amnesty is so important, and the part of the conservative stance that makes no sense to me. Clearly there are people in America who don't have a social security number. They failed to wait in line and now find themselves here, not paying their fair share. In my head, the right thing to do is fine them, give them a social security number, and force them to begin paying income tax. Keeping them from becoming legal citizens keeps them from paying only income taxes.
The point here is that illegals pay taxes, and they'd pay more if conservatives allowed them to.
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Catholic Health Care
"We (Catholics) should not be forced to pay for procedures we don't morally believe in."
Was there ever a time when religious people opposed organ, tissue, or blood transplants? Was there ever a time when the church forbid heart transplants, believing that putting one man's heart into another would be akin to a physical possession? I am almost certain that the church was opposed to blood transfusions, at the onset of this scientific miracle. Religions' job is or has been, to stand in the way of scientific progress, based on faith-based belief and tradition.
The problem of course, is that the medical profession is not a belief based system. It is a scientific based world, that demands results, verifiable tests, and careful observation. When something saves lives, then that is what is practiced. In some cases, birth control, or reproductive medicine is indeed a life saving necessity. For any church or religious institution to deny someone medical care, because they personally feel morally conflicted about the procedure is them 'playing God' over someone else's life. Hopefully, society would laugh at someone who would attempt to deny a heart transplant to a patient, because he or she thought it would make the person become someone else. Hearts are organs, not the spirit, or soul of a person, and to deny someone a life saving procedure is the embodiment of "wrong".
Making a medical insurance premium payment does not make you the arbiter of what medical procedures someone else is entitled to. Medical decisions should be made between doctors and patients, not 3rd party peanut gallery attendees dressed in red robes and pointy hats. If an organization is going to offer health insurance, then unless they are members of the American Medical Association, what they believe should not come between health care providers and recipients.
Churchs and religions have been wrong about medicine in every case for the entire history of mankind, so why are democrats still giving way to traditional faith based beliefs, within medical decisions? What was evil yesterday, and an unthinkable act, is now today a common practice that saves lives.
Democrats, for the love of life saving medicine, stop letting religions set health care policy!
Was there ever a time when religious people opposed organ, tissue, or blood transplants? Was there ever a time when the church forbid heart transplants, believing that putting one man's heart into another would be akin to a physical possession? I am almost certain that the church was opposed to blood transfusions, at the onset of this scientific miracle. Religions' job is or has been, to stand in the way of scientific progress, based on faith-based belief and tradition.
The problem of course, is that the medical profession is not a belief based system. It is a scientific based world, that demands results, verifiable tests, and careful observation. When something saves lives, then that is what is practiced. In some cases, birth control, or reproductive medicine is indeed a life saving necessity. For any church or religious institution to deny someone medical care, because they personally feel morally conflicted about the procedure is them 'playing God' over someone else's life. Hopefully, society would laugh at someone who would attempt to deny a heart transplant to a patient, because he or she thought it would make the person become someone else. Hearts are organs, not the spirit, or soul of a person, and to deny someone a life saving procedure is the embodiment of "wrong".
Making a medical insurance premium payment does not make you the arbiter of what medical procedures someone else is entitled to. Medical decisions should be made between doctors and patients, not 3rd party peanut gallery attendees dressed in red robes and pointy hats. If an organization is going to offer health insurance, then unless they are members of the American Medical Association, what they believe should not come between health care providers and recipients.
Churchs and religions have been wrong about medicine in every case for the entire history of mankind, so why are democrats still giving way to traditional faith based beliefs, within medical decisions? What was evil yesterday, and an unthinkable act, is now today a common practice that saves lives.
Democrats, for the love of life saving medicine, stop letting religions set health care policy!
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Thank You
I would like to offer my sincere gratitude to everyone who offered my potential campaign their donations, support, and well wishes.
Sadly, the afore mentioned goal was not reached, so I will not be making a congressional run this election cycle.
All donations made through paypal have been denied, and all the cash donations will be in the mail, and on the way back to their respective donors, by week's end.
Your generosity, well wishes, and supportive outreach is the most heartwarming thing I've experienced in quite a while. You have all made a real difference in my world and my perception of those in it.
From the bottom of my heart, "Thank You". If ever, there is anything I can do to help, support, or aid you in your endeavors, please don't hesitate to ask. For all of you now have a friend, in me.
Sadly, the afore mentioned goal was not reached, so I will not be making a congressional run this election cycle.
All donations made through paypal have been denied, and all the cash donations will be in the mail, and on the way back to their respective donors, by week's end.
Your generosity, well wishes, and supportive outreach is the most heartwarming thing I've experienced in quite a while. You have all made a real difference in my world and my perception of those in it.
From the bottom of my heart, "Thank You". If ever, there is anything I can do to help, support, or aid you in your endeavors, please don't hesitate to ask. For all of you now have a friend, in me.
Friday, September 2, 2011
This Blog has re-opened in support of the Occupy Wall St. Protests
Please feel free to peruse the past entries at your leisure, now.
I wish all of you well.
---
Here's what I found when I visited the Occupy Dallas camp site:
I wish all of you well.
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Here's what I found when I visited the Occupy Dallas camp site:
Thursday, August 4, 2011
This is the End...
Money runs our everything,
from when we work to when we sing.
Now I'm not talking about coins and bills,
but'bout mountian money with all the frills.
These people get politicians elected time and again,
we bitch and complain and then vote just the same.
Over and over don'tcha know, over and over it's the same old show.
we get the government we deserve, that's the truth to know.
Get rich or get ruled, that's the game.
Kings, aristocrats, banking execs, CEO's...they're all the same.
Money decides and money does, this is how it always was.
Our only out is to stop what we do, stop falling back, and try something new.
We gotta stop being consumer prey,
See what they do, care not what they say.
Over and over don'tcha know, over and over it's the same old show.
we get the government we deserve, that's the truth to know.
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Real Default Consequences
"Don't raise the debt limit, defaulting will teach us a good lesson."
Defaulting on debt is not an unheard of thing for the U.S. Treasury. In 1979, the U.S. failed to make timely payments to all its bondholders. The result was not unlike what would happen if any of us failed to make the minimum amount due to any of your credit cards or other debts. If you miss one payment, the interest rates on all your loans goes up. This is because interest rates are set by a creditor's perceived ability to repay the debt at hand. Missing only a single payment is often enough to downgrade a credit score, for a very long time.
The previous U.S. Treasury default was over a mere $120 million dollars, and occurred in the middle of a debt ceiling debate, similar to the one occurring now. Even though the Treasury had some $800 billion outstanding at the time, the amount actually defaulted on was a very small proportion of the debt. At issue was the fact, that a few checks just didn't get written and sent out, due to bookkeeping and or computer problems, and this caused the federal interest rate to rise by .6%. This raised interest rate was not applied only to the $120 million that was defaulted on, but rather to the entire debt at the time, which was close to a trillion dollars. So, missing the $120 million in payments to bond holders cost the Treasury alone about $6 billion in increased interest.
The debt limit was eventually increased and the U.S. was then able to meet its following obligations, but even after 6 months of paying our bills in full, the interest rate was not decreased.
With a current debt of $14.5 trillion, a tiny rate increase of .6% would add an additional $87 billion to the interest we are already paying. Add to that, that the interest rates of all American debt, both private and public, would go up, further weakening an already unstable market and further tightening the loan industry's purse strings.
It is 30 years later, and the Congressional Freshmen brought into office by the Tea Party want no part of raising the debt limit. They are urging their Republican brethren to stand their ground and refuse to raise the debt limit, and demand that we cut spending, while at the same time refuse any notion of increasing taxes. The consequences of another U.S. default are both real and unrealized by the Tea Party.
Defaulting on our debt has in the past, and will most certainly in the future, cost Americans greatly. Sadly the Tea Party's history books, don't include past Treasury defaults and its effect on the debt and its interest rate.
Defaulting on debt is not an unheard of thing for the U.S. Treasury. In 1979, the U.S. failed to make timely payments to all its bondholders. The result was not unlike what would happen if any of us failed to make the minimum amount due to any of your credit cards or other debts. If you miss one payment, the interest rates on all your loans goes up. This is because interest rates are set by a creditor's perceived ability to repay the debt at hand. Missing only a single payment is often enough to downgrade a credit score, for a very long time.
The previous U.S. Treasury default was over a mere $120 million dollars, and occurred in the middle of a debt ceiling debate, similar to the one occurring now. Even though the Treasury had some $800 billion outstanding at the time, the amount actually defaulted on was a very small proportion of the debt. At issue was the fact, that a few checks just didn't get written and sent out, due to bookkeeping and or computer problems, and this caused the federal interest rate to rise by .6%. This raised interest rate was not applied only to the $120 million that was defaulted on, but rather to the entire debt at the time, which was close to a trillion dollars. So, missing the $120 million in payments to bond holders cost the Treasury alone about $6 billion in increased interest.
The debt limit was eventually increased and the U.S. was then able to meet its following obligations, but even after 6 months of paying our bills in full, the interest rate was not decreased.
With a current debt of $14.5 trillion, a tiny rate increase of .6% would add an additional $87 billion to the interest we are already paying. Add to that, that the interest rates of all American debt, both private and public, would go up, further weakening an already unstable market and further tightening the loan industry's purse strings.
It is 30 years later, and the Congressional Freshmen brought into office by the Tea Party want no part of raising the debt limit. They are urging their Republican brethren to stand their ground and refuse to raise the debt limit, and demand that we cut spending, while at the same time refuse any notion of increasing taxes. The consequences of another U.S. default are both real and unrealized by the Tea Party.
Defaulting on our debt has in the past, and will most certainly in the future, cost Americans greatly. Sadly the Tea Party's history books, don't include past Treasury defaults and its effect on the debt and its interest rate.
Thursday, July 21, 2011
The End of the Shuttle Program
"We should stop wasting money on manned space flight."
As a child of the 70's, the Space Shuttle was the only space craft I saw in operation. The movie "Space Camp" spawned my short lived 'wanting to be an astronaut' fantasy, wherein a group of camp kids get a free ride into space when they are aboard, when the Shuttle accidentally launches. The notion of someday looking down upon the Earth from heaven was and still is very appealing to me.
Within a short period of that I witnessed the Shuttle Challenger explode shortly after launch. Even at the age of 10, I understood that the Shuttle's launch was performed in stages. So when there was an explosion well before the solid rocket boosters were set to detach, I knew something was seriously wrong. While there were reports that some cheered unknowingly at the explosion, I feared the worst. The reality of how dangerous space travel truly is was made plainly clear, as the reporter described the scene as a "...major malfunction."
Less than 20 years later, I would witness another Shuttle come apart during re-entry, as Columbia's heat shield failed to protect the astronauts from the temperatures closing in on 3000 degrees. As with the Challenger, I knew immediately that all those aboard had perished. Space flight is dangerous, as humans have suffered losses in both flight operations and training procedures. The Shuttle was intended to ferry men back and forth into orbit, like our own space taxi, but re-ready procedures proved both lengthy and costly.
Shuttle Atlantis just touched down, for it's last official mission, bringing an end to the program. Shuttles Discovery and Endeavor had already been decommissioned and the hangared strip down process had begun. While Shuttle Enterprise never made it into space, it will be displayed as a museum piece soon. With these ends, so follows our immediate progress into the great unknown. There was a time when man sought to expand his frontiers, with an unbridled enthusiasm. Where has that spirit gone?
Have we lost the notion of how important it is to make our world bigger, our technology more capable, and our reach further? We will now rely on the Russians for space-service. If it was a marathon, I guess the Russians finally won the space race. It is no wonder, we can't even adopt the advance green technologies or solar panel or wind turbines. We have stopped leading the world, in anything but military endeavors.
As a child of the 70's, the Space Shuttle was the only space craft I saw in operation. The movie "Space Camp" spawned my short lived 'wanting to be an astronaut' fantasy, wherein a group of camp kids get a free ride into space when they are aboard, when the Shuttle accidentally launches. The notion of someday looking down upon the Earth from heaven was and still is very appealing to me.
Within a short period of that I witnessed the Shuttle Challenger explode shortly after launch. Even at the age of 10, I understood that the Shuttle's launch was performed in stages. So when there was an explosion well before the solid rocket boosters were set to detach, I knew something was seriously wrong. While there were reports that some cheered unknowingly at the explosion, I feared the worst. The reality of how dangerous space travel truly is was made plainly clear, as the reporter described the scene as a "...major malfunction."
Less than 20 years later, I would witness another Shuttle come apart during re-entry, as Columbia's heat shield failed to protect the astronauts from the temperatures closing in on 3000 degrees. As with the Challenger, I knew immediately that all those aboard had perished. Space flight is dangerous, as humans have suffered losses in both flight operations and training procedures. The Shuttle was intended to ferry men back and forth into orbit, like our own space taxi, but re-ready procedures proved both lengthy and costly.
Shuttle Atlantis just touched down, for it's last official mission, bringing an end to the program. Shuttles Discovery and Endeavor had already been decommissioned and the hangared strip down process had begun. While Shuttle Enterprise never made it into space, it will be displayed as a museum piece soon. With these ends, so follows our immediate progress into the great unknown. There was a time when man sought to expand his frontiers, with an unbridled enthusiasm. Where has that spirit gone?
Have we lost the notion of how important it is to make our world bigger, our technology more capable, and our reach further? We will now rely on the Russians for space-service. If it was a marathon, I guess the Russians finally won the space race. It is no wonder, we can't even adopt the advance green technologies or solar panel or wind turbines. We have stopped leading the world, in anything but military endeavors.
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