Steve's barking some of my best friends are not politicians

I've met several politicians and most seemed like nice and intelligent people.
I have nothing against an assembly person who wants to fund the local senior citizens center and the daycare center down the block. I have nothing against the senator or congressman who fights for money for public transportation systems so that those who needed it the most can afford it. I just wounder why do these same people that I'm saying nice things about when you put a microphone in front of them sound like an idiots?
Is it because they need an extraordinary amount of money to run for office and they have to dumb down to the dummies to get their dough, maybe but they turn off.
Can one state that politicians are an abused minority?
I see on the boob tube some congress people talk about letters that they get from their constituents complaining that they are losing their health care because their insurance company stated they don't meet the standards for the affordable healthcare act. If the congress person was honest he (or she) would state that the constituent was lucky, the lowest tier on Obamacare is lame and probably not worth the money so one can only imagine a plan that doesn't meet those standards.
There are over 330 million Americans with ancestry from all over the world, I'll bet that our founding fathers couldn't fathom that.

Steve's barking Americans want freedom of choice, maybe?

The urban myth states that we Americans want freedom of choice, that's why we don't want to change the way we receive our health care. The truth be told we don't want to change the way we get our health care is just the opposite, we have a hard time making decisions. There are two big arguments for the way health care is delivered in America. The first is we don't want the government to tell us to were we can get our health care from even it it means we have choices. The other just as popular we are satisfied that our employer tells us what insurance company to take and we don't want change that. Now taken as a whole I kinda get the impression that most of us don't like change even if it means no freedom of choice and of cause we make excuses.

If we like Coke and we have hundreds (well maybe not hundreds) of similar brands would will be willing to go for a cheaper brand? Some of us will at of necessity will but most coke drinkers will not. Is this out of brand loyalty or because we don't like change?
We have advertising to help us change our minds on things like the cars we buy among other things.

I guess those who are complaining about the wait they have to get on the health exchange aren't husbands who go shopping with their wives.

Steve's barking statistically speaking

How is the study of political science similar to the study of economics?

They both depend highly on statistics.

The problem with too much dependency on statistics are conflicting statistics.

Last week on the boob tube a boober stated that when Social Security when it was conceived life expectancy was only 65 and now it's 78. something. This was stated for the need to curb the entitlement know as Social Security. The true statistic is that life expectancy since 1938 for people hitting the age of 65 is only 4 years not the 13 years as this boob implied.

In this present day of watching and listening to baseball statics are becoming more and more important.

How many times do you hear a pundit state a certain pitcher is on a roll, he had a 1.9 ERA and he be hard to beat in the playoffs. The more important statistic might be how did this pitcher do in April when it's almost as cold as Oct when he can't be as limber.

*boober = (made up word) some one who uses misinformation to prove a point. May be smart and is trying to get over on persons that he feels aren't very bright , boobs (Ted Cruz?).

A not to bright person (boob) who proves it over and over again by stating misguided facts.

Steve's barking better a single payee then payer for American Health Insurance

Heath care in the United States stinks. The Affordable Health Care Act at best will take care of one of the woes, lifting at best 10 percent of the problem (coverage of most of the Americans with some form of health care). It doesn't address the cost of health care that states shell out which is around 30% of their budgets.
No were in America's health care is the failure to replace doctors that are leaving the health care profession with the cost of training new doctors so there will be less of a shortage of doctors. Our businesses are at disadvantage that America is one of the few counties that have it's employers pay for health insurance.
( Unless there is a dollar for dollar tax break it's a big disadvantage).
Hospitals are closing all over the country, if there is a pandemic were in real trouble.
The argument that America's health care system is the top because people come here to be treated, doesn't hold much water when you consider that  more* American citizen leave the US for health care then come here for medical reasons.
Now we come to how the crux of my blog today, how to improve the American health care system, weather to have a single payer or a single payee?
The difference is taxes collected should go to a government run program or money collected should be given to the citizens to buy their own health insurance .Medicare gets a cheaper rate from hospitals and doctors then private insurances do. My problem with government setting the prices after the screw up that congress has been going through and the crazies in our government bureaucracies I'm very afraid of what can happen to our health care system My other fear is I don't want some crazed elected or government official telling the females of my life if they can have birth control and if they can have an abortion. I don't want any elected or government official to tell my doctor how to handle end of life question.
A single payee option would be all citizens of the United States would be get a voucher for private health insurance which would be more expensive then the single payer option but the people would have a choice, and those who do want women's health issues on their issuance can find one that does and those that don't can chose one that doesn't. The standard would be the health insurance that government employees get now.
If you are a citizen and don't pick a health insurance you'll get it by random lottery.

I believe that a dedicated tax of 5% of income including capital gains (reducing what goes into the general funds by that 5%) should cover the cost of insurance plus the cost of training new doctors and even giving grants to hospitals to stay open. It may even be possible to cut the tax rates for general purposes.
States and Cities would have more money, because they no longer have to pay health care cost  for now and into the future. ( The health care time bomb will be defused).

* Indonesia, Panama, Thailand and India have hospitals dedicated to Americans and Canadians and Europeons for medical purposes. Those who go there are called medical ( or some times called health care)
tourist.

Steve's barking at Stalinst Americans

Ok, what the f*** are Stalinist Americans? Let me start over , who the f*** are Stalinist Americans?
To answer that question let's start out with those blokes who complain about that woman or man who they claim was buy candy and soda ( beer, cigarettes) with food stamps. Let's do away with food stamps because there are people who misuse the system. That statement goes along with Stalin's statement better nine innocents be jailed then one guilty be free.
Who else can be called Stalinist? How about those people who keep say a big lie over and over again till the lie becomes excepted as the truth, kinda like those anti Affordable Healthcare Act people.
Would you believe that I heard on the boob some capitalist sound like Stalinist. How may you ask can a capitalist be a Stalinist? Well if they say the same lie over and over again they too can be a Stalinist. If you want to do away with most rules because a few rules are wrong and stupid, then you too can be a Stalinist.
If you bully your way to get what you want (like some Tea Party favorites) politically then you too can be considered a Stalinist.

Steve's barking at Woolie Bullies

In America we now have a war on bullying of youths against other youths, unfortunately we don't have this same anger of adult bullying. We do frown upon the bullying that's called sexual harassment, but what about the person who sits next to you and makes your life a living hell. Or what about the boss who's constantly berating you. What about in school were a few adult teachers bully a few of their students. When was the last time one heard of adult bullying yet it happens all the time?

In American politics there's bullying all the time, the Tea Party just recently tried to bully the country to do things that the majority in the upper house felt was wrong. Then blamed everyone else for not bargaining in good faith.

What about those bullies on television who have (masochistic) people come to their shows and berate them and their viewers love it.

Question of the day; How do we stop our children from bullying when the adults all around them are bullying?

Steve's barking, US budget deficit going down----bad

I've been reading some bad news US budget deficit is being reduced in the time of the great sequester.
Any time a budget is reduced on the back of people, that's not good. I can not rejoice, the budget deficit is going down the budget deficit is going down, were spending less and the the private sector isn't picking up the slack and there's less money in the economy.Now I don't know what economist thing that's a good thing. Maybe the economist who doesn't put his money in a bank, for banks run the same kind of deficit spending that the government does only they can't print (?) money the way the Federal Bank can.
Now in case a person reading this doesn't understand how I can compare the US deficit to a bank, think of it this way, the bank borrows my money as a depositor and lend it out with interest hoping there aren't too many defaults, the government (lends?) out money to people such as farmers, the poor in the form of food stamps and housing subsidies. ( Some of you who read this may not comprehend, for this is an abstract idea). The government can make up this money in the form of higher taxes and or inflation.

Question: Did the great sequester hurting the housing market and perhaps the banks?
Question: Was borrowing from credit cards going up due to the sequester
Question: Are delinquecies in paying on time cable and telephone bills going up due to the sequester?
Question: How are car sales, especially in areas with high government worker and in areas with companies that have government contracts?

Steve's barking the co-pays too high

Observation at the US health care system. If your a lower middle income person and you chose or given a high co-pay your not very likely going to go to the doctor, they have a hard time paying the bill. Now even if they got this plan from work or got from the exchange these insurance holders are just wasting their money.

I remember in the old days when I first started working (minimum wage) if I needed to go to the doctor it would;d cost me just a days wage, I didn't have health insurance that paid for doctors visits. Later as I moved up in the world I was given hospitalization insurance, with a health professional in the office. My how times have changed in the past 40 years.

Steve's barking: It's not my grandfather's concervatives

When my ancester came over on the Half Moon and discovered New Amsterdam with Henry Hudson  he was considered concervatives.
Ok my ancester didn't come to the New World on the Half Moon he came over with the Dutch West India company and those business men were considered concervatives. I'm not really sure that my long lost ancester came to the New World with the Dutch West India company, but I'm pretty sure that I had a relative who fought in the Civil War and he was from the Dutch side of the family. He fought for the North making him a Northern concervatives trying conserve the nation.
What are modern conservatives? Do they believe in high taxation like that great collonialist Alexander Hamilton? No, I guess their not Hamilton conservatives.
Do they believe in a small military as the conservatives in the beginning of  the nation till World War II. No, I guess there not old time conservatives.
Are they anti Israel as Jessie Helms? No I guess their not Helms conservatives.
What kind of conservatives are these new wave conservatives are they?p

Steve' barking at world wide defaults

While no one has ever written or talks about it countries that lessen their pensions that are taken from taxes that the workers pay are in a technical default. Those counties that pay their bond holders first, broke an implied contract with their workers. If you pay your taxes we will give you x amount per month when you retire not the lesser amount y. Even though bond holders might be paid in full counties that lessen their pensions are in default.
 The US is even worse, the pensioners better know as Social Security recipients paid a. dedicated tax for expected payment of  Social Security (pension) which actually bought bonds.
Retirement age when I started working was 65, when I retired it was 66, and now there's talk of changing the  formula for cost of living adjustments, I may not be the brightest guy in the room, but I know when a implied contract isn't being payed, and yes the US is in default to its Social Security recipients and even it's present ones.

Steve's barking at Hurrcane Debt Ceiling

Us of the Northeast remember Hurricane Sandy and how we laughed at it before it hit shore, after all wasn't it just the year before that a Hurricane called Irene turned out to be a dud. We were warned that this Hurricane was going to be a disaster, but many of us just laughed and said remember Irene. Now that we were under water and led a miserable life of which some of us still do.
Now were being told by many that a terrible financial storm is coming called the debt ceiling. There are many among us who say no way this will be very  damaging, just like those persons in the Northeast stated that Hurricane Sandy wasn't going to be very damaging. There are those people who make financial decisions who say hay that thing called the sequester was to bring this country to it's knees, didn't happen. No budget no big deal, were muddling through. Raising the debt limit is something we don't have too,after all were taking in enough money from taxes each month to pay our debts. What is not being said is that we will not have enough money to pay our employees ( including our Arm forces, our boarder guards, congress people (hip hip hooray) and the people who make the payments for our debt. Of cause these people can work for free, yea right their going to work for free.


Treasury can make a billion dollar radium coin and sell it to the Federal Reserve negationg the need to raise the debt ceiling.
Then again the President can invoke the 14 amendment to the constitution to pay off the counties debt by any means possible with the on going fight in the supreme court if this is what the writer of this amendment intended.

Steve's barking at democratic minority rules

One would think that in a democratic society that the majority rules.
I'm not so sure about that. The fact of the matter I know that in a parliamentary system with many parties, majority rule gets the short shift unless one party wins a solid majority. Think of Israel, don't those  extremist parties have way too much sway?
What about that well oiled machine Germany? Even though the Christian Democratic took much more of the vote then any other party ( possibly at the expense of their previous coalition partners) they have to make deals to govern(?).
Now we come back to the good old US of A, which isn't a parliamentary government yet the Republican party has too make deals with the lower house to stay in charge, thus the undemocracy of the great democracy of the United States. Unfortunately for the Republican Party (re Tea Party) the lower house doesn't rule like in European Parliaments were no confidence votes can change the government.

There are people in the US who are nostalgic for James Buchanan and the weak ineffectual presidency.

Question: Do democracies want democratic really want democratic rule in other counties, especially when the citizens of that county what things that may be at odds with those countries?

Steve's barking It's a budget stupid

I maybe not know that much about budgets, but I do know that a counties budget has everything to do with money that a the counties government is going to spend. Question; how do you hold up a budget on money that you're not going to spend. Maybe I'm putting it wrong let's ask how can you insist on not paying for something that your not suppose to pay for anyway?
Now in case anybody is reading this I'm writing about the affordable health care act. Now I'm no lawyer but you can't insist that on refunding or holding up a portion of a law that the government isn't funding.
Now I haven't seen the funding bill, but if my gut feeling is right the senate could except the money part of the bill and change the wording.
Now I know that the budget bill is a zillion pages long and nobody really knows what in it anyway, but (and g-d forgive me) if medicaid spending is X plus Y (for the affordable health care) don't fund Y.  Even if that money is from saving on the amount of money not being paid to doctors and hospitals, just deduct the savings.


Thank goodness progressives don't read my blog and neither do the fruitcakes.
A person must take this particular blog with a grain of salt, for I get all my information from the news.