RoJo: Healthcare, Food, Shelter Are Privileges, Not Rights

RoJo, Wisconsin's Dumb Senator, went to New Berlin West High School in Southeastern Wisconsin, to terrorize some students.

In a rare town hall type of meeting, a student asked RoJo if he thought healthcare was a right. His reply was jaw dropping in it's cruelty, ignorance and hypocrisy:

Wisconsin's junior senator did not hesitate: "I think it's probably more of a privilege."

He continued:

"Do you consider food a right? Do you consider clothing a right? Do you consider shelter a right? What we have as rights is life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Past that point, we have the right to freedom. Past that point is a limited resource that we have to use our opportunities given to us to afford those things."

Johnson then referred to comments made by Sen. Rand Paul more than six years ago when Paul compared the "right to health care" to slavery.

He said the task of public officials is to create an environment that grows the economy so that more people can enjoy the "privilege" of food, shelter and health care.

The obvious follow up question would be how can someone live, much less be happy, without food, clothing, shelter or while very sick?

What RoJo omitted is the next couple of lines of the Declaration of Independence, which is where the "life, liberty and pursuit of happiness" were named to be "inalienable rights":

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

What RoJo ignores is the very same document put the onus on the government to secure these rights, meaning to make sure that people do have food, shelter and healthcare.

Furthermore, if the government fails to provide or prevents people from having those rights, it is our right to abolish or change things to get a government that will do this job.

That would mean that RoJo, in his repeated votes to abolish Obamacare and his continued desire to do so, is actually violating our rights.

Is it any wonder he's such a full-blown Trumpkin? Any more, he'd be dyeing his skin orange and wearing a crappy looking toupee.

Cross posted from Crooks and Liars

An Open Letter To My Senators About Graham-Cassidy

By Devon Malloy

From a Cancer group I belong too.....thought it needed to be shared! 

Senator Toomey and Senator Casey, I was eighteen years old when I was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer. I was a senior in high school, I was a varsity athlete and a straight-A student. I had no prior medical problems. But when my lung spontaneously collapsed, my doctors found synovial sarcoma. I was lucky in more way than one. They found my cancer early, and before it had spread. I was also lucky to be upper-middle class, and that my parents had good insurance. I went through three surgeries and seven weeks of proton radiation treatments. The bills sent to my insurance company totaled close to one million dollars. This is not meant to be a pity story—this is a fact that I live with. I will get cancer again in my lifetime, but I haven’t done anything to increase this risk. I will start mammograms early, because radiation treatment has also increased my risk of breast cancer. I take every precaution necessary to catch my next bout with cancer early, including never smoking, and visiting my oncologist for frequent CT-scans. But the fact is, I will get cancer again. My reason for sharing my story is this: very little of these things were in my control. My cancer was not lifestyle induced. I did nothing to earn my spot in the upper-middle class, nor to “deserve” good insurance coverage. I am lucky enough to be on my parents’ insurance until the age of 26 because of the Affordable Care Act. But what happens when I turn 26? Under the regulations that the Graham-Cassidy bill is proposing, my preexisting condition could cost me significantly more than someone else who is “healthier-than-I.” I’ll admit it—I am a risk to insurers. But does that mean that I deserve to pay more for health insurance, or be denied coverage because of my preexisting condition? Supporting this bill will be putting my life and well-being at risk, but I am just one person. I am privileged. I am a white, middle-class American pursing a college education. What about the thousands of other Americans who aren’t so lucky? The list of high-risk diseases spreads further and wider than just cancer. This discussion isn’t a matter of what role the government should play in our healthcare; it is a matter of human decency. Everyone deserves to have access to the medical help they need, no matter their preexisting condition or social class. Have some compassion, and do what is right for your constituents. 

With the utmost respect, 

Devon Malloy Gap, PA

Woo Hoo! Party Like It's 1939!

I came across this invitation for a party in the Northwoods of Wisconsin on Facebook:

THIS SUNDAY-TOMORROW!! KIM SIMAC-Northwoods Patriots & Concerned Women For America is our Keynote Speaker! Jeffrey Mursau, our 36th District Assemblyman will share what's happening in the WI State Legislature and Judge Robert Kennedy Jr. will speak about the President's Immigration Ban. There will also be Raffles & good food! Come and help us Celebrate this time in our history.

There is so much wrong with this short paragraph that it'll never be right.

First off, there is the irony of a judge named Robert Kennedy speaking at such an event.

Long time readers of Cog Dis might remember Kim Simac's name. She is teabagger that ran for office during the recall election against Democratic Wisconsin State Senator Jim Holperin. During her brief run, we learned that she doesn't like to pay taxes and can't spell worth a damn. We also learned that despite her poor spelling, she did write a pro-gun children's book called, "With My Rifle By My Side."

But the biggest question in my mind is what the hell are thy celebrating? The attacks on people for their skin color, their religion, their gender and/or their sexual orientation? That's not really a time in our history. It's more like a nightmarish reenactment of 1939 Nazi Germany.

Maybe they're celebrating the fact that a great many of them - the dairy farmers - are suffering under Trump's repeated attempts at an immigration ban:

Now living with their two young children on a Pepin County dairy farm in northwestern Wisconsin where Manuel works, the couple — who asked that their real names not be used because of their immigration status — are making plans to leave their life in America’s Dairyland and go back across the border, much sooner than they had expected.

They are among the estimated 51 percent of all dairy workers in the United States who are immigrants. A significant portion — more than three-fourths of the workers at some dairy farms according to workers, farmers and industry experts — are undocumented after entering the country illegally or overstaying visas.

Like the Jiménez family, some now live in fear of deportation because of vows by President Donald Trump — who in November used a strong showing in rural areas to become thefirstRepublican presidentialcandidateto carry Wisconsin since 1984 — to crack down on undocumented immigrants. It’s unclear how many immigrants working on dairy farms in Wisconsin are here illegally.

Dairy producers in Wisconsin increasingly struggle to recruit and maintain the immigrant workforce on which the state’s $43 billion-a-year dairy industry relies, Wisconsin Public Radio and Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism found in interviews this month with farmers, workers and industry experts.

Farmers say deporting immigrants working here illegally could harm Wisconsin’s signature industry, which ranks second in the nation for milk production and first for cheese. Milking cows can be a dirty, physically demanding job that includes long, irregular work hours; farmers say few Americans are willing to do it.

Or maybe their celebrating that even more of them are going to go bankrupt before succumbing to any major illness, thanks to Ryancare (or Trumpcare, if you prefer):

No congressional district in Wisconsin delivered a bigger victory margin for Donald Trump last fall (20 points) than the rural northern one represented by Republican Sean Duffy.

But by one key measure, no district in Wisconsin would lose more health care aid under the GOP plan to replace Obamacare.

Wisconsin is part of a national pattern in which the Obamacare enrollees who appear to be hit the hardest by the Republican plan fit the demographic and geographic profile of Trump’s political base.

These enrollees are in their 50s and early 60s. Trump won that group by 15 points in Wisconsin, according to exit polling.

And they disproportionately live in rural areas that voted for Trump and are represented by Republicans in Congress.

Being this kind of stupid has gotta be a pre-existing condition, so they wouldn't have been covered on that under Ryancare anyway.

But try as I might, I cannot fathom that much hatred, racism and bigotry that one would be willing to celebrate their own demise because of it.

Capitalist Killers

By Jeff Simpson

Daraprim, known generically as pyrimethamine, is used mainly to treat toxoplasmosis, a parasite infection that can cause serious or even life-threatening problems for babies born to women who become infected during pregnancy, and also for people with compromised immune systems, like AIDS patients and certain cancer patients. 

Great drug for children and other people who desperately need it, unfortunately many will no longer be able to take it.  See the prices raised from $1 a pll a few years ago to $750 now and the only thing that has changed is ownership in the drug company.  

The drug, called Daraprim, was acquired in August by Turing Pharmaceuticals, a start-up run by a former hedge fund manager. Turing immediately raised the price to $750 a tablet from $13.50, bringing the annual cost of treatment for some patients to hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Martin Shkreli is the hedge fund manager who also owns Turning Pharmaceuticals and is taking away time from shorting drug company stocks, to price this important drug out of the hands of most people in the US.

This is not the first time the 32-year-old Mr. Shkreli, who has a reputation for both brilliance and brashness, has been the center of controversy. He started MSMB Capital, a hedge fund company, in his 20s and drew attention for urging the Food and Drug Administration not to approve certain drugs made by companies whose stock he was shorting.In 2011, Mr. Shkreli started Retrophin, which also acquired old neglected drugs and sharply raised their prices.

Retrophin’s board fired Mr. Shkreli a year ago. Last month, it filed a complaint in Federal District Court in Manhattan, accusing him of using Retrophin as a personal piggy bank to pay back angry investors in his hedge fund.Mr. Shkreli has denied the accusations. He has filed for arbitration against his old company, which he says owes him at least $25 million in severance. “They are sort of concocting this wild and crazy and unlikely story to swindle me out of the money,” he said.

If you think that profits for Mr. Shkreli are more important than a child's life, then be happy your dreams are coming true.   This is NOT the only time this has happened.

 Cycloserine, a drug used to treat dangerous multidrug-resistant tuberculosis, was just increased in price to $10,800 for 30 pills from $500 after its acquisition by Rodelis Therapeutics. Scott Spencer, general manager of Rodelis, said the company needed to invest to make sure the supply of the drug remained reliable. He said the company provided the drug free to certain needy patients.

In August, two members of Congress investigating generic drug price increases wrote to Valeant Pharmaceuticals after that company acquired two heart drugs, Isuprel and Nitropress, from Marathon Pharmaceuticals and promptly raised their prices by 525 percent and 212 percent respectively. Marathon had acquired the drugs from another company in 2013 and had quintupled their prices, according to the lawmakers, Senator Bernie Sanders, the Vermont independent who is seeking the Democratic nomination for president, and Representative Elijah E. Cummings, Democrat of Maryland. Doxycycline, an antibiotic, went from $20 a bottle in October 2013 to $1,849 by April 2014, according to the two lawmakers.

If you find this abhorrent and immoral, call your local elected rep and support Bernie Sanders for President.  

Why do Minnesotans pay less for health care than Wisconsinites?

The report analyzed data from the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) showing Minnesota residents consistently pay less than Wisconsin residents. I read the DHHS report and found the average lowest monthly premiums in the 36 states reporting numbers was $249 for a Bronze Plan. The average cost for this plan in Wisconsin was $38 more than the national average. The study used a weighted average to adjust for population differences within the states.

In Minnesota, a similar plan was $144 a month, half the cost of Wisconsin’s plan!

The gap grew for older people and, especially, for people in western Wisconsin. Particularly striking is the difference in two western Wisconsin cities. On average, premiums in Eau Claire were 116% higher than Minnesota and premiums in La Crosse were 136% higher than the weighted average in Minnesota.

Citizen Action estimated premiums in Wisconsin will be $1,824 more a year for the lower cost Silver (middle) Plan than in Minnesota.

Many people asked how this could happen. What does Minnesota know that Wisconsin does not? What decisions could Wisconsin lawmakers make to turn these differences around?

First, it is important to note that Wisconsin does not significantly differ from Minnesota in per person health costs. Wisconsin is slightly more expensive but per person costs in both states are a little under $6,000 a year.

Second, Minnesota made very different decisions than Wisconsin last year. Minnesota chose a state-based Marketplace, chose to keep parents up to 200% of the federal poverty level (FPL) on Medicaid, and chose to expand coverage of Medicaid for all people up to 133% of FPL. This means a single person who makes up to about $15,000 a year can get on the Gopher State’s version of BadgerCare. The state also chose to vigorously use rate review authorities.

Wisconsin, on the other hand, decided to let folks buy insurance through the federal Marketplace. The Governor and lawmakers who voted for the state budget dropped BadgerCare coverage for any adult who made a little more than $11,000 a year. The state decided to not use its rate review authorities.

All these choices made a difference in the Marketplace rates people will pay in the next year. For example, the choice to not expand Medicaid cost those buying insurance in the Marketplace an estimated 8 – 10% more according to a recent study by the Rand Corporation. This is because people who lose Medicaid are poorer and likely in poorer health. When added to the state’s Marketplace pool, costs increase.

Sicker people are likely to seek out the Marketplace. Those who are healthy may sit out this period of enrollment. This creates much higher premiums. It is also why Minnesota conducted extensive advertising to encourage sign-up; something Wisconsin chose not to do.

Years ago when I wrote the legislation to create a state-based Marketplace, I learned from the experience of other states that marketing, especially to young people, was the single most important factor in getting a well-balanced pool of enrollees and keeping costs down.

It is no accident that those who oppose the Marketplace are running ads to discourage young people from signing up.

All the premium numbers I’ve mentioned are before federal credits. These subsidies go to lower income folks which will offset premiums. So those hit the hardest by higher Wisconsin costs will be middle income insurance buyers.

It’s time to put politics aside and create a Badger state-based exchange. The work is done in Senate Bill 12. I call on my colleagues to hold a public hearing on the bill.  If we can’t outshine the Gophers, lets at least keep up with them.

AFP-WI Hearts ACA

By Jeff Simpson

H/T to the Americans For Prosperity - Wisconsin facebook page for showing the rest of us just how popular the Affordable Care Act is amongst the people of Wisconsin. 


They posted this picture this morning to prove their point:  




 See the websites crashed because by 7:00 AM there were more than a million visitors to the websites and they crashed.   

the point that the system crash truly makes is that there are millions of people in the US starving for healthcare and the affordable care act could not come quick enough!  

Thanks to President Obama for standing firm, and thanks to Americans for Prosperity for showing us how wildly popular Obamacare is! 

Coffee Can Healthcare System - Part 1

By Jeff Simpson

Despite the fact that we have passed the biggest most comprehensive health care reform of our lifetime in Obamacare, our health care system is still a mess.   Walk in any store in any small town in the US, and there will be a change jar, trying to help a community member raise money to pay their devastating medical bills.   

Unfortunately there is nothing on the horizon that makes us think that this will get better anytime soon.  The democrats unwilling to take up the 14 month fight again, are completely happy resting on the laurels of Obamacare.

The republicans realizing that people want and need health care reform have two goals in mind, repeal the success of President Obama and privatize as much as possible.   

As a cancer survivor, I know that the last thing you want to deal with, while going through a major medical trauma is "how will I pay the bills."!  

In order to help these people who are in so desperate need of it, and to highlight how bad our healthcare system is, I have decided to start a new series here at CogDis.   Please feel free to email me any fundraisers, etc...  you know if in your community where people are banding together to help a friend/family member pay their medical bills.  We will post and publicize the event for you!  

Email the information(or any other comments, complaints, stories you think we should cover) to

jeffcogdis@yahoo.com

I will start us out with this sad, typical yet disgusting story:

 In the aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombings on Monday, Jeff Bauman’s image was seared into the American consciousness. An extremely graphic photo of Bauman being escorted in a wheelchair with most of his legs blown off quickly went viral. Bauman’s stock rose even further after reports surfaced that he had looked into the eyes of one of the bombing suspects minutes before the explosion, and that the moment he awoke from emergency care, he gave law enforcement critical information that substantially narrowed their field of suspects. But while police continue to scour the streets for at-large suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the 27-year-old Bauman is scouring the internet for donations to help pay for his outsized medical bills.

Bauman’s friends created the page “Bucks For Bauman!” on the gofundme.com crowdfunding service. The money raised through donations to the site are meant to help Jeff and his family pay the exorbitant costs of his surgeries, ongoing medical care, and physical therapy. Since Tuesday, when the site was launched, Americans from across the country have poured in $158,294 in donations — over half of the overall $300,000 goal.

By the way, in case you were wondering, Jeff DOES have health care, through our his employer and our friends at COSTCO(Thank goodness he doesn't work at Sam's club).    The problem is the bills are overwhelming!

Not only does Bauman have employer-sponsored health coverage through Costco — the company “is also matching donations made by colleagues at the chain’s Nashua location,” according to a more recent Globe article from Friday. Bauman is being forced to raise funds despite this assistance due to the extraordinarily high costs associated with the amount of current and ongoing care that he requires.

Thank and support Costco and you can help Jeff out by donating  - here!  

AMGEN

Amgen is a leading biotechnology company based in California!

Our Mission and Values

Amgen strives to serve patients by transforming the promise of science and biotechnology into therapies that have the power to restore health or even save lives. In everything we do, we aim to fulfill our mission to serve patients. And every step of the way, we are guided by the values that define us.

Their CEO Robert Bradway salary is $7,124,964 with incentives and benefits estimated up to $21 million/yr!   They also have a very distinguished board of directors filled with many ex ceo's etc...

One last thing to mention, they also like to illegally market their drugs and own enough US Legislators to get a free $500,000,000 in taxpayers money from Congress in the "Fiscal cliff" bill!  

First off the story of their illegal marketing of their drugs:

 Amgen marketed its anemia drug Aranesp for unapproved uses even after the Food and Drug Administration explicitly ruled them out, federal prosecutors said on Tuesday.

The federal charges were made public as Amgen pleaded guilty to illegally marketing the drug and agreed to pay $762 million in criminal penalties and settlements of whistle-blower lawsuits. 

Amgen was “pursuing profits at the risk of patient safety,” Marshall L. Miller, acting United States attorney in Brooklyn, said in a telephone news briefing on Tuesday. 

David J. Scott, Amgen’s general counsel, entered the guilty plea at the United States District Court in Brooklyn to a single misdemeanor count of misbranding the drug, Aranesp, meaning selling it for uses not approved by the F.D.A. 

Amgen agreed to pay $136 million in criminal fines and forfeit $14 million, with about $612 million going to settle civil litigation.

Wrap your head around the fact that an $18 Billion dollar company just pled guilty and paid out 3/4 of a BILLION dollars, instead of continuing to fight this in court for years.   I am sure the people who died because of this are satisfied!

In court on Tuesday, prosecutors charged that Amgen had promoted the use of Aranesp to treat anemia in cancer patients who were not undergoing chemotherapy, even though the drug’s approval was only for patients receiving chemotherapy.

A subsequent study sponsored by Amgen showed that use of Aranesp by those nonchemotherapy cancer patients had actually increased the risk of death, and the off-label use diminished. 

The federal charges also say Amgen promoted using larger but less frequent injection of Aranesp than stated in the label as a way of making the drug more attractive to doctors and patients than Procrit, a rival anemia drug from Johnson & Johnson.

Luckily, Amgen did not have to absorb that big of heat very long, since their employees, (namely Mitch McConnell, Max Baucus and Orrin Hatch) who also happen to be in Congress, slipped a late night provision into the Fiscal Cliff Bill which will guarantee Amgen an extra $500 Million dollars over the next two years!

WASHINGTON — Just two weeks after pleading guilty in a major federal fraud case, Amgen, the world’s largest biotechnology firm, scored a largely unnoticed coup on Capitol Hill: Lawmakers inserted a paragraph into the “fiscal cliff” bill that did not mention the company by name but strongly favored one of its drugs.

The language buried in Section 632 of the law delays a set of Medicare price restraints on a class of drugs that includes Sensipar, a lucrative Amgen pill used by kidney dialysis patients. 

The provision gives Amgen an additional two years to sell Sensipar without government controls. The news was so welcome that the company’s chief executive quickly relayed it to investment analysts. But it is projected to cost Medicare up to $500 million over that period. 

Amgen, which has a small army of 74 lobbyists in the capital, was the only company to argue aggressively for the delay, according to several Congressional aides of both parties.

Easy to plead guilty, when you know the taxpayers will cover 2/3 of your penalty!  Luckily, despite the "tea party" members extreme silence,  we have Democrat Peter Welch (D-VT) who is trying to get our money back!

Welch introduced a bill on Wednesday that would restore the restraints. Reps. Richard Hanna (R-N.Y.), Jim Cooper (D-Tenn.) and Bruce Braley (D-Iowa) co-sponsored Welch's bill.

"Without scrutiny or debate, the American taxpayer was stuck with the $500 million tab. This special interest provision should have stood on its own merits with an up or down vote," Welch said. "It's no wonder cockroaches and root canals are more popular than Congress."

In terms of Wisconsin,  Self described deficit hawk Ron Johnson (R - Class Rings) has had exactly ZERO words to say about this taxpayer funded giveaway to Amgen!  You could express your dismay at a local town hall with Senator marry well, but he refuses to have those also.

Ironically, on the other side of the coin, the one person in Wisconsin who is beating the "lets stop this corporate welfare" drum is former Senator Russ Feingold!  

Former Sen. Russ Feingold's (D-Wis.) non-profit group, Progressives United, launched a petition Tuesday criticizing the pharmaceutical company Amgen for successfully lobbying to get a provision favoring one of its drugs, which could cost taxpayers up to $500 million, added to the "fiscal cliff" deal.

The petition calls for Amgen to give back the $500 million. "Thanks to more than 30,000 of your fellow progressives, our petition is taking off, even garnering national media attention to shine a bright spotlight on Amgen's overreach," wrote the group's executive director, Cole Leystra, in an email to supporters. "But Amgen still has an army of back-door lobbyists ready to quiet opposition and shell out targeted campaign contributions."

Action Steps:

* Sign Senator Feingold's Petition
*  tell Rep Peter Welch Thank you and you support him - @reppeterwelch / Phone: (202) 225-4115.
*  Call your local representative and tell them to sign onto Rep. Welch's bill!

Paul Ryan: King of the Zygotes

By Jeff Simpson

And Friend to rapists everywhere!  

Paul Ryan (R - Ayn Rand), never really toned down his act when he ran for vice president, he just refused to answer most questions!

 The republican whiz kid, was able to hold his seat to become part of the republican minority, thanks to the white hoods of Waukesha County.  The fact that Ryan lost his home district, home town, home block and even home street, did not stop Pink Slip Paulie from heading right back to the far right extreme.   


Remember, this is the guy who thinks that Rape is JUST another type of conception:

Yes this paul ryan, is not only back, he has doubled down:

ryan has cosponsored a bill to give Human Zygotes legal rights: 

The personhood bill, first introduced in 2011 by Rep. Paul Broun (R-Ga.) and reintroduced by Broun last week, specifies that a "one-celled human embryo," even before it implants in the uterus to create a pregnancy, should be granted "all the legal and constitutional attributes and privileges of personhood."

 The amazing thing about this bill(more than the fact it only has 17 cosponsors total) is:

 The bill died in the House of Representatives in 2011, when a record number of anti-abortion bills were being passed, and it is equally unlikely to advance this year. The Oklahoma Supreme Court struck down a state personhood initiative in 2012, deeming it "clearly unconstitutional" because it blocks a woman's legal right to have an abortion.

Too extreme for Missouri and Oklahoma and Pauli is standing at the forefront leading this issue.  It would be sad, except he was rewarded for it!  

Paul unfortunately is not happy just being extreme on rape he has to continue on by showing his disdain for all women...(Yes it is not just American victims of natural disasters he despises) see the "Sanctity for Human Life" bill that we are discussing here and it turns out the bill should be named "lets give parental rights to rapists" bill: 

In an unsurprising turn of events, Ryan has signed on as cosponsor to the Sanctity of Human Life Act again. The original bill — which declares that life begins with fertilization, and would give states the right to ban all abortion, even in the cases involving incest, rape, or the life of the mother — thankfully died in Congress in 2011.

But now it's baaaaack, which is scary because not only is the above terrifying, there's all sorts of other creepy shit hidden in this monster. Like, if a woman who was raped in a state that banned abortions went to a state that didn't ban abortions and had an abortion? Her rapist could theoretically sue to stop the abortion from happening, and probably win. And it doesn't stop there with the reproductive weirdness, if passed, it'll probably make many forms of IVF illegal.

By the way, for those keeping score at home -

Number of JOBS bills Ryan has cosponsored = 0

Once the righties found out about this provision, they then invited him to be the keynote speaker at republican Comic-Con.  This years event will feature a bunch of white male republicans pretending they are not running for president in 2016. 

One last heads up in the ever crazy game of, what bad is paul ryan bringing to WI now - be on the lookout this week for a few hundred very misinformed people in the southeast section of our state.  Seems the Racine tea party had a "healthcare exchange information session" .   

Which is a noble cause, the problem is, because of the NFL playoffs, they could not get anyone to come who understood what Healthcare  Exchanges mean to you, so they had to settle for Paul Ryan, Robin Vos, Leah Vukmir and Vicky Pyzynsky!   Expect alot of loud, angry, bitter people running around the Racine area, telling us things that just are not true about Obamacare.  

Better Re-read The Bible!

The right wing extremist owners of Hobby Lobby(The Greens) are willing to be fined rather than give their hardworking employees healthcare! 

Today Hobby Lobby announced that they will not comply with this mandate to become complicit in abortion, which the Greens believe ends an innocent human life. Given Hobby Lobby’s size (it has 572 stores employing more than 13,000 people), by violating the HHS Mandate, it will be subject to over $1.3 million in fines per day. That means over $40 million in fines in January alone. If their case takes another ten months to get before the Supreme Court—which would be the earliest it could get there under the normal order of business—the company would incur almost a half-billion dollars in fines. And then of course the Supreme Court would have to write an opinion in what would likely be a split decision with dissenters, which could easily take four or six months and include hundreds of millions of dollars in additional penalties.

This is civil disobedience, consistent with America’s highest traditions when moral issues are at stake. The Greens are a law-abiding family. They have no desire to defy their own government. But as the Founders launched the American Revolution because they believed the British government was violating their rights, the Greens believe that President Barack Obama and Secretary Kathleen Sebelius are commanding the Greens to sin against God, and that no government has the lawful authority to do so.

When the Greens pay their employees who build their business $8.36/hr and their best paid employees $11/hr and still whine about providing them with health care...then maybe they should re-read the Bible or at least have someone who understands it explain it to them!  

Here is a start Matthew 25:36

 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.' 37 "Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?' 40 "The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.' 41 "Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.' 44 "They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?' 45 "He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.' 46 "Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."

The Greens seem to think that giving their employees healthcare, will force abortions.  They are wrong!  

I recommend giving your business to Michael's!

Did Mitt Romney Commit a Crime?

Not yet(that we know of), but a bill being discussed, if enacted, would send Mitt to Gitmo!

Sens. Ben Cardin (D-MD) and Chuck Schumer (D-NY), who introduced the Deceptive Practices and Voter Intimidation Prevention Act in December, said the bill would help to prevent deliberately misleading mailers and phone calls in the run-up to an election, which Schumer called part of “a larger strategy to keep certain voters away from the polls.”

If it becomes law, individuals found to have deliberately misled voters would face a prison term of up to five years. State attorneys general would also be empowered to quickly respond with accurate information in cases where populations have been targeted with misleading claims. It would also amend the Voting Rights Act of 1965 to prohibit paying people to stay home on election day.

Today Mitt was at it again.  Telling the Columbus Dispatch(H/T - Think Progress):

“We don’t have a setting across this country where if you don’t have insurance, we just say to you, ‘Tough luck, you’re going to die when you have your heart attack,’  ” he said as he offered more hints as to what he would put in place of “Obamacare,” which he has pledged to repeal.

“No, you go to the hospital, you get treated, you get care, and it’s paid for, either by charity, the government or by the hospital. We don’t have people that become ill, who die in their apartment because they don’t have insurance.”

He pointed out that federal law requires hospitals to treat those without health insurance — although hospital officials frequently say that drives up health-care costs.

Umm Mitt, try 20 seconds on the Google:

 Nearly 45,000 people die in the United States each year -- one every 12 minutes -- in large part because they lack health insurance and can not get good care, Harvard Medical School researchers found in an analysis released on Thursday.

Free Market Healthcare!

paul ryan(R-Wall St.)  must be proud of this story! 

Wells fargo "allegedly" fired an employee days before his daughter was set for expensive cancer surgery! 

Wells Fargo allegedly fired an employee because his dying daughter needed expensive cancer treatment, according to a lawsuit filed in Palm Beach County Court on Thursday.

Wells Fargo fired mortgage consultant Yovany Gonzalez three days before his daughter Mackenzie was scheduled to get cancer surgery in August of 2010, the lawsuit states. According to the suit, the hospital canceled the surgery because Mackenzie no longer was covered by health insurance. She died of cancer in March of 2011.

So he was fired, he had access to COBRA right?  Not so much:

The lawsuit details that Wells Fargo also did not give Gonzalez information about how to continue his family's life insurance coverage -- information he was promised after he was fired, leading to the expiration of his plan. The coverage included life insurance on the lives of his children, according to the lawsuit. As a result, Gonzalez's life insurance policy expired before Mackenzie died, and Gonzalez was not able to receive life insurance compensation for Mackenzie's death.

While you are entitled to extend your employer health insurance coverage under the COBRA law if you lose your job, as long as you pay the full premium, it took more than 90 days for Wells Fargo to send Gonzalez information about how to extend his health insurance policy under COBRA, said paralegal Walter Stein, who is helping represent Gonzalez.

 Let's not blame Wells Fargo though, they were a little cash poor.  They ONLY received $25 BILLION in the government bail out of Wall St. which means they were only able to give just over of $11,000,000 in campaign contributions.   

They must be taxed to death though right???  They paid a WHOPPING -1% in taxes  from 2008- 2010. 

If they cut Yovani Gonzalez just before his daughter needed surgery, I am sure that everyone had to tight their belts right to help make this bailed out company whole again?

Executive compensation also increased by 180%, from $17,813,435 in 2008 to $49,834,68 in 2010. 

 John Stumpf, Chief Executive officer and President, $11,755,472 (also exercised $4,679,426 in options)! 

What do you expect?  they only made $49.37 billion in US profits in that time frame! 

 

Mackenzie Gonzalez can know she gave her life to advance the free  market and the profits of a major corporation because as we know

 

 

"Corporations are people my friend"