Quince & Apple

By Jeff Simpson

I just wanted to take a chance to combine some of my favorite things:  My Sigma Chi Brothers, small business and Ethical companies that work for a cause!

1.  Taaluma Totes:

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Taaluma Totes was started in a college apartment by two students who set out to connect cultures around the world.  We designed the totes with three things in mind 1) We love traveling  2) We want to make a difference, and 3) We like being on the move--ALWAYS with a backpack thrown on our back.  We rolled them all together, and out came the Taaluma Tote.

With closets full of fabric and totes on our mind, this quickly replaced our full-time jobs after graduation.  We hope you enjoy carrying these totes as much as we've enjoyed creating them.  Happy Totin'!

Backpacks paired with different countries.  Each backpack is made of fabric from that country, and funds a microloan for a person in that country.

2.  Flex Watches:

Here at Flex Watches we are dedicated to raising both public and financial support for our partner charities. From local events to nationwide campaigns, and from campus reps to local retailers, Flex Watches joins with these organizations not just to cheer them on and help spread the word, but also donate towards their cause.

 For every watch sold Flex provides 5 meals to children in need. By sporting your Flex Watch, you raise awareness for the cause and can change the life of a child. If you'd like to get more involved, Flex can help you adopt a child, plan a misions trip or build a home.

Proving, it is NOT impossible to be an ethical corporation.

Medicare Rejection Motivation

By Jeff Simpson

By now, everyone knows that Governor Scott Walker and his crony Dennis Smith worked together to reject $37 million in federal health insurance money to build a health insurance exchange as a state and turned it back to the Federal government.   This,besides showing the republicans hypocrisy when it comes to states rights, was predicted to cause thousands of Wisconsinites to be unable to afford healthcare and seriously harm small businesses. 

Well as predicted, it does hurt small business. Tremendously.   

Governors who refuse to expand their Medicaid programs for the poor may cost employers in their states as much as $1.3 billion in federal fines, a study found.

A clause in the 2010 health-care overhaul penalizes some employers when their workers aren’t able to obtain affordable medical coverage through the company. Employers can avoid those fees if their workers qualify for Medicaid as part of an expansion that as many as 22 states have rejected, according to a report today by Jackson Hewitt Tax Service Inc.

Without Medicaid, a “shared responsibility” payment of as much as $3,000 may be triggered for each employee who can’t get insurance through their company. In Texas, the largest state to refuse to increase Medicaid, employers may be liable for as much as $448 million in fines, the study found. In Florida, where the legislature has refused an expansion supported by Governor Rick Scott, employers may pay as much as $219 million.

 Once again, Scott Walker's attempt to play to his hard right tea party base is costing small business in WI dearly. 

I have often said that politicians are still subject to moments of candor,  we can occasionally look at their actions listen to their words and see EXACTLY what their motivations are.

In this case, we see that with Scott Walker spending so much time in Iowa, he is even having a fundraiser there this weekend, that he is gearing up to run for President in 2016.   Using this context, and buried in the news, is the real reason why Scott Walker rejected the Medicaid money and is willing to give our small businesses a $1.3 Billion Burden.

South Carolina republican House Member Kris Crawford had a rare moment of clarity that explained it all perfectly:

 Well we knew this is what Republicans thought in their minds, but it’s never been verbalized quite so blatantly. South Carolina House member Kris Crawford said in an interview while discussing Medicaid expansion for the uninsured, “It is good politics to oppose the black guy in the White House right now, especially for the Republican Party.”

There you have it!