Litigation Instead Of Leadership


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Governor Scott Puts Ideology Ahead Of Bringing Health Insurance To 800,000 Floridians

Florida is once again in the news for ignoble reasons (and we aren’t talking about this guy). It seemed that the state’s Republican leadership was on track to finally close Florida’s health care coverage gap, and potentially pave the way for movement in other conservative states. By agreeing to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, nearly 800,000 working-class Floridians would have got access to health insurance. Unfortunately, conservative ideology has once again gotten in the way of bringing health care to working families.

While Governor Rick Scott (R) had waffled on supporting closing the coverage gap, he came out in support in February 2013. As the former CEO of the country’s largest for-profit hospital company, Scott said that “I cannot, in good conscience, deny the uninsured access to care.” Obama administration officials and the Florida governor were negotiating over details while the Florida Senate unanimously passed a budget that would have closed the coverage gap.

But then, conservative obstructionism made a reappearance. Florida House Republicans stubbornly refused to even entertain a compromise, threatening a kind of rhetorical war against their erstwhile allies in the Senate. Conservative outside groups, like the Florida chapter of the Koch-funded Americans for Prosperity, attacked closing the gap as “Obama’s Medicaid expansion,” despite the support of the Republican Senate president and the Republican governor.

That is, before Governor Scott flip-flopped back to opposing Medicaid expansion, causing the impasse where we are now. Scott has accused the Obama administration of coercing the state to accept federal funding for Medicaid expansion by declining to renew $1 billion in federal funding for another program, which funds hospital care for the uninsured. Put another way, the Obama administration is telling Scott that he should use federal money to offer low-income people health insurance, not just to provide hospital care, and Scott doesn’t like it. (Scott, by the way, has known the funding was set to expire for over a year.) Now, the Florida governor is suing the administration over the issue. Instead of focusing on ensuring that their constituents receive health insurance, Scott and Florida House Republican leadership would rather obstruct and litigate a settled matter.

BOTTOM LINE: In the face of so many facts saying the Affordable Care Act works, why do conservatives continue to lean on the courts to block health care from millions? At the federal level, as we know, conservative efforts in the King v. Burwell case threaten health care for over 8 million Americans. And now in Florida, Governor Rick Scott is also going to the courts in a strained effort to deny health care to hundreds of thousands of his constituents. Real lives are at stake; it is time that we put patients over politics and support the expansion of health care to working Americans.

Remembering the BP Oil Spill ~~~


Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Site
Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Site (Photo credit: Green Fire Productions)

just another rant ..,

In memory of the BP oil spill … A day just like today,  the sun came up and the light of day gave way to a whole lot of life, but on 4/20, the morning light showed just how bad the BP oil spill disaster was, uncovering an event that will forever affect the Gulf Coast. As the media pushes, viewers begin to listen because they have questions, the media thinks they have solutions and the answers to how each Political Party will handle the disaster that is BP. They will talk about the BP oil spill and the damage to marine wildlife and habitat, the economy, the health of the people, those who worked and fought the oil as well as the local government weather and each other to save the Gulf Coast.

We all need to Remember the eleven people who died.

I still wonder just how much the Republican Party of No knows about the lack of preparedness drilling oil companies seem to be engaged in.

The BP oil disaster … proof of our need for rules regulations and while some oil companies rely and exist on short cuts and deregulation; Congress, specifically those from oil Country have avoided legislation that would make sure it does not happen again. Republicans did not seem fazed by the oil disaster whatsoever, screamed for more drilling though eleven people died, no heads rolled and no one did any jail time. It was the worse spill in our history yet Congress has swept it under the depths of the ocean that clearly needs man’s help. I have a riddle …what happens when a big corporation might knowingly try to save money by betting on worst-case scenario. Well, we do not know how many other narrow escapes there were or why they simply chose not to have high-tech equipment already in place or a multi-billion dollar plan B, but luck ran out and somebody’s risk analysis tool failed.

President Obama is willing to change direction on issues when the facts and or evidence show themselves. The moratorium President Obama put in place was a move coming from a President who has common sense. The BP oil disaster, led to major delays and or cancellation of offshore drilling and this clearly upset Republican members of Congress. Yet, given the latest information, maybe they should be more accountable for pushing for less regulation, less time waiting for permits more space for drilling; like that, 84,000 acres BP is or will lease to Ohio; which happens to be Boehner country. It is with great sadness folks on the right talk about drilling, like that old cliché … for us by us. FYI – it will take at least ten years to produce enough of our own to make a slight difference; in the meanwhile we should be implementing a full range of things including wind and solar but Republican oil seems to be more important. Yes, there are jobs, jobs, jobs in that there oil but betting against the odds puts more than an oil platform at risk which cannot be said enough times . A human error

I have to say the first reports of the explosion and then word that everything was okay made me wonder …common sense tells you okay the well is underground; it could bleed out, up or both. This spill, the worse ever is a warning to change the rules regulations, the way the clean-up process works with all equipment close or at least get an emergency plan in place. Safety first, seems like common sense at work though not too lucrative.  I am no expert, but emergency equipment should always be available immediately. However,  I saw nothing but boats watching, waiting for the leak to show and spread.

I haven’t heard much lately, but folks want to know what exactly is the status of the wildlife, those eyeless, clawless oddly deformed shellfish or fish with open sores some gulf coast fishermen may have caught though the FDA said “no worries,”  we all wonder how much pollution they theirs or we are being subjected to.

A Man Serves Time In Prison For Murders That A Hitman Admits


Xena's avatarWe Hold These Truths To Be Self-Evident

Vincent “Vito” Smothers is serving 52 years in prison for killing 8 people, including being hired by Detroit Police Department Sergeant David Cobb to kill Cobb’s wife. Smothers is a hit man, and has now confessed to killing 4 other people. The problem is that another man is currently serving time for those murders.

Side note:Cobb was arrested a day after Smothers was arrested for killing Cobb’s wife. Cobb was released after prosecutors said there wasn’t enough evidence to charge him. Cobbs remained suspended without pay. In September 2008, Cobb was found dead, hanged in Sterling Heights. It was ruled a suicide.

Vincent Smothers Vincent Smothers (left) and Devontae Sanford, (right)

In 2007, 14-year old Davontae Sanford, who is illiterate and blind in one eye, walked up to police at a murder scene.  He immediately became a suspect.   Detectives realized that Davontae did not know details about the crime, but his…

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