Tag Archives: BP

TGIF …&some News

10/01/2010 Nativegrl77

Today is not just the first day of October; my dad if alive would be celebrating his 94^th birthday fishing; needless to say i probably would be there with him and later it would be fresh seafood and a flan for desert. RIP dad. The leaves here in the 206 are changing colour even more than last month and while the weather is always a mixed bag with a chance of rain the folks who know say the 206 will be in the high 70’s by the end of the day… ahhh the dog days of summer are still here tho waning away.

I feel the need to breathe deep in reaching up to the sky then slowly release your breath through your nose and repeat when needed.

It’s Friday and President Obama’s schedule will be busy as changes to his administration, fundraising for democratic candidates continue. This is a day of shake-ups and announcements in the White House what with Rahm leaving, Elena Kagan‘s Supreme Court’s investiture ceremony is on Friday, Thad Allen transfers his authority off to another while the folks in Congress run to their own states to campaign like it’s their last. The President has been out there on the campaign trail trying to educate, inform and get folks left of center to understand what is at stake if we do not get off our arse and vote. I do not know about other states but most people here vote by mail, which works out for me because you can peruse the pamphlet take you time to understand the issues, props, or initiatives and then vote it private and send it right back, you can even check to see if your vote was counted online. It is a great system.

It is also the day before the One Nation Rally the 10-2-10 event and at first glance it was exciting. The idea that so many people wanted to take the time to organize an event that would not just show solidarity for those of us who are left of center. The event would also be a moment to show our support, and express what has been done so far by the Obama administration and what still needs to get done if the changes we all voted for can become a realization was and still is an amazing feat. However, the last few weeks have made me slightly apprehensive. I am appreciative that progressives, liberals others have been willing and able to not just come together but invest money in the rally but is this a rally of support or will folks get on stage and suddenly talk bad about our President in ways that will sabotage the November election. The mid-term elections usually are not a big deal because normally the changes only affect folks in their own states; this is going to affect everyone because the issues are on a Federal level the changes will affect everyone. It is important that we all need to understand why the stakes are so high. In 2008 53% voted to change the status quo now those votes are now at risk and while changing the status quo should be the issue that holds this Democratic Party together the fact is some of the more left of center did not get their way and are now in the News almost on a daily basis. I get it and I understand freedom of speech, I just do not want to hear so much of the negative on national TV because it could give the Republican Tea Party an edge it could mean votes though if it meant losing votes that easily then they clearly were not left of center at all. So, keep it real keep it fresh and keep the negative under control.

Definitely excited to see the 10-2-10 event on national television I will also be waiting to count the numbers of barbs thrown at our President while watching. I am hoping that the backstabbing, subliminal messages kept at a low level. Is that too much to ask for?

Other News …

**There are 5million people yet to register to vote

**NASA will lay off 1200 workers

**October is Breast Cancer awareness month

**AIG has a plan to payback $$ owed to the govt ahead of time with stocks in return they keep their payraise structure….

**Seattle, Greenlake will be experience major cuts to services rendered,the Mayor has announced a meeting at the Green lake library is scheduled for 10/16 from 11am-1pm be there to give your input on Saturday

**Boeing is taking plane orders from Air China

**BMW has recalled over 200thousand cars V8 and V12 engines

**Reports are that more people are going to the emergency rm instead of a Doctor -HCR when fully implemented government will save approx $$4million once exchanges are started u[

**Washington State needs to get informed about the local side to the November elections …1098,1107 and more have major cuts and changes that will impact us for a very long time get educated

**Meg Whitman’s husband says it’s possible he saw Social Sec letter

CSPAN …

Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI) Speech on Afghanistan
Today

Kendrick Meek for Senate Campaign Rally with Fmr. V.P. Al Gore
Thursday

White House Briefing with Press Secretary Robert Gibbs
Thursday

House Democrats Press Conference on Adjournment
Thursday

House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) Remarks at AEI
Thursday

House Oversight Cmte. Hearing on Johnson & Johnson Recall
Thursday

Senate Banking Cmte. Hearting on Financial Overhaul
Thursday

House Judiciary Subcmte. Hearing on Economic Benefits of Immigration
Thursday

Congress Adjourns for Midterm Elections
Thursday

~ Recent Post

Medicaid enrollment spikes to 48M in weak economy…states are now cutting Medicaid to curb costs!

09/30/2010 Nativegrl77

By RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR, Associated Press Writer Ricardo Alonso-zaldivar, Associated Press Writer – 1 hr 49 mins ago

WASHINGTON – A record number of Americans signed up for Medicaid last year, as the recession wiped out jobs and workplace health coverage.

A report released Thursday by the nonprofit Kaiser Family Foundation found that enrollment in the safety-net medical insurance program jumped to more than 48 million — a record 15.7 percent share of the U.S. population. With the economy barely improving, states are forecasting a 6 percent increase in the rolls next year, meaning another strain on their cash-depleted budgets.

The Medicaid numbers are the latest piece to emerge in a grim statistical picture of the recession’s toll. The ranks of the working-age poor climbed to the highest level since the 1960s last year, according to a recent Census report. Nearly 12 million households received food stamps, a record.

Rising Medicaid enrollment also underscores the growing role of the government in health care, a polarizing issue in this year’s midterm congressional elections after President Barack Obama and Democrats pushed through a massive overhaul of the nation’s health care system.

Since the start of the recession in December 2007, nearly 6 million people have signed up for Medicaid, according to Kaiser. That period includes the biggest 12-month increase since the program’s early days: 3.7 million new enrollees from December 2008 to December 2009.

“There seems to be no end in sight to the fiscal pressure on the Medicaid program,” said Vernon Smith, who co-authored the Kaiser report.

Starting in the fall of 2008, the federal government provided more than $100 billion in additional Medicaid funding to help states cover growing numbers of people in need.

The last of that money will run out in June of next year, and states will face a jump of 25 percent or more in their share of costs, although they are still likely to be financially strapped. If Republicans win control of Congress, they may find it difficult to turn down requests for more aid from the states.

With or without Obama’s overhaul, government is becoming the dominant player in health care. Federal, state and local government spending will overtake private sources in 2011, three years before the new law’s major coverage expansion, Medicare economists said in a recent report.

Medicaid is a federal-state partnership created with Medicare in 1965 under President Lyndon Johnson. It covers low-income families and many elderly in nursing homes, with Washington paying about 60 percent of the cost on average. Medicaid has also been assigned a major role under the new health care law, which expands the program to cover an estimated 18 million additional low-income adults starting in 2014.

For now, states are cutting Medicaid to try to curb costs.

Nearly every state — 48 in all — took some action to limit Medicaid spending this year, and most plan more cuts next year. Although they didn’t reduce eligibility, Kaiser found that states took steps to restrict the scope of coverage:

• A record 20 states placed restrictions on benefits, and 14 plan new restrictions next year. Arizona, California, Hawaii and Massachusetts eliminated some or all dental coverage. Other states limited medical imaging, therapies, supplies and personal care.

• Thirty-nine states cut or froze payments to hospitals, doctors and other service providers, and most plan another round next year. Medicaid payment rates are already so low that in many states it’s hard to find doctors who will accept the coverage. Yet 20 states lowered payments to doctors this year, and 12 plan to do so next year.

• Eighteen states placed limits on long-term care services, and 10 plan additional limits next year.

The recession officially ended in mid-2009, but the Kaiser study indicates its ill effects will take a while longer to wear off. Meanwhile, states will have to gear up for the major Medicaid expansion under the health care law.

“We’re on a teeter board,” said Carol Steckel, president of the National Association of Medicaid Directors, and head of Alabama’s program. “Every now and then that teeter board balances. But it’s going to be rare. There’s always something else.”

___

Online:

Kaiser Family Foundation: http://www.kff.org

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Breaking News: A Big Step for Paycheck Fairness

09/30/2010 Nativegrl77

A Big Step for Paycheck Fairness

We need the Senate to pass Paycheck Fairness quickly once they return. Tell your Senators: Women Are Not WorthLess!

We’ve reached an important moment in the Stop Discounting Women campaign — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has filed a cloture petition on the Paycheck Fairness Act — which is Washington-DC-speak for preparing a bill for a vote.

This is a huge opportunity for us. We started the campaign with the rallying cry “Women Are Not WorthLess” to bring attention to the 23% wage gap women face compared to their male counterparts. Our first goal was to help pass the Paycheck Fairness Act. And now, thanks to your support, the bill is not only set up for a vote, but it could be one of the first votes the Senate takes when it returns in November!

We need your help to make sure your Senators know that this bill is ripe for a vote when they come back and we need them to pass Paycheck Fairness quickly upon their return. Take action today by sending a quick e-mail message to your Senators.

In this tough economy, more and more families are counting on women’s earnings. Unfair pay practices make things even harder. The Paycheck Fairness Act would deter wage discrimination by closing loopholes in the Equal Pay Act and barring retaliation against workers who disclose their wages to coworkers.

Tell your Senators loud and clear that Women Are Not WorthLess.

Even if you have taken action before, we need you to do it again and again. November is just around the corner, and we need to keep the pressure on.

Thank you so much for all of your work.

Sincerely,

Fatima Goss Graves
Vice President for Education and Employment
National Women’s Law Center

P.S. Your generous donation allows us to continue to stand up for women and their families. Support our work today.

~ politics petitions pollution and pop culture

Sharron Angle

09/30/2010 Nativegrl77

After months of watching the GOP‘s extreme candidates say one offensive thing after another, I thought I was done being shocked.

Then I saw new footage of Nevada Republican Senate nominee Sharon Angle attacking laws that require insurance companies to cover those with autism.

“You’re paying for things that you don’t even need,” she said. “They just passed the latest one, is everything that they want to throw at us now is covered under ‘autism’.”

She put “autism” in air quotes — like she doesn’t believe it exists.

If this is what she’s saying on the campaign trail, imagine what she’ll say in the Senate.

We’re hitting back against ideologues like Sharron Angle with ads on the air and messaging on the ground. We’re making sure voters understand the choice they have in this election.

Can you chip in $5 or more to help us amplify that message?

Angle isn’t alone.

In Delaware, Christine O’Donnell has attacked the “horror” of health reform.

In Colorado, Ken Buck has called Social Security “horrible policy.”

In Alaska, Joe Miller has said that Congress must have “courage to shut down the government,” to stop the President‘s agenda.

These ideologues — in states across the country — think they have all the momentum. And their supporters are pouring their energy into the campaigns.

But this is why we’ve built a national program. It’s why we have organizers on the ground in every state.

We just need the resources to finish strong — and continue to show voters what Ken Buck, Sharron Angle, Christine O’Donnell, Joe Miller and a host of other Republicans keep saying.

Donate $5 or more now:

http://my.democrats.org/Angle

Thanks,

Jen

Jen O’Malley Dillon
Executive Director
Democratic National Committee

~ my 2cents ...

thorny Thursday &some News

09/30/2010 Nativegrl77

Today is the last day of September and while the summer heat should make it to the 206 by the end of the day, it is quite nice outside, contrary to what others are experiencing on the east coast and the Caribbean.

I was looking through my email and subscriptions, came across the Mike Wolff editorial, and gotta say it’s too early to be getting this heated but the words, the implications and what really upset me was a need of his to generalize. I am a big believer in not making general statements or having general attitudes about anyone or thing. I thought that seemed like common sense, yet a guy who makes more money than i will ever see in my entire life decided to go there about President Obama… like so many cable pundits who label themselves as liberals and or progressives who seem to be on the attack in a moment when we need our party, as big as it is united as one group to get more true democrats on the floor of Congress instead of engaging in Political Party sabotage. I am only one person hopefully there are more people feeling some left of center are grooming the viewer for a move to support someone else in 2012, but that is just my take on what I have been hearing on cable and the airwaves. My point is that there just aren’t a lot of folks getting air time to say yes left of center folks have their opinion but they do not represent me. The growing numbers of pundits who call themselves progressives have begun to use their platforms to stir up trouble. I have no power to change the attitudes out there but I will not sit back and accept the BS that Wolff and other media types like him are engaging in. I get it Mike Wolff stepped out there and took a risk to make his opinion known, so did Arianna Huffington, ed Shultz, bill Maher as well as Michael Moore. The comments have been called supportive criticisms to push the President …well the question is push him where out of office because what I hear is not what I would call constructive criticism from these people. I hear what they didn’t get from him, what he hasn’t done for them and what they did for him and will do to him… in some cases I feel some have used folks to take responsibility for the distaste and have decided to hold their votes until at least the President contacts them. I wonder where these people got the idea to decide to sit out the 2010 mid-term elections let alone get on TV and announce their intention to have a tantrum in order to get their way like Sen. Landrieu. The list of those left of center making comments that the viewer unfortunately has been groomed to trust is endless but as a regular citizen and a democrat that truly supports this President. I have a problem with Congress and the rule of 60. The conversation out there among some left of center pundits is I will be honest is starting to worry me. I understand freedom of speech but it also comes with a responsibility to include some truth and I just did not feel this editorial lived up to that but again that is just my opinion. Millions of people will see his article but those regular folks who disagree can only return barbs and comments in a limited fashion which are then screened and maybe someone who is reading the article will see the comment but in the meanwhile mike Wolff can sit back and take it all in without really having to take questions or defend his position. The article was not just offensive to me but seemed close to race baiting, out of touch and on the edge of discrimination.

Anyway, my response is below

Ok, I will take the bait …because that is what you are up to Mr. Wolff… We all have opinions, it sadly is misused and abused by many folks don’t you agree? As one of millions of Black folks who disagree with your diatribe …the problem with generalities is that they not only are self serving but they move into discriminatory behavior…not all black people are pleased with what the President is doing hopefully you understand we also have free will to decide for ourselves just like everyone else …your article is offensive at best silly and if nothing else you will succeed in getting a bunch of people probably mostly white folks who will agree with your thinking. You are upset about the way things are so you talk about President Obama not being able to deliver because he is Black…you are a Pundit and have money to place your opinion on a platform so everyone can see it …some of us don’t have the money or luxury to say what we want and have billions of people see it and think just because it is in print said by somebody with money decide that in fact it has to be true… I say BS

Other News …

**Boeing continues to get plane orders

**Tony Curtis dead at 85

**Congress has completed legislation to keep the govt running for a couple of more months and will go home to campaign

**Fisher-Price recalls millions of toys

**Senate banking committee holding mtgs on new financial regulations

CSPAN …