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Obama's Health Care Bill Needs Ironing  Tuesday, June 23rd, 2009  by Connie T. President Barack Obama has proposed new mandates in health care. While the majority of Americans have shown in polls to be in support of reforming the health care system, there are a few points in the proposed bill that need some attention. First of all, the Federal Healthcare Rationing Board will make decisions on the health care of you and your family, not on your doctor's or your opinion on how your medical needs should be treated. Many people already know the sting of medical claims being denied by their insurance companies, or being turned away from coverage due to a pre-existing condition; these were things Obama criticized during his run for presidency, advocating fair coverage for all. Secondly, the price tag is controversial. Congressional budget analysts have already said that the plan will drive the nation deeper into debt without more spending control on the bill. And finally, the plan could result in a loss of privacy for the individual. It seeks to make all health records digital, but electronic health record systems like Google Health are not yet subject to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, the national health privacy law. Obama and the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, as well as the U.S. Dept. of Justice, have announced a new high-level task force aimed at detecting and preventing health care fraud. But with the new bill, if medical providers don't have the proper precautions in place, it could balloon the health care fraud that already costs Americans billions each year. "Without aggressive safeguards, we could be building an infrastructure for massive medical fraud," said Pam Dixon, Executive Directory of the World Privacy Forum. After the July 4th recess, the Senate Finance Committee will be drafting this first major health care legislation bill under the new administration. Certainly President Obama can be commended for attempting to reform the health care system that party mate Hillary Clinton found was so difficult to do during Bill Clinton's presidency; after all, the US has some of the best (and most expensive) medical care in the world, and yet is one of few countries that won't offer these benefits to all citizens. But passing this bill hastily and without hammering out all the details of consequence to all Americans would not be just. Comments > >

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Ron Paul's Audit Fed Bill Gets Majority Support  Tuesday, June 23rd, 2009  by Connie T. Image via Justin Texas Congressman Ron Paul drafted a Federal Reserve Transparency Act, HR 1207, that has now been cosponsored by a majority of members in the House of Representatives. The 218th cosponsor that gave the proposed bill House majority was Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich - fitting, really, since Kucinich was the fellow presidential candidate that, although of a different party, Ron Paul said most closely resembled his own political ideals. The number of cosponsors has now been bumped up to 237. The Federal Reserve, aka The Fed and headed up by Ben Bernanke, is the central banking system of the United States that is part public, part private - it is composed of both government and private entities. Neither Congress nor the American people have complete oversight over the trillions of dollars the Fed controls. Paul's bill would demand accountability and complete disclosure for the money that flows from the Fed to businesses through audits and reports, to take the "secretive" aspect out of what Paul calls "the Fourth Branch of government." "Some people don't think of them as part of the government because they're so secretive," Paul says. "But we created it, we can end it, we take no responsibility to supervise it, and look at what they're doing. We spend hundreds of billions, but the Fed deals in trillions, and they don't have any responsibility to tell us about it. So there's a lot of power there and it deserves looking at." Agree or disagree? If you believe the Fed should be held accountable for their transactions, you can find out exactly how to ask your Representative to cosponsor this bill here. Either way, you can tell your Rep exactly how you feel by simply finding them here. Comments > >

Goldman Sachs Employees Get Biggest Bonuses Ever  Tuesday, June 23rd, 2009  by Connie T. Image via Dave Yes, you read that right: while millions of Americans are biting their nails over recent or potential layoffs, New York-based Goldman Sachs (the single largest recipient of AIG's bailout money from the Fed, to the tune of $12.9 billion) advised their London staff that they can look forward to bumper bonuses, and their biggest payouts in the firm's 140-year history. What about the money owed to the U.S. government? Well, Chief Executive Officer Lloyd Blankfein for Goldman Sachs wrote to Congressional leaders that the company will repay $10 billion to the Treasury Department tomorrow. That sounds good enough, but why resume - and increase even - the excessive compensation packages for executives that contributed to the financial crisis? And additionally, how did they come upon these sudden profits with the rest of the country still doggy paddling? Easily, says Karl Denninger of the Market Ticker: "Let's remember that Goldman got roughly $10 billion in AIG-funded money to 'settle' CDS that their CEO said [were already] fully-hedged...and which would have had no material impact if AIG had gone down, mostly because they had collected nearly all of the hedge before AIG got in serious trouble. That is, they got paid twice - once with their hedge...and again by the government fiat, directed by Henry Paulson who coincidentally used to run Goldman." Comments > >

Water Powered Cars: Too Good To Be True?  Tuesday, June 23rd, 2009  by Connie T. Via Reuters Japan Okay, so the Hydrogen tank is bulky...but isn't most new technology bulky? Not that it's brand new...in fact, this Japanese water-powered car has been around for a little over a year. The Genepax debuted in Osaka last June, with an onboard energy generator called a "membrane electrode assembly" that extracts hydrogen from water by a "chemical reaction." So why haven't we heard of this car then? Why isn't Leonardo DiCaprio driving it? "The fact that [Barack] Obama & Co. are not all over this is a sign of how profoundly compromised he is by the oil industry," writes a blogger at BrassCheckTV. Not so simple, counters Michael Graham Richard of TreeHugger. Fueling the conspiracy theories about water cars, he said, "is that the media run these segments where they show water cars driving around, and it all seems to work, and then we never hear about them again. People figure that Big Oil (or the Illuminati, whatever) is suppressing the technology. "The reality is more mundane: it is actually possible to make a car look like it runs on water without breaking the first law of thermodynamics." The metal hydrides needed to power the reaction with water to produce hydrogen need to be replace and actually substitute for fuel themselves, he reports. And, extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence, which Genepax has been reluctant to provide. Whether or not the Genepax is truly fuel-free, there will certainly be developments in technology in the not so distant future that we'll all marvel at, and both water and solar power have making strides in the new millennium. Nothing is impossible (except maybe slamming a revolving door)! Comments > >

Senate Apologizes For Slavery, Disclaimer Included  Tuesday, June 23rd, 2009  by Connie T. Last year the House of Representatives issued an official apology for slavery in America's history, and now the Senate has unanimously passed a similar resolution sponsored by Senator Bill Harkin (D - Iowa)...except that this resolution addresses the topic of reparations, by advising none can be sought. "Nothing in this resolution A) authorizes or supports any claim against the United States, or B) serves as a settlement of any claim against the United States." Reparations (specifically, monetary) were broached at the presidential debates in this last election, and the candidates responses were varied, as is the American public's, as far as Gallup polls have indicated. The Resolution from the Senate reads as follows: Concurrent Resolution apologizing for the enslavement and racial segregation of African-Americans. Whereas, during the history of the Nation, the United States has grown into a symbol of democracy and freedom around the world; whereas the legacy of African-Americans is interwoven with the very fabric of the democracy and freedom of the United States...Whereas it is important for the people of the United States, who legally recognized slavery through the Constitution and the laws of the United States, to make a formal apology for slavery and for its successor, Jim Crow, so they can move forward and seek reconciliation, justice, and harmony for all people of the United States: Now, therefore, be it. The full text of the statement is here (in .PDF format). Comments > >

Jon and Kate Gosselin's Devastating Divorce  Tuesday, June 23rd, 2009  by Connie T. A change in Jon Gosselin seemed to happen pretty quickly. An earring in each ear, an evolution into skater and skull clothing, a motorcycle, keeping company with young women at bars until the early morning, a change from the mute, passive, accommodating husband he once was into an angry, defensive Jon who said on last night's hour long Jon & Kate special, "I don't hate Kate" unconvincingly. A mid-life crisis? Could be...he married at just 22, and with two twins and a set of sextuplets, had to grow up fast. But they won't make it to a counselor's office to find out - not a marriage counselor, at least. At the end of the special, ominous print read that on Monday, June 22nd, a petition was filed to dissolve the 10 year marriage of Jon and Kate Gosselin. "He won't talk to me," Kate told cameras, and then in a statement yesterday, "Over the course of this weekend, Jon's activities have left me no choice but to file legal procedures in order to protect myself and our children. While there are reasons why it was appropriate and necessary for me to initiate this proceeding, I do not wish to discuss those reasons at this time, in the hope that all issues will be resolved amicably between Jon and myself." Continued, just click to follow! Continued > >

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