The waning economy evidently has caused governments to raise taxes and give it's workers furlough days to help balance the budget.
Hmmmm.
Maybe they should consider reevaluating current spending.
For this post I will address a situation close to my heart. The State of Maryland government.
I have a working knowledge of this as I worked for the State for 18 years.
I made an adequate income. While not comparable to the private sector.
I didn't mind taking my furlough days. I was doing my part. I didn't mind not receiving my guaranteed step increases, or cost of living increases. I was doing my part.
But when my department of six managers and directors eventually became compiled of Two of us that had worked to attain our positions and the wife of another director, and three mayors of Maryland towns, it was getting a little too politically driven and obviously not result driven.
Finally I was informed that they wanted a new face on my department and my position was abolished. The mayor that took my duties is two grades higher than mine, and still calls to find out how to do the job.
Ultimately the majority of my duties were passed onto my staff of two hard working and dedicated State employees.
Saving dollars?
Gov. Martin O’Malley defeated Gov. Bob Ehrlich in the 2006 Maryland election. People wanted another political party in office.
Gov. Ehrlich inherited a massive budget deficit and turned it into a $670 million surplus.
Gov. O'Malley inherited this surplus and quickly turned it into $2 billion deficit.
Two separate groups found that O'Malleys budget for Maryland had $250 million in wasteful and duplicate spending on the first 15 pages. The budget was over 800 pages long.
Martin O’Malley spearheaded the passage of a $1.4 billion tax increase in 2007.
Minimum of 3 furlough days for all State employees.
Also eliminating hundreds of State positions.
He included an increase in the number of employees assigned to his office as well as an increaseof the salaries for his appointees.
Of course the political sheep followed and passed this budgetary wonder.
Meanwhile the Governor said "I will take my furlough days too".
What a guy. While eating the food, living in the house, heating and cooling it, and riding around in his assigned limo, all at the tax payers expense.
Several State agencies had employees that took their furlough days and worked overtime during the same week to achieve this governors image driven agenda.
A Cato Institute study found Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley to be the worst governor in America on fiscal issues.
O'Malley is a great example of politics in this great contry adding to spending but not reducing current "comfort" spending on existing wasteful and duplicate spending.
Please help. Pay attention and remember in November.
Monday, November 30, 2009
Monday, November 23, 2009
Health Care. Sigh!
Well this is a timely issue and apparently a necessary evil in todays over populated USA. It is obvious that we have too many people in this country that use the emergency room a medical plan. We have a full array of situations. Hard working people that just can't afford medical insurance. Unemployed decent citizens, homeless, drug users, hardcore alcoholics, parasites living off of the system and of course illegal aliens.
Let's start with the hard working, taxpaying folks that can't afford health insurance. Federal and state governments have health care plans now. Medicare and medicaid.
These have become so limited in their coverage that citizens have to have supplemental coverage.
So you need to make money to use the "welfare health plan"
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) administers Medicare, the nation's largest health insurance program, which covers nearly 40 million Americans.
Medicare is a Health Insurance Program for people age 65 or older, some disabled people under age 65, and people of all ages with End-Stage Renal Disease (permanent kidney failure treated with dialysis or a transplant).
Medicaid is a federally-funded program which provides health care for low-income individuals and families. The program was set up by the federal government, but is administered on a state-by-state basis.
Everyone over the age of 65 may qualify for Medicaid, but other groups of people too, including pregnant women, children under the age of 18, and people with certain types of disabilities. However, to qualify your income must also be below a certain limit, as defined on a state-by-state basis.
Medicare was established as a trust fund, like Social Security. When employees worked and paid into it, that money would stay there until you turned 65, The interest as well as the principle would pay for your health care. Unfortunately, the current beneficiaries medical claims under the program are being paid for by the taxes being deducted by the current workforce. The money that was held in trust was simply spent for whatever the Congress decided. Imagine that. A politician not telling the truth about spending your tax dollars.
More of a problem is the workforce is declining and the beneficiaries are increasing.
Someone turns 65 every 9 seconds.
14 million illegal aliens, lack of work ethics in todays youth, drugs, alcohol, politicians continuing to push government benefits. The system is designed to fail.
So we can't count on these programs being here in their current configuration for very much longer. But we can count on the emergency rooms being over crowded.
Either way the taxpayer and citizens with insurance will pick up the tab.
The government has proven they do not have the ability to operate a health insurance program. Even with limited coverage. Left hand spending too much and the right hand continues to make it too available for ineligibles.
Our politicians are here to represent us to the White House. Take the concerns of their constituents to Capitol Hill. There laws and policies are changed to protect the people that gave these "public servants" their positions.
Today they are taking pet projects to the people that the White House is pushing. This seems to be backwards. Having to sell a pet project to the voters of this country, that do not want it. I am fairly certain that the majority of the individuals using the emergency room for health care would love for working, legal America to continue to foot the bill for them. But it will bleed out sooner than later.
The solution seems so easy that I can not imagine it ever working.
1) Every financial social program has to hire investigators with a panel to allow or terminate benefits based on their findings. Most of us have seen individuals in line at a store with carts of goods, dressed nicely, bling bling, and out come the Independence cards, WIC, food stamps, etc. Then they get into a car nicer than the one you're driving. It would seem an investigator could recoup their salary in one investigation.
2) Any received benefit would rely on searching for jobs and or seeking education. No benefit for more than three months unless enrolled in an educational program to make them employable.
3) Proof of citizenship. If they are not citizens, they can not receive citizens benefits. If they want to follow the law and become citizens, send them home, (cheaper than supporting them), and give them a fast track to allow them to apply for citizenship legally.
4) And finally, allow the government to offer an extended, reformed Medicaid program. Every person enrolling would have contributed during their career, pay a minimal charge or volunteer for civic duties and receive credit for health care. Possible jobs could be day care, street cleaning, janitorial services, snow removal, community clean up, lawn services, etc. The insurance companies would have a serious reason to be competitive.
Well these problems and solutions are not going to just happen. Let your representatives know you want to be "REPRESENTED" to Capitol Hill. And they should not be the messenger boys for the white house or any lobbyist.
It's fine that you don't agree with me, but please..Remember in November!
Let's start with the hard working, taxpaying folks that can't afford health insurance. Federal and state governments have health care plans now. Medicare and medicaid.
These have become so limited in their coverage that citizens have to have supplemental coverage.
So you need to make money to use the "welfare health plan"
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) administers Medicare, the nation's largest health insurance program, which covers nearly 40 million Americans.
Medicare is a Health Insurance Program for people age 65 or older, some disabled people under age 65, and people of all ages with End-Stage Renal Disease (permanent kidney failure treated with dialysis or a transplant).
Medicaid is a federally-funded program which provides health care for low-income individuals and families. The program was set up by the federal government, but is administered on a state-by-state basis.
Everyone over the age of 65 may qualify for Medicaid, but other groups of people too, including pregnant women, children under the age of 18, and people with certain types of disabilities. However, to qualify your income must also be below a certain limit, as defined on a state-by-state basis.
Medicare was established as a trust fund, like Social Security. When employees worked and paid into it, that money would stay there until you turned 65, The interest as well as the principle would pay for your health care. Unfortunately, the current beneficiaries medical claims under the program are being paid for by the taxes being deducted by the current workforce. The money that was held in trust was simply spent for whatever the Congress decided. Imagine that. A politician not telling the truth about spending your tax dollars.
More of a problem is the workforce is declining and the beneficiaries are increasing.
Someone turns 65 every 9 seconds.
14 million illegal aliens, lack of work ethics in todays youth, drugs, alcohol, politicians continuing to push government benefits. The system is designed to fail.
So we can't count on these programs being here in their current configuration for very much longer. But we can count on the emergency rooms being over crowded.
Either way the taxpayer and citizens with insurance will pick up the tab.
The government has proven they do not have the ability to operate a health insurance program. Even with limited coverage. Left hand spending too much and the right hand continues to make it too available for ineligibles.
Our politicians are here to represent us to the White House. Take the concerns of their constituents to Capitol Hill. There laws and policies are changed to protect the people that gave these "public servants" their positions.
Today they are taking pet projects to the people that the White House is pushing. This seems to be backwards. Having to sell a pet project to the voters of this country, that do not want it. I am fairly certain that the majority of the individuals using the emergency room for health care would love for working, legal America to continue to foot the bill for them. But it will bleed out sooner than later.
The solution seems so easy that I can not imagine it ever working.
1) Every financial social program has to hire investigators with a panel to allow or terminate benefits based on their findings. Most of us have seen individuals in line at a store with carts of goods, dressed nicely, bling bling, and out come the Independence cards, WIC, food stamps, etc. Then they get into a car nicer than the one you're driving. It would seem an investigator could recoup their salary in one investigation.
2) Any received benefit would rely on searching for jobs and or seeking education. No benefit for more than three months unless enrolled in an educational program to make them employable.
3) Proof of citizenship. If they are not citizens, they can not receive citizens benefits. If they want to follow the law and become citizens, send them home, (cheaper than supporting them), and give them a fast track to allow them to apply for citizenship legally.
4) And finally, allow the government to offer an extended, reformed Medicaid program. Every person enrolling would have contributed during their career, pay a minimal charge or volunteer for civic duties and receive credit for health care. Possible jobs could be day care, street cleaning, janitorial services, snow removal, community clean up, lawn services, etc. The insurance companies would have a serious reason to be competitive.
Well these problems and solutions are not going to just happen. Let your representatives know you want to be "REPRESENTED" to Capitol Hill. And they should not be the messenger boys for the white house or any lobbyist.
It's fine that you don't agree with me, but please..Remember in November!
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
We Have To Pay Attention If We Want Good Government
We have a solemn duty to our fellow citizens and future generations to elect the least damaging candidate to the government of this great country. I know. It's sad to think we aren't electing an individual that really represents the majority of Americans. But our current election process does not allow much leeway in our choices.
One variable in the process are Libertarians.
Libertarians tend to follow the constitution rather than a party.
Libertarians want people to be able to live peacefully together in civil society.
Cooperation is better than coercion.
Peaceful coexistence and voluntary cooperation require an institution to protect us from outside threats,
deter or punish criminals, and settle the disputes that will inevitably arise among neighbors—a government, in short.
Thus, to criticize a wide range of the activities undertaken by federal and state governments—
from Social Security to drug prohibition to out-of-control taxation—is not to be “anti-government.”
It is simply to insist that what we want is a limited government that attends toits necessary and proper functions.
In 2004, the CATO Institute reported that Libertarians made up as much as 11.4 million or 15% of voters in a national election. They don't normally fit into the conservative or liberal mold. They can be found in all parts of the country and all demographic groups. They are more likely than the average voter to be male, well educated, affluent, and living in the Mountain and Pacific West. They are more likely to own stock than other voters, making them a central part of the "investor class." I don't really fit this mold but I like the philosophy.
The reason I am bringing this up is that if more of us would take a little time to look at the issues and records of our politicians, we may get someone in office that is not another cookie cutter politician. Someone to sincerely look out for the best interest of of there constituents. Regain the perspective that the citizens working, paying taxes, contributing to our society, and making this country respectable, are their focus.
Voting and a little reading is the one way each of us can voice our opinion. Change the country for the better. Make the USA the American Dream for the world again.
Please make an educated vote. It is too important to vote for a pretty hair candidate that says nice things.
Remember in November.
p.s. Check out this link for anyone that would like a anothers insight on how and why people vote.
http://www.edgate.com/elections/inactive/how_and_why/
One variable in the process are Libertarians.
Libertarians tend to follow the constitution rather than a party.
Libertarians want people to be able to live peacefully together in civil society.
Cooperation is better than coercion.
Peaceful coexistence and voluntary cooperation require an institution to protect us from outside threats,
deter or punish criminals, and settle the disputes that will inevitably arise among neighbors—a government, in short.
Thus, to criticize a wide range of the activities undertaken by federal and state governments—
from Social Security to drug prohibition to out-of-control taxation—is not to be “anti-government.”
It is simply to insist that what we want is a limited government that attends toits necessary and proper functions.
In 2004, the CATO Institute reported that Libertarians made up as much as 11.4 million or 15% of voters in a national election. They don't normally fit into the conservative or liberal mold. They can be found in all parts of the country and all demographic groups. They are more likely than the average voter to be male, well educated, affluent, and living in the Mountain and Pacific West. They are more likely to own stock than other voters, making them a central part of the "investor class." I don't really fit this mold but I like the philosophy.
The reason I am bringing this up is that if more of us would take a little time to look at the issues and records of our politicians, we may get someone in office that is not another cookie cutter politician. Someone to sincerely look out for the best interest of of there constituents. Regain the perspective that the citizens working, paying taxes, contributing to our society, and making this country respectable, are their focus.
Voting and a little reading is the one way each of us can voice our opinion. Change the country for the better. Make the USA the American Dream for the world again.
Please make an educated vote. It is too important to vote for a pretty hair candidate that says nice things.
Remember in November.
p.s. Check out this link for anyone that would like a anothers insight on how and why people vote.
http://www.edgate.com/elections/inactive/how_and_why/
Saturday, November 14, 2009
We Are All Equal Americans, Really!
For eons man has made certain this group was better than that group. This trait is better than that trait.
But we are all born biologically equal. Really. From there it is nurture and culture.
(Of course I am not addressing birth defects here.)
Politicians keeping their positions in government safe, encourage plain old Americans to think one group is special over another. Certain groups are incapable of making it without charity. Politicians aren't the only ones. Special interest groups, keeping their positions alive, encourage some Americans to believe special treatment and rights are necessary for them to survive.
There are dozens of stories on the web extolling the character and success of Americans that have devastating handicaps and obstacles to overcome. And their success can be incredible.
They may be quadriplegic, suffer from years of abuse, birth defects, amputees, etc.
My point here is we have to start treating each other as "EQUAL" until our actions make us less.
And it would seem we need to begin with all levels of government.
The first situation that comes to mind is "hate crimes". In the distant past, this could be a little more understandable. Freed slaves and several generations to follow could have a hard row to hoe. Asian Americans could feel the repercussions of WWII for much too long. And we all know there are many more situations where "hate crime" could be considered an option.
Now days political correctness and accepted misbehavior has turned the racism towards caucasians, latino, and Korean Americans. Political correctness tolerates African Americans demonstrating racism. I cannot fully understand the logic behind this.
In America today we should all be offended that someone would consider one persons life more important than another. Any crime against a person is just that. A crime. All crimes should be treated as seriously as required by law. No matter who the victim is. For a government to lend credibility to thought that one American is more or less than another is racism in its worst form.
Unfortunately there will always be imbeciles in the world to insult a person or group with hurtful names and poor treatment. But to justify their asinine thought process with changing laws or government programs to attempt to correct it is absurd.
We all have our individual hurdles to clear. Prejudice and hate may be a part of them.
We need to stop listening to these individuals and groups that think special treatment, good or bad, is necessary because of someones heritage.
We have to stop having our tax dollars pay for racist beliefs and know we are all equal with equal chances at success.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Is Capitol Hill the Watchdog for the Citizens of This Country?
This post is a follow up to the preceding post.
Our elected officials are there to represent the best interest of their constituents.
They do sell that product.
There are quite a few glaring examples that this may not be the case.
This is one most of us can appreciate.
Are we to believe the largest deduction from our paychecks,Social Security, is being invested to the best of our politicians ability?
The fact is that before 1984, Senators and Representatives did not participate in the Social Security program. Like all federal government employees at that time, members of Congress were covered by a pension plan, called the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS), that did not require payment of Social Security taxes and did not provide Social Security benefits.
In 1983, Congress passed a law (P.L. 98-21) that required all federal employees first hired after 1983 to participate in Social Security. The law also required all members of Congress to participate in Social Security as of January 1, 1984, regardless of when they first entered Congress. Because the CSRS was not designed to coordinate with Social Security, Congress directed the development of a new retirement plan for federal employees, called the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS), which does coordinate a federal pension with Social Security.
The key word here is " coordinate".
They may pay into SS but they do not count on it to retire.
Do you know anyone that can collect Social Security after 20 years and get 80% of their salaries? To start!
I think we should be concerned about receiving any SS benefits. I can safely guarantee that our representatives will be nicely compensated even if Social Security goes under.
Remember in November!
http://www.senate.gov/reference/common/faq/retirement_for_members.shtml
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Our Elected Representatives
I have always had strong beliefs in how our elected officials should represent their constituents. Our founding fathers volunteered to preform the duties that so many colonists had died to attain. They had their own businesses that felt the repercussions of their decisions as well as their citizens that they represented. Our elected officials today like to establish a life long career as a highly paid executive. Their constituents are apparently meal tickets. The lobbyist are a steady source of unauthorized benefits. If a decent, honest individual makes it into office, they have only minor power to change things. And if they try to represent their constituents with a sincere interest, their peers are quick to shut them down.
To put this into a perspective that I believe we can all relate to, when was the last time you said "now that politician represents me well"? I don't think I have ever said that.
We need to remember in November.
To put this into a perspective that I believe we can all relate to, when was the last time you said "now that politician represents me well"? I don't think I have ever said that.
We need to remember in November.
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