The GOP (Republican Party) Heathcare Plan

GOP healthcare plan, including the elimination of Medicare is a redistribution of wealth plan. Seniors will use whatever they had, including selling homes for healthcare. Their children and grandchildren lose their inheritance, and place to live in some cases. GOP corporate sponsors win, they get what should've belonged to families as more personal wealth and income is spent for healthcare.

$10,000.00 is the cost of one chemotherapy treatment.

Families and businesses will pay higher costs for healthcare as more uninsured flock to the ER for routine healthcare.

Corporations, if Obama's healthcare law id repealed, will jack up costs to employees, or eliminate their healthcare plans altogether.

Way to go Republicans. You should change the name of you party to Death Party.

Dear Senator DeMint - Personal Responsibility

When the GOP speaks of personal responsibility during discussions on healthcare, they cleverly omit one fact. The biggest drain on our healthcare system is not people over the age of 65. It is the alarming number of Americans who are overweight or obese.

Blaming those over 65 is a convenient way to excuse those under 65 who fall into the category of obesity. Yet obesity is paid for by all Americans who have insurance, and in some cases, perhaps most, the additional cost may by as high as one hundred dollars per month.

The GOP, which includes their spokespeople like Rush and Glen, know blaming the elderly will win them backers. The elderly rarely fight back. Many of the GOP and their spokespeople, family and supporters, are overweight and or obese. Most of the GOP take large contributions from the healthcare industry.

Obesity has been declared the number one cause of deadly disease from diabetes to cancer. Yet no one in congress has addressed the issue with the dogged persistence they use to attack over-65 Americans.

When the discussion turns to social security, they play the same tune. The problem is Americans over 65. They ignore one fact, which is that Social Security was and is the equivalent of a trust fund overseen by the government. In the 1980s, they created the Social Security Lockbox to protect the fund, but congress did as congress does, found a way in and used these funds for projects that should’ve been funded through tax revenues.

When private trust funds are robbed, fund managers face criminal charges. It is time to do the same with congress. All members of the Senate and House of Representatives who were in office from 2000 through 2010 and approved using monies from the Social Security Trust Fund for anything other than social security, should face criminal charges including grand larceny. This should have a mandatory jail sentence with community service added once the offenders are released.

All members of government work for all Americans. We pay their salaries, and their benefits, including those that are applied to their families. If they are convicted of taking money from the Social Security Trust Fund, they must repay the American people all the money they’ve been paid, salaries and benefits.

As far as healthcare is concerned, congress should enact a Healthcare Personal Responsibility Law requiring all Americans to pay a monthly healthcare fee based on how much over the acceptable BMI they are. For example if your maximum BMI is 164 and you weigh 165, you pay an additional 1.00 per month personal responsibility fee. For each additional pound, add 1.00. The only exceptions are those with chronic disease such as thyroid disorder, age-related diseases and others that make weight control nearly impossible.

Once this is done, all the rest of us will have our monthly premium reduced accordingly, so that way we no longer pay for those who until now, were not personally responsible for their health and the health of their underage children.

So, if you want to eat yourself to death, you take personal responsibility for the consequences beginning the day you are one pound overweight.

Lastly, to show that they are personally responsible, all government officials, elected and otherwise, should report their BMI to the American people.

Members of congress should show their willingness to help out during this ongoing recession, caused in large part by their actions during the previous 10 years. They should take an immediate 50% pay cut, and lay off all staff except for one secretary.

Now, let’s see how many members of the GOP stand up and state to all Americans “I am personally responsible. Here is my BMI, I took a pay cut, I’ve laid off staff, I support investigating members of congress who raided the Social Security Trust Fund; I will write personal responsibility legislation for healthcare reform.”

I’ll tell you what to expect; 0.

The GOP is personally beholding to the corporations that write checks on their behalf.

Oh, the one thing people over 65 did wrong? Voted for Republicans.

Save the Red Heifer

We need your support.

Down in Texas and elsewhere, ranchers breed and raise Red Heifers, ship them to Israel, and slaughter them for their ashes. That's right, their ashes. The Heifers do not become hamburger, sirloin, pot roast, hot dogs, or anything else to eat. No one uses their hides for shoes, wallets, or purses.

This is why.

Members of the extreme right wing of Evangelical Christianity (they don't have a left wing) believe in the End Time, the Rapture (not the same as anything erotic), and the Second Coming.

First, a brief aside about the Rapture. Say you're walking down the street. You've been sinless one way or another for years (just be patient now) and then you are Raptured.

That's right, Raptured. I envision a sparkly little cloud of particles settling slowly to the filthy sidewalk, piling up into a small mound of what is left of you. Some clumsy non-Raptured human steps in your remains, and says, "Damn them, why don't these idiots Rapture in the privacy of their own homes?" and uses a stick to scrap you off his sole.

(Sorry, got distracted).

I want to get Left Behind! Yea! Think of it. All of the Limbaugh, Palin, Coulter, Beck, Bachmann, et al lovers will be gone along with the five clowns mentioned at the start of the paragraph, well maybe them.

World peace will be possible without those lovely Evangelicals who hate the thought of peace in the Middle East. Hell, they hate the thought of peace anywhere. Why do you think Evangelicals wanted to invade Iraq? Oil? Nope to fire off the first salvo of Armageddon.

However, this is about those poor little red Heifers.

See, Evangelicals like Sarah Palin think (and I do use the word loosely in this context) that if and or when Jesus Christ returns, you know The Second Coming, all of the Jews around the world will convert to Christianity. They will flock (no pun intended, yeah right) to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple. Then before any of you, the Chosen Ones (sorry, Rush, druggies need not apply) enter the new and improved, air-conditioned Temple (Evangelicals hate physical discomfort) you must be anointed with the ashes from a red Heifer (comes in a tiny plastic Ziploc packet with a price tag of $50.00 for each admittance).

What? The world's Arab population will protest the rebuilding of the Temple? Let them speak with Jesus, and get their own plastic baggy of dead red Heifer ashes, if they dare.

How many red Heifers will it take to provide ashes for what several hundred million or more? Hundreds of thousands of innocent red Heifers must die may have already died, for the satisfaction of a minority of humankind who live in the illusion they call the End Times.

Of course, many will become rich raising and selling red Heifers just like a few have writing books about the Big Event, or shouting words that spew every day to promote fear and hatred while they hawk their favorite political candidates to promote war and profit.

Maybe we can save the red Heifers and look for something else to burn.

What is The Rapture?

Synonyms for Rapture - ecstasy, delight, joy, bliss, Seventh Heaven, Cloud Nine.

None of the above comes close to what I'm interested in discussing. For me, The Rapture is about people disappearing off the streets in the blink of an eye. Not just one person, but dozens, hundreds, thousands, maybe tens of millions. Before you know it, every Evangelical Baptist on the planet Earth is gone. Or are they?

Maybe, it will be Catholics, or Quakers, Presbyterians, Episcopalians (oops, no, not them, they accepted gays into the clergy). Perhaps Jews can go along for the ride, take Muslims too.

To me the concept of The Rapture seems a bit too science fiction. It's as if aliens will invade with Star Trek hand weapons, or laser guns. Alternatively, some mythical creatures from the lost annals of history will fly silently overhead, emitting a thin stream of superheated gas that annihilates living atoms on contact, but only human atoms of course.

If I think about it long enough, casting aside my character flaws, which pile up around me to about shoulder height, I know I would rather skip it. I mean watching might be a thrill, in a voyeuristic kind of way, but otherwise forget about it.

Listen, I've lived many years as a kid and as an adult. If I'm going to be whisked away in the blink of a divine eye, what was the purpose of those years I lived, and why was I not allowed to live the rest of my time first? Hell, I'm not done. I know I'm going to screw up anyway, so why not let me finish? I might get lucky near the end and do something really cool that erases my jagged past.

Oh, yeah, The Rapture equals End of Time. Please, end of human time is not even close to the end of time. In addition, we do not need God to end it for us, we're doing fine on our own, thank you very much!

Oh, that's right, I forgot, there is no climate change. Why it snowed in the Deep South this past winter. Moreover, Canada just went through its warmest winter in recorded history, hmmm.

So what if come 12/21/2012 at twelve noon exactly, a massive rock drops from space and cracks open the surface of the Earth? Will that be The Rapture? Or The End of Time? Damn sure will hurt like hell.

Do try to keep in mind that The Rapture, i.e. The Ecstasy, The Delight, The Bliss is meant to feel good, extreme pleasure, spiritually orgasmic even. Why else chose a name such as The Rapture? It's not even close to The Eternal Lullaby. We'll be dancing on clouds with harps and wings to the tune of Tiptoe through the Angelic Tulips.

Oh, and yup, The Rapture will be a bad event for those of us Left Behind. There will be nothing blissful about it, rarely a shudder of ecstasy for them. They'll go on living just as they always have, except there will be no extremist Right Wing Evangelical Christians dictating how you can and cannot live your life.

Oh, wait a minute.

All of them along with their media dictators, authors, song writers, human rights hating, corporate loving, discriminating, screaming illiterates, and too the hidden-in-the-wilderness militiamen will be gone forever.

Why, those of us Left Behind will be stuck with nothing but thinking caring intellectuals, humanists, equal rights supporters, earth loving environmentalists, and promoters of justice and peace over profits.

Well, my God, seems I got distracted, or did I? After all, what exactly is The Rapture?

According to what I've heard and read, the Chosen are plucked off the Earth and given their well deserved Eternal Reward.

Okay, I get that, but if there are tens of millions, or hundreds of millions, where will all of those people live, or stay? Do they remain physical, or will their bodies be converted to ashes? Then what? We who get Left Behind sweep up the remains? Okay, will make good fertilizer I suppose.

Moreover, what happens to whatever part of the "SAVED" that is whisked off or sucked into heaven? Is it non-corporeal? Does he or she transform into a ghost-like creature floating helplessly through space? Is deep space heaven? Will feathered wings help?

Maybe the galaxy's black hole center is Hell. Cool, or not.

Um, distracted again, I see. I suppose I don't get it, so that means I'm destined to be Left Behind. Well thank God!

That must also mean I am not a right wing Evangelical Christian who believes he has the right-- no, the obligation to dictate how others must live, and die. As if any Christian has personally spoken to God for such instruction.

A burning bush does not a God make.

You see, I do not believe any human can receive real power over others without it corrupting him. In addition, if God really did create humanity, for whatever entertaining reason, then God knew that too. Therefore, God would not ever, if it were possible, speak to any human, period. Why give a lowly human that kind of power? I mean really, just look at Papal history.

Damn, why do I get into these dead end debates?

Let me say this and I will quit what I should never have begun. If there really will be a Rapture and only the chosen few -- such as those lovely Evangelicals who think healthcare is a privilege, that women have no right to control their own destinies, that gay men and women are unequal the way those same people once thought black Americans were, that selected men can speak for all of humanity ordering its future, that poverty is right for anyone but them -- I truly want to be Left Behind.

No, I demand to be Left Behind. Life on Earth without radical religion would be heaven on Earth, a thousand years of peace finally. Every war for the last four thousand years was fought for or because of God, or religion.

Good grief, let The Rapture begin, please, if there is a God, I beg you.

Better than Term Limits or Campaign Finance Laws

Here is a method to fix what is wrong with federal elections in America without term limits or campaign finance laws.

Using computer generated randomization, select a state to elect the United States Senators and Congressional Representatives from a different state. Let me cite an example.

The computer program runs 45 days before the November election. Say the outcome selects Vermont voters to vote for the candidates running for the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives from the state of South Carolina. The state of New York votes for the candidates running in Arizona, etc., until all fifty states are matched up. The program runs each federal election cycle.

Exactly 30 days before the election, a nationwide announcement alerts citizens of, say Vermont, that the state's U.S. Senators and Congressional Representatives they will be voting for is South Carolina.

Then, all of the candidates are required to go to the state that will choose who wins the election after balloting on Election Day. The candidates must run statewide in-person debates for thirty days concerning only the topics important to pressing issues of the time leaving out issues such as flag burning, gay rights, and any other "hot button" topic.

As the debates begin, federal law prohibits political advertising nationwide on TV, radio, newspapers, magazines, and the internet. There will be no talking heads commentary, or talk show discussion of candidates, their personal lives, families, etc., and issues.

Violators will be fined severely and if they violate the law twice, receive a minimum sentence of no less than five years in prison without parole.

This may seem lopsided at the outset, but I believe the result will be fair. Each state will go through the candidate selection process as is done now, six months or one year before the computer selection process picks which state will vote for the chosen candidates.

With this method, the extreme left or right will not be able to pollute the process at the "last minute." Democrats, Republicans, and Independents will vote in primaries as is done now and select whom they want to send to the debates.

The process should gradually weed out extremism on both sides and focus the election on what is important not on who gains or maintains power.

The screaming anger that pollutes the process now to the point of total dysfunction ends. The manipulation and influence by corporate donors and K Street lobbyists, Special Interest Organizations, and PACs who ignite the screaming anger ends, or is severely muted during the thirty days leading up to Election Day. Meaning they can talk amongst themselves while in the seclusion of their offices or homes, but not broadcast any of what is said.

When time comes to elect a president, the process remains as it is now until ninety days before Election Day. At that time, the rules in paragraphs 6 and 7 above apply.

There it is, simple as pie.
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Copyright March 11, 2010 all rights reserved.
This article is not to be shared. It is for your own personal use. If it is sold by you or given away by you in whole or in part, that is an infringement of U.S. copyright laws. Violators will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

Christian Right's "Cold" Civil War

In spite of what the American conservative right desires we believe, their rhetoric has become clear. The truth of their deception is vastly different from their professed goals.

Led by an obese drug abuser, and Holy men who condemn in others the behavior they practice, corporation CEOs, U.S. senators and congresspersons who channel their political lust for power and personal gain, threaten national security, and sound economic recovery.

How long before they succeed depends on the number of Americans who listen and believe while these abhorrent men and women cleverly work their hidden agenda, a silent civil war, and a true regional division of the Union.

I believe this plan began with the introduction of Rush Limbaugh and the rampaging lies of Newt Gingrich, building to a mouth foaming crescendo when good Americans, those "Got Damned Yankees" had the audacity to elect a black man as president.

As proof think about this: never before in this nation's history has so many "Leaders" social, religious, political, and business, expended so much time and resources condemning and striving to destroy a president during his first year in office. This president broke no laws, morally, ethically, or legally. This president "inherited" the worst economic crisis in more than 70 years, a nation divided over the invasion of Iraq, a housing and employment disaster, runaway healthcare costs, and never once lost his sense of direction or expressed anger at those fighting bitterly to tear him down.

Moreover, the men and women "leaders" predominantly from the "Deep South," the very deep dank swamp mentality south, will not stop until they either succeed or are driven from office. They do not care how many American lives are destroyed or how many Americans die. They feed on the hidden racism that festers in the under-educated, the fear-filled tea-partiers, and the gullible led by rabidly religious Old Testament Christian ministers, pastors, and priests.

The latter solution, driving these bitterly hate-filled conservatives from office, will likely never happen. Therefore, the verbal civil war is shoved along like the proverbial boulder an ancient god rolled uphill. If they and their agenda are not stopped, they may end the American dream once and for all. Of course, there is the possibility that the gravity of commonsense will respond and roll down hill crushing them all.

New GOP Plan to Fight Terrorism

BREAKING NEWS!

A Southern Republican U.S. Senator has devised a plan to make certain no other Underwear Bomber ever again boards a commercial airliner traveling to or within the United States of America.

His original bill stated that no person male or female, young or old, be allowed to board any plane destined for any United States airport while wearing any underwear. He considered this an idea of extreme brilliance. No underwear, no place to hide a bomb.

However, his Christian Right Tea Bagger constituents immediately rejected his plan. Their leaders proclaimed that not wearing underwear would, well, undermine the support they needed to hold aloft the fifty or more pounds of jelly-like body fat they earned by just being God-fearing Americans who hated the poor and labor unions.

Furthermore, they screamed in his face, "Jesus in His Sermon on the Etiquette stated that by not wearing underwear one would be condemned in the eyes of God Himself to eternal damnation and forced to shovel feces for Satan in the Pits of Hell."

Once confronted by this viral opposition, the noble southern U.S. Senator declared that a better and more acceptable solution would be that all airline passengers be required to don glitter string thongs before boarding.

Dressing rooms would be set aside for those who could not afford this luxury. There they could don the thong provided for them by the TSA, which they would be required to turn in at their destination.

The Chinese Corporations, backed by Corporate America's finest, manufacturers of most of the world's heavily cadmium laced glitter thongs, praised and exalted the senator's bill.

Immediately, the Chinese pumped millions of Yen into the senator's reelection war chest through dummy corporations they'd previously established while struggling to block Google from spreading the lies of Freedom of Speech.

The Southern U.S. Senator's homeboy corporate sponsors, well aware that a string thong could not, would not hold back their seventy plus pounds of jiggle -- per person -- were stymied and threw their weight, err support, behind their Guru, the senior Walton of Walmart, demanding that the great Walton family do something, anything to fix their dilemma.

Seeing the glitter of new opportunity, the board of directors dropped the prices on all styles of underwear, except, of course, glitter thongs, which they purchased as quickly as the cadmium poisoned Chinese nine-dollars-a-day workers mass produced them.

Next, thought the Southern U.S. Senator, the White House. Oh, Glory Be to God!

How has so much hatred replaced what was good about Christianity?

How has so much hatred replaced what was good about Christianity? When and why did so many Christians not see the division in the path and turn to follow the evil crafted by abusers?

Why do these followers now shout praises for division, isolation, destruction, and pain? Is it possible to restore faith to Christianity without bleeding faith itself? I fear it is not possible.

A letter to the editor of our local newspaper, The Sun News, illustrated what I mean somewhat more succinctly if not totally.

The letter was written in response to local columnist Isaac Bailey's article criticizing a resolution proposed in the U.S. Congress by Congressman Henry Brown. Brown's resolution #951 declared that the U.S. Congress should recognize the importance of Christmas.

To me this resolution implies that Congress, and therefore the federal government, should get directly involved in religion. Since the U.S. Constitution defines the importance of the separation of church and state, it seemed odd that Brown would propose it. Isaac Bailey was correct.

Although, perhaps Mr. Brown thought federal and state governments should begin to collect taxes for religious organizations. Many religions dabble in government anyway. So why not? We all need the money.

However, in Mr. Brandmahl's letter, he screams at us readers. Ranting and raving about "Christian haters launching a broadside to abolish the Christian religion." What?

This in response to Mr. Bailey's column. It's difficult to imagine.

Brandmahl then proceeds to spew tirades about infidels, and, well, I won't go on with it. It's the same old same old. I'm certain the entire letter is available at the paper's website if you want the full experience.

Of course, one might wonder why a newspaper publishes religious letters like this on nearly a daily basis. On the other hand, perhaps not if you consider the source. Once, in the not too distant past, newspapers had the audacity to publish news and letters concerning such. What were they thinking?

To me, Mr. Brandmahl sounds frightened that if enough people disavow Christianity, it will suddenly disappear in a cloud of smoke along with his afterlife sanctuary Heaven. To further his cause, he uses the typical anger and yes, hatred that Christianity originally meant to abolish.

Therefore, I ask you this, Mr. Brandmahl. Hasn't enough blood, been shed throughout 2000 years of Christian history? Enough innocents -- many of them Christians -- killed for their ignorance or unwillingness to follow blindly the commands of a few mortal men seeking power and wealth when to do so violates the sanctuary of personal beliefs and faith? I dare say that it seems not.

In reality, Christianity has slid into the trap set by certain church leaders whose reasoning is based on a hunger for power, fame, and wealth, just as in the past. All those are traits that Christianity originally meant to abolish.

There is nothing attractive in this. In addition, if an organization or religion cannot attract followers without using fear and anger, which I realize worked for Christianity for much of these last 2000 years, it will only turn others away.

However, Mr. Brandmahl and others like him vilify faith with their vitriolic diatribes and in doing so prove the point that those who believe Christianity is wrong try to make.

Jesus said, "Love thy neighbor as thyself." Didn't he, Mr. Brandmahl? Maybe it's time for you and others who think attack attack is the only way to save your religion should start with the man in the mirror. However, you will not, will you?

Here is a closing thought.

Faith is not fear. Faith is not hatred. Faith is not punishment nor is it condemnation. Faith is acceptance, peace, and love. And of course, faith is not religion.

True Christians should demand inclusion of all, not exclusion of any. Christianity is about acceptance, peace, and love.

Anything less is not Christian but is heretical rubbish.

Therefore, Mr. Brandmahl and others like you, keep your rage and hatred for yourself. As long as you and they speak and write letters such as yours, you will continue to drive the faithful away, which makes your toils self-fulfilling. Doesn't it? It's a shame really.

Mark Sanford's Christian Healthcare Plan (sic)

Mark Sanford, while on the Appalachian Trail of his lover's, oops, Soul Mate's inner thigh, hiking onward to reach the deep dark cavern of his deception, has decided to be a good Christian Governor and cut funding for healthcare.

This, I'm certain he knows, will bring on much pain and suffering and some early deaths too, but he'll tell you that Christians, at least impoverished or out-of-work Christians, live to suffer and die.

It helps to reduce the surplus population of, well, the poor, underpaid and unemployed. They cannot contribute to his legal bailout fund or his compatriots' campaigns anyway.

Standing in the shadows cast by Sanford's plunging efforts; the paper silhouette that is Jim DeMint applauds his efforts. DeMint knows his corporate sponsors will boost deposits into his political coffers.

And then there's Mr. Lindsey Graham, always grinning, always delighted to side with those men and corporate leaders who promote the least Christian agenda.

Ah, well, if Christianity is doomed ,that which dooms it is something far more potent - corporate American greed and its knee-jerk followers too ignorant to understand that Medicare is a government run healthcare system.

It must be payback time for South Carolinians, or those who cannot afford healthcare. Many of whom supported Sanford when he was caught with his proverbial drawers around his ankles crying like the little boy caught with his hand wrapped tightly around the shaft of deceit.

Although I am not a believer in hell, just for you, Mark, I hope it exists, because I am sure there is a shovel with your name engraved on the handle, leaning against a particularly hot and rancid wall of smoldering ashes.

The GOP (Republican) healthcare plan: Human Sacrifice?

Let’s face it, if the Republican Party has its way the following people will be in a position of either paying for their own health care out-of-pocket, filing bankruptcy, or dying.

The uninsured, those with preexisting conditions, the disabled, the elderly, some veterans, the under-insured, those with a BMI higher that normal, the obese, newly arrived immigrants, undocumented immigrants.

Excluding these people is the modern equivalent of human sacrifice.
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Corporate Christians, the New Gospel

I feel as if I am stepping off into a quagmire engaging in a discussion about religion.

A person very dear to me awoke in the middle of the night frightened that she is living in a Godless world. I disagree but believe I understand her.

For me the world has nothing to do with Godlessness. Godlessness is a personal decision. The choice of faith is individual. Faith and religion do not walk the Earth hand in hand.

Religion is a tool for teaching. However, like any tool ever invented by men, it will only work as conceived when properly applied to the task it was designed for.

Therefore, I must sever faith from all forms of religion, especially those religions manipulated for profit.

Faith is that which guides each of us to live a life with meaning. Amassing personal wealth is not meaningful. It might provide a sense of security and power over others, but neither is truly meaningful.

Security is not boundless, as many of us have experienced twice since the year 2000. Wealth investments disappear overnight. Homes are robbed, burned to the ground and possessions are gone.

Power over other people can be removed when the people who are oppressed by the powerful decide they have had enough. Review history for hundreds of examples.

Now let's jump head first into the quagmire of religion.

Currently, the predominant sect of Christianity in the United States is Corporate Christianity and I do not mean corporations themselves. I mean kneeling praying men and women.

Large corporations that control the country's wealth use their nearly unlimited resources to pervert messages that will, if those messages succeed, directly and adversely affect their bottom line.

These corporations direct their efforts to those they know will follow their directives if corporations can tailor their messages cleverly enough with a religious or moral twist.

Here in America, for the previous two to three decades, morality dominated elections, and influenced outcomes. Everything from flag burning to gay marriage. I imagine with time and effort that one could find a moral issue using every letter of the alphabet.

Likewise, I imagine that corporations would be pleased to accomplish that task giving them ammunition to shoot down anything that smells like anti-profit and anti-mega bonuses.

It is not as if Corporate Christians are uneducated, or poor. It is not as if Corporate Christians are naïve, or gullible. Corporate Christians are doubtful and starved for guidance. It seems that for them, they fear making decisions without a religious leader's advice and guidance. Notice I said religious leader.

The religious leader of our local church takes home around $120,000.00 per year. Jesus took home $0.00 in his lifetime. Oh, sure, religious leaders live in Corporate America too, so they must have an income. Oh, did I tell you that this religious leader also gets the use of a $350,000.00 home with all utilities paid? He gets an allowance for his transportation too.

True faith does not require a leader. It requires faith and a true desire to live a meaningful life. Total cost? $0.00.

Who has more faith: the local minister earning $120,000.00 plus expenses? Or Jesus? Yet Corporate Christians turn to the religious leader for advice and guidance. Why?

How does all of this relate to corporations driving Corporate Christians' morality? Religion must produce an income. Its leaders and spokespersons must bring in followers. Religious institutions accept donations, sometimes massive ones, often from wealthy members with agendas. These donors craft church policy through church related activities. This is simplistic, but meant as an example only. There are many other ways to control religious leaders.

So, if a religious leader proclaims that flag burning is against the teaching of the Bible, which does not actually teach anything about it, and his followers go home and see online, in the news or wherever that some people think flag burning is protected by free speech, they rally against these heathens, form committees and organize rallies, and on and on.

Now, you might be thinking that people need a guiding hand or they would never even think of being faithful. Yet, they have the Bible. Ah, therein lies the caveat. The Bible was written and rewritten many times, so who knows if anything written there is completely accurate, right?

Again, Corporate Christians step in to save the day. They reinterpret the Bible to fit their needs. For them Thou Shalt Not Kill becomes Thou Shalt Not Commit Murder.

So Corporate Christians drive forward with a message older than the Bible. Greed is good, greed is God's will. Is it really?

What about the Temple moneychangers? What about the golden Idol that infuriated Moses? What about the Teacher who healed the sick, and the blind for free? What about the Teacher Jesus who declared that all people were welcomed into his ministry? Were these leaders, Teachers wrong, was Jesus wrong?

Apparently, according to Corporate Christians they were not only wrong, but also no longer have a role to play in modern religion except symbolically...like lip service to the poor.

No the world is not Godless. People who are driven to control others are Godless. People who think it's acceptable to allow a human being to suffer because they cannot afford healthcare are Godless. People who put wealth before meaningful purpose are Godless.

Corporate Christians are Godless.

Secession and what it means for Texans.

You know, if Texas had the decency to secede in 1999, the rest of us would not be living in a Bush recession right now. We would not have invaded Iraq, saving Americans thousands of lives and billions of dollars. The financial meltdown would not have happened either. Tom Delay would be nobody. Dick Cheney would be a spent CEO. We’d all be saying George Who? Dick Who?

Why didn’t you get out when it would’ve done the rest of us some good? So, now you want to go? Okay, it will still save Americans billions a year. In ten years, we’ll have a balanced budget. Think we’ll miss you? Not really.

Now, here is what you’ll give up. I realize this is a long list, but you should know the facts before you vote for secession. Unlike what the corporate CEOs and politicians of your state will tell you, I‘m giving it to you straight from the hip. Pow! you go; the rest of us win big time. So please, Texas, Alaska, and any other state in the union, do not hesitate, do not pass GO and you will not collect $200.00 on the way out, but we will!

Please read the note at the bottom.

* Administration for Children and Families (ACF)
* Administration for Native Americans
* Administration on Aging (AoA)
* Administration on Developmental Disabilities
* Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts
* Advisory Council on Historic Preservation
* Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)
* Agency for International Development
* Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry
* Agricultural Marketing Service
* Agricultural Research Service
* Agriculture Department (USDA)
* Air Force
* Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (Treasury)
* Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives Bureau (Justice)
* American Battle Monuments Commission
* AMTRAK (National Railroad Passenger Corporation)
* Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
* Archives (National Archives and Records Administration)
* Armed Forces Retirement Home
* Arms Control and International Security
* Army
* Army Corps of Engineers
* Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Interagency Coordinating Committee
* Bankruptcy Courts
* Broadcasting Board of Governors (Voice of America, RadioTV Marti and more)
* Bureau of Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade (Treasury)
* Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (Justice)
* Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services (DHS)
* Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA)
* Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA)
* Bureau of Industry and Security (formerly the Bureau of Export Administration)
* Bureau of International Labor Affairs
* Bureau of Justice Statistics
* Bureau of Labor Statistics
* Bureau of Land Management (BLM)
* Bureau of Prisons
* Bureau of Public Debt
* Bureau of Reclamation
* Bureau of the Census
* Bureau of Transportation Statistics
* Census Bureau
* Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion
* Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
* Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (formerly the Health Care Financing Administration)
* Central Command (CENTCOM)
* Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)
* Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board
* Citizenship and Immigration Services Bureau (formerly Immigration and Naturalization Service)
* Civilian Radioactive Waste Management
* Coast Guard
* Commerce Department
* Commission of Fine Arts
* Commission on Civil Rights
* Commission on International Religious Freedom
* Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US CERT)
* Congress
* Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC)
* Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service
* Coordinating Council on Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention
* Copyright Office
* Corporation for National and Community Service
* Corps of Engineers
* Council of Economic Advisers
* Council on Environmental Quality
* Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces
* Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
* Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims
* Court of Federal Claims
* Court of International Trade
* Customs and Border Protection
* Department of Agriculture (USDA)
* Department of Commerce (DOC)
* Department of Defense (DOD)
* Department of Defense Inspector General
* Department of Education (ED)
* Department of Energy (DOE)
* Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)
* Department of Homeland Security (DHS)
* Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
* Department of Justice (DOJ)
* Department of Labor (DOL)
* Department of State (DOS)
* Department of the Interior (DOI)
* Department of the Treasury
* Department of Transportation (DOT)
* Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)
* Director of National Intelligence
* Disability Employment Policy Office
* Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)
* Economic Analysis, Bureau of
* Economic Development Administration
* Economic Research Service
* Economic, Business and Agricultural Affairs (State Department)
* Economics & Statistics Administration
* Education Department (ED)
* Election Assistance Commission
* Elementary and Secondary Education
* Employee Benefits Security Administration (formerly Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration)
* Employment and Training Administration (Labor Department)
* Employment Standards Administration
* Endangered Species Committee
* Energy Department (DOE)
* Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
* Energy Information Administration
* Environmental Management (Energy Department)
* Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
* Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)
* Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity
* Faith-Based and Community Initiatives Office
* Farm Credit Administration
* Farm Service Agency
* Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)
* Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
* Federal Bureau of Prisons
* Federal Citizen Information Center (FCIC)
* Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
* Federal Consulting Group
* Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)
* Federal Election Commission
* Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
* Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
* Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council
* Federal Financing Bank
* Federal Geographic Data Committee
* Federal Highway Administration
* Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight
* Federal Housing Finance Board
* Federal Interagency Committee for the Management of Noxious and Exotic Weeds
* Federal Interagency Committee on Education
* Federal Interagency Council on Statistical Policy
* Federal Judicial Center
* Federal Labor Relations Authority
* Federal Laboratory Consortium for Technology Transfer
* Federal Law Enforcement Training Center
* Federal Library and Information Center Committee
* Federal Maritime Commission
* Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service
* Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission
* Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
* Federal Railroad Administration
* Federal Reserve System
* Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board
* Federal Student Aid
* Federal Trade Commission (FTC)
* Federal Transit Administration
* Federated States of Micronesia Home Page
* Financial Management Service (Treasury Department)
* Fish and Wildlife Service
* Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
* Food and Nutrition Service
* Food Safety and Inspection Service
* Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services
* Forest Service
* Fossil Energy
* General Services Administration (GSA)
* Geological Survey (USGS)
* Global Affairs (State Department)
* Government Accountability Office (GAO)
* Government National Mortgage Association
* Government Printing Office (GPO)
* Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration
* Health and Human Services Department (HHS)
* Health Resources and Services Administration
* Homeland Security Department (DHS)
* House of Representatives
* House of Representatives Committees
* House Office of Inspector General
* Housing and Urban Development Department (HUD)
* Housing Office (HUD)
* Immigration and Customs Enforcement
* Immigration and Naturalization Service (Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services)
* Indian Affairs, Bureau of
* Indian Arts and Crafts Board
* Indian Health Service
* Industrial College of the Armed Forces
* Industry and Security, Bureau of (formerly the Bureau of Export Administration)
* Information Resource Management College
* Innovation and Improvement Office
* Institute of Education Sciences
* Institute of Museum and Library Services
* Institute of Peace
* Inter-American Foundation
* Interagency Alternative Dispute Resolution Working Group
* Interagency Council on Homelessness
* Interior Department
* Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
* International Broadcasting Bureau (IBB)
* International Labor Affairs, Bureau of
* International Trade Administration (ITA)
* International Trade Commission
* Judicial Circuit Courts of Appeal, by Geographic Location and Circuit
* Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation
* Justice Department
* Justice Programs Office (Juvenile Justice, Victims of Crime, Violence Against Women and more)
* Justice Statistics, Bureau of
* Labor Department (DOL)
* Labor Statistics, Bureau of
* Land Management, Bureau of
* Lead Hazard Control (Housing and Urban Development Department)
* Legal Services Corporation
* Library of Congress
* Marine Corps
* Marine Mammal Commission
* Maritime Administration
* Marketing and Regulatory Programs (Agriculture Department)
* Marshals Service
* Medicare Payment Advisory Commission
* Migratory Bird Conservation Commission
* Military Postal Service Agency
* Millennium Challenge Corporation
* Mine Safety and Health Administration
* Minerals Management Service
* Minority Business Development Agency
* Mint (Treasury Department)
* Missile Defense Agency (MDA)
* Multifamily Housing Office
* National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
* National Agricultural Statistics Service
* National AIDS Policy Office
* National Archives and Records Administration (NARA)
* National Bipartisan Commission on the Future of Medicare
* National Capital Planning Commission
* National Cemetery Administration (Veterans Affairs Department)
* National Constitution Center
* National Council on Disability
* National Counterintelligence Executive, Office of
* National Credit Union Administration
* National Defense University
* National Drug Intelligence Center
* National Economic Council
* National Endowment for the Arts
* National Endowment for the Humanities
* National Gallery of Art
* National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency
* National Guard
* National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
* National Indian Gaming Commission
* National Institute for Literacy
* National Institute of Justice
* National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)
* National Institutes of Health (NIH)
* National Interagency Fire Center
* National Labor Relations Board
* National Laboratories (Energy Department)
* National Marine Fisheries
* National Mediation Board
* National Nuclear Security Administration
* National Ocean Service
* National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
* National Park Foundation
* National Park Service
* National Railroad Passenger Corporation (AMTRAK)
* National Reconnaissance Office
* National Science Foundation
* National Security Agency (NSA)
* National Security Council
* National Technical Information Service
* National Telecommunications and Information Administration
* National Transportation Safety Board
* National War College
* National Weather Service
* Natural Resources Conservation Service
* Navy
* Nuclear Energy, Science and Technology
* Nuclear Regulatory Commission
* Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board
* Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA)
* Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission
* Office of Compliance
* Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight
* Office of Government Ethics
* Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
* Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP)
* Office of Personnel Management
* Office of Refugee Resettlement
* Office of Science and Technology Policy
* Office of Scientific and Technical Information
* Office of Special Counsel
* Office of Thrift Supervision
* Overseas Private Investment Corporation
* Pacific Command
* Pardon Attorney Office
* Parole Commission (Justice Department)
* Patent and Trademark Office
* Peace Corps
* Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration (now the Employee Benefits Security Administration)
* Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation
* Pentagon Force Protection Agency
* Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration
* Policy Development and Research (Housing and Urban Development Department)
* Political Affairs (State Department)
* Postal Regulatory Commission
* Postal Service (USPS)
* Postsecondary Education
* Power Administrations
* Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel Office
* Program Executive Office, Ships
* Public and Indian Housing
* Public Debt, Bureau of
* Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs (State Department)
* Radio and TV Marti (Español)
* Radio Free Asia (RFA)
* Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL)
* Railroad Retirement Board
* Reclamation, Bureau of
* Refugee Resettlement
* Regulatory Information Service Center
* Rehabilitation Services Administration (Education Department)
* Research and Innovative Technology Administration (Transportation Department)
* Research, Education and Economics (Agriculture Department)
* Risk Management Agency (Agriculture Department)
* Rural Business-Cooperative Service
* Rural Development
* Rural Housing Service
* Rural Utilities Service
* Science Office (Energy Department)
* Secret Service
* Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
* Selective Service System
* Senate
* Small Business Administration (SBA)
* Smithsonian Institution
* Social Security Administration (SSA)
* Social Security Advisory Board
* Southern Command
* Special Education and Rehabilitative Services
* Special Forces Operations Command
* State Justice Institute
* Strategic Command
* Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
* Superfund Basic Research Program
* Supreme Court of the United States
* Surface Mining, Reclamation and Enforcement
* Surface Transportation Board
* Tax Court
* Taxpayer Advocacy Panel
* Transportation Command
* Transportation Department (DOT)
* Transportation Security Administration
* Transportation Statistics, Bureau of
* Treasury Department
* TRICARE Management
* Trustee Program (Justice Department)
* U.S. Border Patrol (now Customs and Border Protection)
* U.S. Capitol Visitor Center
* U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
* U.S. Customs and Border Protection
* U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
* U.S. International Trade Commission
* U.S. Military Academy, West Point
* U.S. Mint
* U.S. Mission to the United Nations
* U.S. National Central Bureau - Interpol (Justice Department)
* U.S. Postal Service (USPS)
* U.S. Sentencing Commission
* U.S. Trade and Development Agency
* U.S. Trade Representative
* Unified Combatant Commands (Defense Department)
* Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences
* Veterans Affairs Department (VA)
* Veterans Benefits Administration
* Veterans Day National Committee
* Veterans Health Administration
* Veterans' Employment and Training Service
* Vietnam Educational Foundation
* Vocational and Adult Education
* Voice of America (VOA)
* White House
* White House Commission on Presidential Scholars
* White House Commission on the National Moment of Remembrance
* White House Office of Administration
* State Department

What do you get in exchange?

Higher infant mortality. Lowered life expectancy. Senior citizens living on the streets. The disabled dying for lack of services. What was that? You’ll take care of it all? How will you pay for it? Raise taxes? Oh, I know, the CEO of the remaining Health Insurance company will offer special discounts. Right!

But wait! Look what else you’ll get.

Tens of thousands of militiamen and their families looking for life after the ashes. Good luck and good night. Could be your apocalypse. And God love ya.
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Blue Cross Blue Shield of South Carolina Rips Off Medicare

Blue Cross Blue Shield of South Carolina overcharged Medicare 6 million dollars to pay for executive pensions. This in one of the states with the highest number of uninsured, one of the worst overall health care systems in the country. However, BCBS CEO is one of the best-paid and financially compensated HMO executives in America.

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USPS why save it?

I had planned to contact USPS to express my concerns regarding shipping costs.

At their main site, USPS.com, I needed to fill in a page or two of personal data first. At the gallup poll site recommend by the local post office, you must give them you zip code + four, which tells these strangers all of your personal data.

I'm guessing that privacy is not something USPS considers important.

This makes me wonder if the USPS $800,000 dollar a year CEO wants USPS to fail.

This is what I wanted to send.

USPS is pricing itself out of business and taking many small businesses with it. Online sellers depend on USPS or UPS for shipping.

In the previous three years, USPS has (during the worst recession in 70 years) increased shipping cost several times. International shipping as much as 500%. When the latter happened, we lost 50% of our international customers overnight. We have not regained the numbers we lost, which means USPS has not regained the business either. This is not sustainable.

Every time USPS raised first class mail prices, more people switch to email and online bill paying.

Standard rate shipping now costs pennies less than priority mail, which is too costly. We are again losing business, and are looking into switching to UPS. Customers are not stupid. They now calculate shipping costs into the price of goods and buy accordingly.

Every time USPS loses a small business shipper like us, it steps closer to the end for USPS.

I realize that the MBA model of business states that prices must be raised to compensate for lost revenue. That model fails more often than it succeeds.

USPS should lower prices across the board, announce the new pricing and I think business will begin to increase. Simultaneously, layoff white-collar employees. Small post offices do not need two or more supervisors, and I am certain, as a former federal employee that the same goes for every level of USPS bureaucracy.
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The Fundamental Red Heifer

Early yesterday, the red heifer bred by cattlemen from Mississippi and Texas, went on a rampage where the animal was housed in Jerusalem. The red heifer, which Fundamentalist Christians claim will herald in the Second Coming of Jesus Christ and, with his return, the End of Time, killed all three of her keepers before escaping onto the streets of the city.

Once roaming Jerusalem, the heifer, now full-grown, gored several local residents. An Israeli soldier home on leave from his post along the border of the Gaza Strip shot it through the head killing it as it charged him too.

By the time Fundamentalists learned of the heifer's demise, it had been neatly slaughtered and sold at a local Arab meat market. All that now remains of the heifer that once bore the responsibility of apocalypse are its horns and hooves.

These now sacred objects will be available for viewing at the Museum of the Apocalypse in Crawford, Texas.

Please mail, or send donations for this and or the Free Tony Alamo -- the new fundamentalist Martyr -- Fund directly to the museum, or online using Paypal.
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Michael Steele

Hey Michael!

The President's health care plan is socialism?

All Americans do not deserve health care, right pal?

Let them eat cake instead!

I mean come on, are there no prisons? Are there no workhouses? What has this country come to? A nation based on the principles of Christianity? My God, what would Jesus think?

Congratulation to the Party of No. Have it your way and 100,000 American will die every year. Reduce the surplus population, isn't that what you believe, Michael? A half million will file bankruptcy per year.

You, Boener, McConnell, and company are a disgrace to the principles you claim you believe in!

Limbaugh wants a new Depression, here's why

Limbaugh supporters include folks like those to the right, who under the new administration will not be scarfing taxpayer dollars at the old Republican hog trough.

Let's not forget that GWB awarded no-bid contracts to corporate friends, and Limbaugh applauded the taxpayer theft.

Now, Limbaugh wants the President to fail, and if that happens, America will fail too. Considering that when Limbaugh had the opportunity to defend America during the Vietnam War, he used an cyst on his rear end as a medical excuse to avoid the draft, it is obvious that he has wanted America to fail for a very long time.

Perhaps it is time to gather up his supporters, those wonderful men and women from Wall St and the failing Banking Industry, Mortgage Brokers, etc who brought our great nation to the brink of destruction, and treat them as the financial terrorists that they are.

Limbaugh can go to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba to do a special talk show 24/7.

Why I canceled my Capital One credit card account - Maybe you should too!

I received a document today from Capital One regarding finance charges to my credit card account. Can you believe they can charge me 29.6% interest?!?!

I have never been late, never missed a payment in 8 years!!!!!!!!!!

I kept a low balance!!!!!!!!!

It's over between us Capital One. Consider yourself CANCELED!

Oh, and by the way, you loan sharking mental midgets, we're in a serious recession! So what is this, your way of attracting new customers?

Good Grief!

Lyrica causes pain - Are you Kidding? Nope!

Lyrica: a drug for widespread unexpected muscle pain. This drug is recommended through advertising for people suffering from Fibromyalgia.

Here is the list of possible side effects:

Swelling of the face, mouth, lips, gums, tongue or neck.

Trouble breathing.

Rashes, hives and blisters.

But wait! There's more!

Dizziness and sleeplessness.

Eyesight problems including blurry vision.

Weight gain and swelling of hands and feet. Weight gain may affect control of diabetes. Weight gain and swelling can be serious for people with heart problems.

Unexplained muscle pain. . .what? Isn't that what the drug is meant to treat?!?

Soreness or weakness along with a fever or tiredness.

Skin sores.

The most common are:

Dizziness, Sleeplessness, Weight gain, blurry vision, dry mouth, constipation, feeling "high", Swelling of the hands and feet, balance problems, trouble concentrating, increased appetite.

Good God! What has brought us all to this kind of pharmaceutical hocus-pocus? A drug to treat muscle pain that causes muscle pain? Can you say self-perpetuating?

Isn't there a better way to help people with pain than to cause them more pain not to mention a slew of other "possible" side effects? Or do the magician CEOs of the pharmacological world offer drugs to treat them too?

Whatever happened to the FDA? Did the Bush Administration gut that too? We need better oversight!