Republican Louis Gohmert, Calling YOU Out, YOU get “Socialized” Medical Care

I got information from Louis Gohmert about his television interview on Fox News today, and decided to try and get more information on the man, his Congressional district and his views.

Well, it is very revealing.

First off, he is a veteran, served in the U.S. Army as a Captain, which gives him a lifetime supply of medical care under the V.A. at a very low cost to him and his family.

Second, he is a member of Congress, which also gives him the opportunity to get “socialized” medical coverage through Congress.

Third, this comes from his own website:

If Congress insists on forcing this healthcare abomination onto American citizens, then those who vote in favor of it should be required to step up and become the first customers of the disastrous government program they have created.

I refuse to vote in favor of a health care reform bill that has not been given an appropriate amount of time for personal review by both Members of Congress and American citizens. I will oppose any legislation that lets the federal government snatch power and control away from patients and their doctors.

Health Care abomination? Mr. Gohmert, YOU have the health care abomination NOW, as a member of Congress!

Now, who are his voters and just how many would be benefited by the health care “abomination”?

The last census I could get reveals some interesting facts.

Mr Gohmert’s own home town of Tyler, Texas has:The median income for a household in the city was $34,163, and the median income for a family was $43,618. Males had a median income of $31,728 versus $22,397 for females. The per capita income for the city was $20,184. 16.8% of the population and 13.0% of families were below the poverty threshold. 23.3% of those under the age of 18 and 12.1% of those 65 and older were living below the poverty line.

The people living in Nacogdoches are even worse off.

About 20.9% of families and 32.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 38.4% of those under age 18 and 13.3% of those age 65 or over. Even if you take in the student population, that is a remarkable number of people living in poverty.

Yep, that is right, a very large number of people living below the POVERTY threshold, which means a good number of his own constituents are those very people that would benefit.

Mr. Gohmert is a lawyer, so I would be willing to bet at least $1 that he makes far more than the median income, and is quite capable of buying private insurance.

The rest of his district is not much better off. Longview has an average of 15% below the poverty threshold.

The entire district has LESS than 2% earning more than $200,000 per year. Yes, less than 2%.

So, here is a Congressman calling the reform an “abomination” and his own constituents are living with low incomes, higher than average unemployment and mostly white. Yet he wants this reform to either be put off indefinitely.

The claim that the government “snatches power and control away from patients and their doctors” is, at best, a bogus one. I can bet that the current private insurers in this district are, in fact, denying the patients the ability to go outside the “care area” and to talk to any doctor they want to, even IF they could afford the cost.

Mr. Gohmert, YOU are Busted. YOU get Congressional health care options, YOU get the Armed Services health care option, YOU can afford private insurance.

YOU are the one who needs to realize just who you represent and what THOSE people need, not some kind of grandstanding and rhetoric.

Calling Them Out, Ads ARE Bogus!

There is one advertisement now being run on American television that is pure bullshit. It is about the Canadian woman who claims she was diagnosed with cancer and was told to wait for treatment.

This is NOT TRUE! The woman had a cyst in her brain that was pressing on the pituitary gland. a relatively rare cyst. The cyst WAS NEVER, IS NOT NOW CANCEROUS!

But, of course, the backers of this advertisement used this woman for their own purposes. It is a flat lie. She was NEVER at risk of dying, never was denied treatment, and did, in fact, have the facts given to her. She was told that if the condition progressed in such a way as to cause her even minor blindness in ONE EYE, the most possible outcome, then the surgery would be IMMEDIATELY performed to alleviate the pressure.

How do I know this? The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation did a full investigation on this advertisement and the woman involved. They did get the information on this type of cyst, did investigate the claims this woman made, and found that she was, in fact, using her own problems with glandular problems to try to get some kind of reimbursement for her costs in the U.S.

She mortgaged her home, paid $100,000 and was treated at the Mayo Clinic in Arizona. She is currently suing OHIP to recoup those costs. This is the Ontario Health Insurance Program.

It was HER decision to choose to head to the U.S. when she did not want to wait, and as far as I know, the suit failed.

I am appalled at the deliberate use of this woman, her health condition, and the abuse of the Canadian health system as being uncaring, callous, and disregarding immediate treatment of any Canadian who needs it. This is a flat out lie  that has become part of a very nasty scare tactic, and based on a lie.

Time to CALL them out!

The sponsor of the ad, Patients United Now, is an offshoot of the Americans for Prosperity Foundation, a privately funded, Washington-based conservative group that believes in limited government and cutting taxes.

The group says it has spent nearly $1.8 million US running the ad in Washington, D.C., and 11 states with senators on committees writing health care bills or ones seen as wavering on the issue.

Among its directors are businessman and conservative activist Art Pope and James C. Miller, a top Reagan administration official.

Health Care Fines Create a New Criminal Class?

I have been watching the various versions of the bills coming out, and one version sounds ok, but really has some aspects to it that are very troublesome.

This version would have within it the demand that EVERY SINGLE PERSON in the U.S. be forced to pay insurance premiums, and that there would be find levied if those persons did not pay. $750 per year for a single person who refused or could not afford to pay for the insurance, $3500 per year for a family if they could not afford to pay.

INSURANCE MARKET REFORMS

All bills bar discrimination based on gender or pre-existing medical conditions, guarantee coverage and seal in benefits with no annual or lifetime caps.

The Senate Health Committee and Finance Committee versions would allow variable premiums, while the House bill would eliminate co-pays for preventive care.

COVERAGE

The Senate Health Committee bill would require individuals to obtain coverage, with government help if necessary, or pay a penalty of up to $750 per year. Employers with more than 25 employees would have to pay 60 percent of coverage for workers or pay $750 per year penalty.

The House bill also has both individual and employer requirements, while the Senate Finance Committee bill is likely to include a mandate for individuals to obtain coverage but not for employers to help pay for it.

Now, from doing some quick research, I have found out that those people would be imprisoned for non-payment! Basically this would allow the federal government to punish the poorest in the country, and there are some states where the “3 strikes” laws would effect this too.

So, what would be the possible outcomes? A single person who is, perhaps, homeless or barely getting by would be fined $750. If they could not pay or refused to pay for insurance, then those people would be off to prison. The federal government is basically becoming a vicious bully here. Do not pay for insurance and you become liable for imprisonment, do that 3 times and that poor person literally gets a LIFE SENTENCE? That is truly vicious. Where does the idea of the “American Dream” fit in here?

If a family, like those of someone like Dolly Parton, Loretta Lynn, or many others who happen to be born into poverty, could not afford those insurance premiums, then their fathers, who were doing the best they could, would end up in prison!

The insurance companies love this idea! Force families to go without, force people to pay premiums, force every single person to get CORPORATE insurance or go to prison. That is truly a scheme worthy of Machievelli! It is well known that the insurance corporations DEMAND that they get every single person into their pockets, and, if you refuse or cannot pay, then the federal or state government will be in the position of putting the poor into prison for non-payment.

Remember, this is FEDERAL law, so the penalties could be nasty indeed.

The U.S. Supreme Court has placed limits on incarceration for nonpayment of fines. In Williams v. Illinois, 399 U.S. 235, 90 S. Ct. 2018, 26 L. Ed. 2d 586 (1970), the defendant, Willie E. Williams, was convicted of petty theft and sentenced to one year in prison and a $500 fine, the maximum sentence allowed under the applicable statute. When Williams was unable to pay the fine upon completing his year in jail, he was kept incarcerated to “work off” the fine at a rate of $5 a day. Williams appealed, and the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that, under the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, no state may increase the sentence of a defendant beyond the maximum period specified by statute for failure to pay a fine.

Shortly after the Williams case, the Supreme Court ruled that a state may not convert a fine into incarceration if the conviction warrants only a fine. In Tate v. Short, 401 U.S. 395, 91 S. Ct. 668, 28 L. Ed. 2d 130 (1971), the defendant, Preston A. Tate, was unable to pay $425 in fines for traffic offenses and was committed to prison to work off his fine at a rate of $5 a day. The Supreme Court ruled that a state may not “impos[e] a fine as a sentence and then automatically conver[t] it into a jail term solely because the defendant is indigent and cannot forthwith pay the fine in full.”

Neither the Williams ruling nor the Tate ruling prevents a court from imprisoning a defendant who is able, but refuses, to pay a fine. The court may do so after finding that the defendant was somehow responsible for the failure to pay and that alternative forms of punishment would be inadequate to meet the state’s interest in punishment and deterrence (Beardenv. Georgia, 461 U.S. 660, 103 S. Ct. 2064, 76 L. Ed. 2d 221 [1983]).

In a case of willful nonpayment, the court may order incarceration for a period of time specified under statute. In Kentucky, a prison term of up to six months may be ordered if the unpaid fine was imposed for the conviction of a felony. Nonpayment of a misdemeanor fine may result in a prison term of up to one-third the maximum authorized term for the offense committed. For a violation, the maximum term is ten days. This amount can be cumulative. For example, if a person refuses to pay the fines for ten violations, that person can be incarcerated for one hundred days (Ky. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 534.060).

Now, I do realize that this is a PROPOSED version of the bill, and the fines have not been defined as misdemeanor or a higher form, but the law is there to put people who refuse (which means they are likely to face much the same penalties as fathers who refuse child support, or those who would be deemed as criminals) to pay health insurance premiums.

Even if the fines did not put people in prison, the state or federal statutes do provide for liens, garnishment, or other means that penalize the people.

If this law version goes through, then basically the federal government becomes a tool, a puppet, of the insurance industry. That same industry apparently has no qualms about cutting people down when they are already at the bottom rung in society. The insurance companies have put literally millions into lobbying for the federal demand that every person BUY private insurance, instead of putting those same millions into affordable health care clinics, cutting down on the profits payable to Wall Street investors, or even doing something as simple as donating those same millions to non-profit organizations overseas.

Nope, the insurance companies are trying very hard to turn the federal government into puppets, using the Senate Health and Finance Committee members.

So much for a compassionate, caring and decent society.

President Obama’s Speach to School Children, What is the Problem Here?

This is the text of his speech. Read it, and try as hard as you can to find a damn thing political about this, I dare you!

I’m here because I want to talk with you about your education and what’s expected of all of you in this new school year.
Now I’ve given a lot of speeches about education. And I’ve talked a lot about responsibility.
I’ve talked about your teachers’ responsibility for inspiring you, and pushing you to learn.
I’ve talked about your parents’ responsibility for making sure you stay on track, and get your homework done, and don’t spend every waking hour in front of the TV or with that Xbox.
I’ve talked a lot about your government’s responsibility for setting high standards, supporting teachers and principals, and turning around schools that aren’t working where students aren’t getting the opportunities they deserve.
But at the end of the day, we can have the most dedicated teachers, the most supportive parents, and the best schools in the world – and none of it will matter unless all of you fulfill your responsibilities. Unless you show up to those schools; pay attention to those teachers; listen to your parents, grandparents and other adults; and put in the hard work it takes to succeed.
And that’s what I want to focus on today: the responsibility each of you has for your education. I want to start with the responsibility you have to yourself.

Every single one of you has something you’re good at. Every single one of you has something to offer. And you have a responsibility to yourself to discover what that is. That’s the opportunity an education can provide.
Maybe you could be a good writer – maybe even good enough to write a book or articles in a newspaper – but you might not know it until you write a paper for your English class. Maybe you could be an innovator or an inventor – maybe even good enough to come up with the next iPhone or a new medicine or vaccine – but you might not know it until you do a project for your science class. Maybe you could be a mayor or a Senator or a Supreme Court Justice, but you might not know that until you join student government or the debate team.
And no matter what you want to do with your life – I guarantee that you’ll need an education to do it. You want to be a doctor, or a teacher, or a police officer? You want to be a nurse or an architect, a lawyer or a member of our military? You’re going to need a
good education for every single one of those careers. You can’t drop out of school and just drop into a good job. You’ve got to work for it and train for it and learn for it.
And this isn’t just important for your own life and your own future. What you make of your education will decide nothing less than the future of this country. What you’re learning in school today will determine whether we as a nation can meet our greatest challenges in the future.
You’ll need the knowledge and problem-solving skills you learn in science and math to cure diseases like cancer and AIDS, and to develop new energy technologies and protect our environment. You’ll need the insights and critical thinking skills you gain in history and social studies to fight poverty and homelessness, crime and discrimination, and make our nation more fair and more free. You’ll need the creativity and ingenuity you develop in all your classes to build new companies that will create new jobs and boost our economy.
We need every single one of you to develop your talents, skills and intellect so you can help solve our most difficult problems. If you don’t do that – if you quit on school – you’re not just quitting on yourself, you’re quitting on your country.
Now I know it’s not always easy to do well in school. I know a lot of you have challenges in your lives right now that can make it hard to focus on your schoolwork.
Some of you might not have those advantages. Maybe you don’t have adults in your life who give you the support that you need. Maybe someone in your family has lost their job, and there’s not enough money to go around. Maybe you live in a neighborhood where you don’t feel safe, or have friends who are pressuring you to do things you know aren’t right.
But at the end of the day, the circumstances of your life – what you look like, where you come from, how much money you have, what you’ve got going on at home – that’s no excuse for neglecting your homework or having a bad attitude. That’s no excuse for talking back to your teacher, or cutting class, or dropping out of school. That’s no excuse for not trying.

That’s why today, I’m calling on each of you to set your own goals for your education – and to do everything you can to meet them. Your goal can be something as simple as doing all your homework, paying attention in class, or spending time each day reading a book. Maybe you’ll decide to get involved in an extracurricular activity, or volunteer in your community. Maybe you’ll decide to stand up for kids who are being teased or bullied because of who they are or how they look, because you believe, like I do, that all kids deserve a safe environment to study and learn. Maybe you’ll decide to take better care of yourself so you can be more ready to learn. And along those lines, I hope you’ll all wash your hands a lot, and stay home from school when you don’t feel well, so we can keep people from getting the flu this fall and winter.

Whatever you resolve to do, I want you to commit to it. I want you to really work at it. I know that sometimes, you get the sense from TV that you can be rich and successful without any hard work — that your ticket to success is through rapping or basketball or being a reality TV star, when chances are, you’re not going to be any of those things.
But the truth is, being successful is hard. You won’t love every subject you study. You won’t click with every teacher. Not every homework assignment will seem completely relevant to your life right this minute. And you won’t necessarily succeed at everything the first time you try.

That’s OK. Some of the most successful people in the world are the ones who’ve had the most failures. JK Rowling’s first Harry Potter book was rejected twelve times before it was finally published. Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team, and he lost hundreds of games and missed thousands of shots during his career. But he once said, “I have failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”
These people succeeded because they understand that you can’t let your failures define you – you have to let them teach you. You have to let them show you what to do differently next time. If you get in trouble, that doesn’t mean you’re a troublemaker, it means you need to try harder to behave.
If you get a bad grade, that doesn’t mean you’re stupid, it just means you need to spend more time studying.
No one’s born being good at things, you become good at things through hard work. You’re not a varsity athlete the first time you play a new sport. You don’t hit every note the first time you sing a song. You’ve got to practice. It’s the same with your schoolwork. You might have to do a math problem a few times before you get it right, or read something a few times before you understand it, or do a few drafts of a paper before it’s good enough to hand in.
Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Don’t be afraid to ask for help when you need it. I do that every day. Asking for help isn’t a sign of weakness, it’s a sign of strength. It shows you have the courage to admit when you don’t know something, and to learn something
new. So find an adult you trust – a parent, grandparent or teacher; a coach or counselor – and ask them to help you stay on track to meet your goals.
And even when you’re struggling, even when you’re discouraged, and you feel like other people have given up on you – don’t ever give up on yourself.

So today, I want to ask you, what’s your contribution going to be? What problems are you going to solve? What discoveries will you make? What will a president who comes here in twenty or fifty or one hundred years say about what all of you did for this country?
Your families, your teachers, and I are doing everything we can to make sure you have the education you need to answer these questions. I’m working hard to fix up your classrooms and get you the books, equipment and computers you need to learn. But you’ve got to do your part too. So I expect you to get serious this year. I expect you to put your best effort into everything you do. I expect great things from each of you.

Too bad some people shoot their mouths off before even knowing what the President was even thinking about, never mind putting into this speech.

There were some parent in hysterics over this, believe it or not. Obviously there were some out there who were using scare tactics and innuendo to get people emotionally overwrought, but what bothers me is the whole bloody uproar. What on earth did they expect him to say?

From CNN report:

Many conservative parents aren’t buying it. They’re convinced the president is going to use the opportunity to press a partisan political agenda on impressionable young minds.

“Thinking about my kids in school having to listen to that just really upsets me,” suburban Colorado mother Shanneen Barron told CNN Denver affiliate KMGH. “I’m an American. They are Americans, and I don’t feel that’s OK. I feel very scared to be in this country with our leadership right now.”

School administrators are caught in the middle of the controversy. Some have decided to show the president’s speech, while others will not. Many, such as Wellesley, Massachusetts, superintendent Bella Wong, are deciding on a class-by-class basis, leaving the decision in the hands of individual teachers.

“The president of the United States has asked us to facilitate his outreach to students. And in that vein, we have decided to honor the request,” Wong told CNN. “We’ll trust in his judgment.”

Republican leaders have not shied away from the debate. Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, a possible contender for the GOP’s 2012 presidential nomination, said Friday the classroom is no place to show a video address from Obama.

“At a minimum it’s disruptive. Number two, it’s uninvited. And number three, if people would like to hear his message they can, on a voluntary basis, go to YouTube or some other source and get it. I don’t think he needs to force it upon the nation’s school children,” he told reporters at the Minnesota State fair.

Florida GOP Chairman Jim Greer released a statement this week accusing Obama of using taxpayer money to “indoctrinate” children.

“As the father of four children, I am absolutely appalled that taxpayer dollars are being used to spread President Obama’s socialist ideology,” Greer said.

“The idea that school children across our nation will be forced to watch the president justify his plans … is not only infuriating, but goes against beliefs of the majority of Americans, while bypassing American parents through an invasive abuse of power.”

I am appalled at the utter stupidity of some of these assumptions! There have been SEVERAL Presidents who spoke to school children over the years. “Justify his plans”? What are you smoking, Jim Greer? Must be damn good stuff because you have lost touch with any kind of reality here! Same goes for Minnesota Governor Tom Pawlenty! What are you smoking? Or have you taken your medications lately? Wow! “Force it upon the nation’s school children”?

Shanneen Barron, if this speech is that scary, then I very strongly suggest you never, ever read any book beyond Grade 1 Level. Those are far more scary, especially the tween books with mysteries, death, and even romance at age 12! Good Grief! GET A GRIP!

I have a feeling that the Republicans just wanted to put the whole White House, President Obama, and the Democratic Party in the darkest light possible.

The uproar has NOTHING to do with this speech, but more about trying to garner votes in the mid-term elections.

There is a saying: “There may be some who believe you to be a fool, but the only proof may come when you OPEN YOUR MOUTH!” I guess some have proven just how big a fool they are.

“Get Government Out of Health Care!” O.K. Will Do!

There are people who are screaming this from every possible vantage point. “Get government out of health care!” “I don’t want government running ANY health insurance or health coverage!”

O.K. Fine! Here goes!

The government listens to the voices of these people and here is what government does.

Medicare A and B, as of 2:00 PM today, is now null and void. As of that time every single person who had this coverage MUST buy private insurance. Medicaid is also null and void as of 2:00 this afternoon. Anyone seeking benefits from this program are now expected to get an insurance policy and use those benefits.

The Military Health services are being sold to private corporations. Any and all military currently in the service and any veterans, as well as their families are now required to obtain private insurance at their own cost. Veterans Administration offices as well as all hospitals, clinics and other services are being closed at midnight.

All Federal employees are, as of midnight, no longer covered. This will include the F.B.I, C.I.A., F.D.A., and other federal agencies. Those who are employed by any federal agency are now expected to buy their own private health insurance on the open market.

Members of Congress, Members of the Senate, and all their staff and family members are NO LONGER covered by the group insurance plan, as of midnight tonight. This will include every staff employee, including those in the embassies around the world, their families, and all staff attached to the embassies, including security services and janitorial.

The federal government is also hereby mandated to enact the clearing of any other health care insurances covered by government, from State employees to local City and Town employees. This will require that all Fire, Police, and Emergency Services persons must now buy their own health coverage from insurance companies.

All hospitals, clinics, doctors, nurses and other personnel are now asked to find other employment, as their services are no longer required. The Federal government is putting all buildings up for sale in an auction format.

Get Government out of Health Care Services? This is what you are demanding, so this is what you get.