I’m confused. I’ve been trying to research and understand the stimulus plan put forth by the Obama administration. Finally, I found a clear and easily understood explanation. And, here it is:
I don’t know about y’all but this mammoth pile of papers that nobody has read scares me. I don’t feel like I/we are part of the decision making in our government any longer. What’s next?
Today’s piece of whole freshly baked shitcake (with my famous mystery chocolate frosting) goes to all the Democrats and the chicken-shit Republicans that are voting for this mess.
“editing “just because I can…..ain’t free speech great?
A friend of mine pointed me to this great link where you, yes YOU, can apply for some of the stimulus money. Check it out……
I did and looky, looky at this……
“Congratulations!
Your request has been approved! CLICK HERE to view your stimulus and to roam around in $800 billion worth of other giveaways. Your program is buried in Title III, Subtitle A.”
Now, don’t go thinking that’s is all easy as pie. Notice that mine was buried in Title III Subtitle A. I had to read a lot of baloney (some of it very wordyMcword) to get to the paydirt. Don’t give up if your request is granted (and it will be). Wade thru the gobbilygook til you get to the money part.
Now, go on, y’all. Get your piece of the pie. Here’s the FREE MONEY to lead you to high-livin’, permanent vacation lifestyles. BE sure to post a nice thank-you to ReasonOnline who made my dream come true!
BTW….I applied for money to establish a research team for the study of lazy people’s habits.
One more thing…..don’t leak it to that Donna, the Socialist, who has been commenting. Of course, she’s probably too busy drinking the latest batch of kool-aid to notice this anyway.
edited again!…..I didn’t expect this post to cause so much controversy. There are already over 75 comments. The comments are worth reading if you would like to see the difference in the way people think about the stimulus plan. Don’t hesitate to add your own comments on how you see the stimulus plan and it’s chance of working/not working. This is getting pretty interesting. So, jump on in……
Well, I would very much like to help you understand it, if you would be open to that.
By: djcnor on February 13, 2009
at 2:50 pm
May I assume that you have had the opportunity to read the whole package? If you have, I would love for somebody in the know to explain it. If you have not read it, then, no, I’m not interested in another person trying to guess what is in it.
djcnor….it’s the unknown in that gigantic stack of papers that bothers me. As of last night, a huge majority of our Representatives and Senators had not bothered to ever read what they are voting for. Unless some are magical speed-readers, they could not in the time given to them.
By: trailerparkbarbie on February 13, 2009
at 2:58 pm
I have read the summary chapters and the list of projects to be done, and I understand the mechanisms by which they benefit us all and save money in the long run. I’ve paid particular attention to the lists of projects challenged as pork and am in a position to defend any of them. That list is not hard to find. I’m not that worried about the parts that no one has challenged specifically as pork. If they are better than the projects that have been challenged as pork, they’re good enough for me.
By: djcnor on February 13, 2009
at 3:16 pm
At this point I am hoping and praying for anything good!
By: Noe Noe Girl on February 13, 2009
at 3:52 pm
djcnor….yes, please, go ahead and explain.
By: trailerparkbarbie on February 13, 2009
at 4:13 pm
djcnor is the screen name for Obama.
By: Mark on February 13, 2009
at 4:20 pm
No, I’m not Obama. (Wouldn’t it be cool to have Obama actually sign in and comment on your blog? So cool, I’m a little tempted to pretend I am just to give you a thrill.)
Let me take just one of the projects that is called pork. To be random about it, I went to WordPress and did a search with “pork list”, then went to the first site that was clearly talking about the stimulus package and a list of pork. That site, instead of giveing the list sent me to a site called
http://stimuluswatch.org/
which claims to give a complete list of what’s in the package. I then went to the “least critical” tag, relying on the opinion of the site. The projects on that list ranged from $20,000 for the purchase of tasers (0 jobs to be created, wonder if that’s still in the bill) to $17,500,000,000 for New Energy Efficient Energy Zones (1628 jobs). I found the one on the list that was closest to the middle of those two prices. It seems to be $2,463,000,000 for Miami/Dade transit (400 jobs). So I’ll take that one.
OK, they’re building a rapid transit line for an area that receives a lot of tourism and has had a good amount of bad incidents happen when tourists rented cars to get around the area.
First, we get the jobs required to build the line, the 400 I presume. Every person who gets one of those jobs will pay taxes on their income and will spend their pay mostly in local businesses, stimulating the local economy and creating other jobs in the businesses they patronize. Considering that construction has basically come to a halt in Florida, many of these will have been unemployed, so we will be saving whatever they were formerly receiving in benefits.
Second, building it will take a lot of materials (I believe there is a restriction of where materials are bought, favoring or even restricting to domestic suppliers). All businesses supplying those materials will make considerable profits which they will pay taxes on. I presume they don’t make the things they sell from thin air, so the businesses they buy them from will also make profits they will pay taxes on. These companies may well need to take on additional employees, more jobs created, more taxes paid, more unemployment benefits saved, and more local eonomy stimulus when they spend those pay checks.
The existence of the line makes all the businesses which rely on tourism more competitive, having a better combined travel product to offer. More jobs, etc.
The existence of the line decreases the pollution caused by people using it rather than their cars reducing local healthcare costs attributable to pollution, contributing to a better tourism product, and reducing the overall local demand for fossil fuels, reducing prices locals pay. Local traffic density reductions also result in fuel savings.
How’s that?
By: djcnor on February 13, 2009
at 5:27 pm
Not very good. I’m not going to ramble on on someone else’s comment section. The projects your talking about will take way to long to get up and running. Feasibility studies,PETA,etc,etc will tie things up. Nope try another one!
By: Mark on February 13, 2009
at 6:38 pm
90 days or they’ll lose the money. The fact that those things were already taken care of was probably why that project made it in.
By: djcnor on February 13, 2009
at 7:35 pm
Thank you for your explanation, djcnor (you should have pretended to be Obama so I could have bragged LOL). However, I still have yet to find any part of the plan that is going to give me any type of relief in the near future. I am a small business owner and our company’s main products are machines for coal mining. I am still fearful that my taxes will raise. And, the incentive bucks to hire another employee is totally useless. Where am I suppose to get the payroll money after that is eaten up….which will take approximately 2 weeks. Then what?
I can see where some people will make lots of money. They are called L-O-B-B-Y-I-S-T-S.
Tonight, Diane Sawyer is doing a special on kids that live in the App. Mtns. This is my area of the country. The stimulus plan will provide a little more money for those families. But, they are already generational welfare people. What incentive does this give them to work?
I do thank you for your time and effort. I wish that I could say that your answer made me somewhat less fearful but it didn’t.
By: trailerparkbarbie on February 13, 2009
at 11:48 pm
I’m from Appalachia, too. And if you know your Appalachian history, you should know that welfare folks in Appalachia are not generational. In fact, when welfare was instituted, they had to send workers into the hills to try and onvince folks living in tar-paper shacks with barefoot ragged children to take it. Are you saying they shouldn’t have?
Show me on stimuluswatch.org where lobbyists are benefited in the least.
I agree that I do not see anything on that list that will directly benefit your business in the short term. But that is not the full measure of how it might affect you possitively in the short term. Do you have no one you care about in any of those cities who is struggling? Do none of those measures affect anyone at all that you care about? Why does it have to affect you short-term? Will your business not survive otherwise? If you’re doing relatively well and have money to invest, why not buy one of those houses whose value has fallen so far? You’re almost guaranteed to make money on it in just a few years, especially considering that benefit for first time home buyers.
What about the fact that 95% of Americans will pay less income tax?
By: djcnor on February 14, 2009
at 1:51 pm
I disagree with you. Welfare made have started like that but if you live around here now, you KNOW that welfare IS generational. Of course that I have people that I care about and that is why I am worried about my business NOW. I do not want to have to lay off the men who are so hard working when in truth, they could probably find a government gravy train to ride.
I grew up dirt poor. I have never been given anything by the government or anyone else. Why should I now be in peril of having to hand over anything that I have worked my ass off to acquire?
By: trailerparkbarbie on February 14, 2009
at 3:03 pm
I can’t say I grew up poor. My dad was a methodist minister, so we were rich in many things other than money, money not so much. In college, I knew a girl who had walked 5 miles every day each way to go to high school and whose college was funded by a collection at her church. So it goes back no further than that, which is 30 years.
Nor can I say the government never gave me anything. It funded better schooling than my family could possibly have paid for with the money they paid for taxes. The same goes for many other government functions. It gave me the loans I used to go to college and funded my Ph.D. in biochemistry. It later funded my grants.
If you grew up very poor, do you think your family’s taxes fully paid for your schooling, for the roads driven on and the parks played in, for the safety provided. etc. etc. etc. Are you supporting your parents? They may well have collected more SS than they put in, and otherwise you would be.
None of us are really entirely self-made.
By: djcnor on February 14, 2009
at 3:45 pm
My parents are dead. To answer your question, no, my parents did not pay all the taxes for my schooling. I did pay for my own college by working several jobs. And, I can guarantee you this….I have paid back all of the taxes that the government spent on schooling for me. PLUS A LOT MORE! I sent my own two girls to private schools. Did I get a tax break? No. So, you see, I was paying for my girls’ education PLUS the taxes for others. My girls are both college graduates. Not a dime came from the government. I am a college grad and the same goes for me.
How can you be comfortable with asking me for more money for more people when I have received nothing in return?
Sure, you will say “roads”. Hogwash…I’ve had to pay for raod that leads to my house because there are no other houses out here. Why shouldn’t I be able to get enough of my tax money back to use on something for my family and myself?
Don’t push your socialism at me. I’ll throw it back at you so hard, you’ll find yourself landing in Russia.
So, here for the record, let me state…NO, I do not want to give anymore of my money away to people not of my choosing. I am not a stingy person. I actually give quite a bit of money to needy. But, at least it’s the needy of my CHOICE not Obama’s.
By: trailerparkbarbie on February 14, 2009
at 5:42 pm
So what is it that you want more than a country that has the best business climate in the world and the happiest people, has more democracy than the US and less corruption, tiny rates of crime and unemployment, the most freedom of the press in the world? (all referenced on my blog) Why are you so set on not sharing that you would rather give up all that? The US used to be a country in which everyone got together to build a barn or to sew a quilt, where cooperative effort was the norm. Were folks so picky about who they came together with in cooperative effort then?
You are very unobservant if you really believe you have given and had nothing in return, and you sound very unhappy.
You also seem very ignorant of the differrence between the kind of socialism in all the other first world nations and the communism of Russia. That difference, and the difference in the types of lives provided for the people is huge. I know, having lived in Poland not that long after 1989 and having lived in Denmark and the UK.
By: djcnor on February 14, 2009
at 5:55 pm
By the way, what you paid for your girl’s college was not nearly what it cost. There is not a college in the land that charges so much tuition that it totally pays the costs. Thank those who gave endowments and such and thank the government for the grants that pay the professors.
By: djcnor on February 14, 2009
at 5:58 pm
You are foolish and naive, djcnor. Both went to private colleges that cost me a hellova lot. I had to save, pinch pennies, cut coupons, and just about everything you can think of short of selling my ass on a street corner to pay for those kid’s schools. AND, both of them started working to help pay when they were each 15 years old. How dare you?!
Expain what is fair about doing without, buying from yardsales, clearance racks, etc. to pay for schooling while Willie Welfare’s kids rode the back of the government? What is just about that? What do you think that it feels like to know that your kids have worked very hard to get into a college and make good grades only to find out that the kid sitting right beside them has managed to get a Pell Grant by lying through their teeth? True story…a girl in our neigborhood was PAID by the GOVERMENT to care for a mentally retarded relative (who happen to be born out of wedlock…one of 4). She then wrote a paper on how she VOLUNTEERED out of the pure goodness of her heart to help a mentally disabled youth and won a full ride to college. Not to mention that she quit the third semester so she could move away with her boyfriend. Three sememesters tuition, books, and extras down the drain. That’s just one exmaple of many more than I can write about.
You are a socialist jackass. At first, I thought you were trying to be helpful. Should have known better.
As for helping others, I don’t mind one bit. I suppose I could start listing now the monies that I freely give every month to people that I want to help. I’m not going to waste my time on you doing that. Actually, who I give to and how much is none of your business. And, it shouldn’t be the government’s either. What I do mind is Obama and his minions such as yourself, choosing who I want to give my money to. Take a poll. A majority of people would give more iif alowed to do so willingly than if mandated by the ggvernment.
I choose to give it to people who are trying to help themselves. I choose to give it to people who have had a run of bad luck that they could not prevent ex. hurricanes, unexpected illnesses, and the like. I do NOT CHOOSE to give it to whomever stands in line at a state run agency for their handout for which they feel entitled. People still get together around here and sew a quilt, build a barn, etc. It’s because they CHOOSE to do it not because a gov. agency ordered it. That’s why it works so far. I guarantee you that it’s because of freedom of choice, willingness to help those who need it, and being able to decide whom you want to help.
Also, I never said that Russia was socialist. I said that I’d throw back your view so hard that you would land there. It was just the first country that came to mind. I could have said Africa, Switzerland, the UK, or any land mass on earth.
And, I NEVER said that my government had given me nothing in return. My government (up till now ) gave me a sense of being protected. You are reading what you want in my words. I LOVE the United States of America. Another thing that I love is the freedom of speech that we have. And, that includes freedom to poke fun at myself on this blog and referring to myself as white trash and redneck. Apparently, you don’t get it. This all started with a video that I found extremely humorous. A video that that is on the web because we do have free speech.
Now, I’m done with you. Go peddle your point of view elsewhere.
editing to add…..I just came from your blog. What can I say except…..bwahahaha….you are so full of yourself. No wait, you are not toally full of yourself, you’re full of shit, too.
By: trailerparkbarbie on February 15, 2009
at 1:25 am
You go girl! Well said.
By: justakrusen on February 15, 2009
at 2:21 am
justakrusen…I hope you mean me (this girl. KoolAid drinker is a girl, too). Thanks!!!!!!!
By: trailerparkbarbie on February 15, 2009
at 2:28 am
Well, regarding your girls’ college education, it doesn’t matter what school they went to and how hard you had to scrape to do it, you’re dead wrong. Let me give you a reference and a quotation from it:
http://www.jhu.edu/gazette/2008/12may08/12brody.html
“Yet the fact remains that most people do not understand that tuition alone does not represent the true cost of providing an undergraduate college education. While it may be difficult to tease apart the cost of an undergraduate education at research universities (which have multiple missions of undergraduate and graduate education, and scholarly research), one can look at small liberal arts colleges having only undergraduate programs to learn that tuition covers between 40 percent and 60 percent of the true cost of an undergraduate education. The remainder of the cost is covered by endowment income and annual gifts from alumni and foundations. It is reasonable to assume that at major research universities, with their highly advanced labs, libraries and other resources, the cost of educating each undergraduate is significantly higher.”
Sorry, if that challenges one of your core beliefs. The reason I already knew it was my years as a professor.
And you obviously don’t know anything about how hard it is to get a Pell grant, how thoroughly applications are examined, and how much else you have to figure out how to come up with to use it. There is no way you could really know that other girl’s story. As for her only lasting three semesters, that is no waste. Would your first thee semesters have been a waste if you had not completed college? You should know better. Those first three semesters are when you learn what you will use the rest of your life if you happen to be one of the many who doesn’t end up working in exatly the area you took as your major.
Your predjudice against folks who end up needing help is unjust to a very large extent. You are making the huge majority pay for the actions of a few, and that is unfair.
You show ignorance in any number of areas. Now, ignorance is not bad at all if it’s coupled with a willingness to learn. Yours is not. It is also coupled with direct lies. Let me quote you…. twice:
1)”I have never been given anything by the government or anyone else.”
2)”And, I NEVER said that my government had given me nothing in return.”
One of those is a direct lie. Guess which?
I hope you are making fun on this blog. If you aren’t, I feel sorry for you and all you encounter. Thank you for visiting my blog. It amazing how may times well referenced facts are countered by accusations of arrogance. Who taught you that method of argument was valid? If you are making fun, then I assume you did learn something from my blog because the facts I present are often a surprise to Americans.
By: djcnor on February 15, 2009
at 12:07 pm
I was saying you go girl to Trailerparkbarbie. djcnor, I had no Idea she was a girl. B.I.T.C.H. comes more to my mind then girl. She comes off as a know it all, my Sh** don’t stink Liberal.
She told me everything I needed to know when she said she used to be a Professor.As if that gives any credence to her argument. I’d love to see a picture of her. I’d say it looks very close to the one on the top of my Sunday post.
A personal note to you djcnor. Pull that stick out of your ass.Oops,that’s your head I’m sorry.
I’m sorry Trailerparkbarbie I don’t usually go on like this. It’s just when these Liberal’s of the female persuasion start there babbling it justa drives me crazy.I can put up with Liberal men babbling as they are just following what their wives tell them to do.
You know what is so great about this comment I’m making is you the Professor will probably correct it for grammar make one of your long winded comments then respond in yur oh so obvious “I must be smart I was a Professor” so I’m better than you blah,blah,blah.
The only thing I regret as a former Truck Driver just so you know what I did for a living for 27 years “Professor” is that you got to eat the food that I brought to your grocery stores. I’d much rather you ate some humble pie. If you presented your material in a shorter,less “I know more than you do” na,na,na,tone maybe toss in some humor and oh yeah that holier than thou sh** has to go too. I notice you don’t put down what your website is. Don’t bother, I won’t go over to read it as I have read EVERY thing I need to know about you and what you think here.
Once again Trailerparkbarbie I’m sorry I went on like this. Heck this is longer than most of my post.
By: justakrusen on February 15, 2009
at 1:07 pm
justakrusen,
Maybe you don’t know yet that all you have to do to get to my blog is to click on my name. I know you aren’t open to learning anything by doing that, but you might someday be interested in clicking on somebody’s.
Sorry if being knowledgeable sounds like being arrogant to you. I know it limits the amount of information I can pass on, but in some cases, I don’t care. particularly when folks go out of their way to insult me, when I’ve done none of that myself. Luckily, I know that’s typically defensive, an attempt to maintain self-esteem. That’s especially true when they start talking looks.
I’m 58 and quite proud of the woman I have managed to become (including the professor part) in that time. If you aren’t, well there’s still time.
By: djcnor on February 15, 2009
at 1:45 pm
djcnor,
I’ll try one last time. Your a rather thick one aren’t you? Your still missing out on the humor part. Use some humor. I did click on your name. Nothing happened.Everyone else’s name is highlighted yours is not.
As for going out of my way to insult you. It was really no problem at all. It wasn’t “out of my way” as you say. Like you, I obviously have nothing better to do on a Sunday morning than to rattle back and forth with someone on someone else’s blog.
I didn’t think I insulted you. You seem to be quite proud of the term “Professor” thats good for you. You just didn’t need to throw it out there like it was a validation to your argument. You made the statement that you “don’t care” when it comes to some cases. There in lies a problem. You do care. Had you not cared you would not have come back so quickly and commented.
So “Professor” and Ms.djcnor lighten up. Smell the roses. Inject some humor{self depreciating} at times in your comments and you won’t wake up the sleeping mania of a “retired” ole truck driver. Oh, and I just have to know. Do you look like that picture on my Sunday post?
By: justakrusen on February 15, 2009
at 2:24 pm
justakrusen….to see The Professor’s blog, google djcnor. You’ll see that she is all over the place with her crap.
Look Prof…I said I was done with you. But you hit a sore spot. You are asking me why I am against helping people who need it? Are you a complete moron in life as well?
I don’t like to do this…talk about people that I help.
Here ya go….my brother lives in a camper. He’s mentally ill. I help him with his food, clothes, money, etc.
I support 2 families in countries torn apart my aids and war.
I support my church.
I donate regularly to Goodwill and the Salvation Amr.
I supplement my mother-in-laws income on a monthly basis.
Shall I list more? Is that what you want?
You are a liberal nutjob who wants to go around telling everyone else what do do. Do you put YOUR money where your mouth is?
Pell grants SHOULD be hard to get and you claim as a PROFESSOR that you know they are.
And, I’m telling you as a lowly peon that I know that is not the case. I know of 3 students personally who got grants that they did not deserve. Meanwhile, 3 students were very smart, ambitious, and worthy were knock out by the three who got them.
Don’t you even dare talk to be about giving and donating.
You don’t have a clue what you are talking about when it comes to REAL people in REAL situations.
Go smoke some more weed in Denmark! You may have one or two more brain cells left to kill.
And, truck drivers are great people. My brother use to be one. He died about 6 yrs. ago. That’s the only thing that he did or wanted to do. He drove for about 20 years.
By: trailerparkbarbie on February 15, 2009
at 3:25 pm
Actually, it’s after 3PM where I am. And yes, I am missing the humor. I’ve encountered too many spouting the same things in perfect seriousness. Not my kind of humor. On the other hand, a cartoon about Morris Dancers taking over the world in the Guardian review section hit me as very funny. To each his or her own.
I don’t know why clicking on my name isn’t working, but the address of my blog is http://www.djcnor.wordpress.com. It’s on all kinds of things, not just politics, though as a US ex-pat, I’ve taken on the task of correcting American assumptions particularly about Europe and socialism.
Didn’t go to your blog, so I didn’t see the picture. Making fun of looks is another thing I don’t find funny in the least, probably because I have been on the other end of it. On the other hand, I get underestimated a lot for just that reason and it sure has filtered all the shallow folks out of my life, so I don’t mind. Any 58-year-old who still cares about that is due for disappointment.
By: djcnor on February 15, 2009
at 3:28 pm
And barbie,
I’m delighted to see you do help folks. I just can’t see why you have symathy for your own folks with problems but none for folks who don’t have a family member like you to help them out.
And, as has happened before with conservatives, you’ve mixed up Denmark and The Netherlands. They are different countries with very different cultures aside from the fat that they are both maritine. Netherlands: dutch, wooden shoes, canals, Van Gogh, brown cafes. Denmark: bicycles, Vikings, fine design, Hans Christian Anderson, mermaids, swans, Legos.
You’ve never sat on the kind of committees that make Pell grant decisions, I have. Believe it or not, we professors live real lives too.
When did I say anything against truckdrivers?
I’m off to feed the swans down by the river park a few blocks away.
By: djcnor on February 15, 2009
at 3:38 pm
I refuse to click on the link for your blog. First of all we know exactly what you look like. Your picture is on my blog. See you we’re very quick to think the problem of me not being able to just “click” on your vaulted name was my fault. You do not have the capacity to look outside of yourself. It doesn’t show in your comments anyway.
You really are pathetic!! You continue to throw things in your comments that say “oh look at me aren’t I blah,blah,blah” See that’s just it. It’s all about what you think, what you have done.
You may live what you call a real life. But your not a real person. Real people. At least the real people that I relate to can laugh at themselves. YOU,Comrade djcnor are not a “real person”
By: justakrusen on February 15, 2009
at 4:19 pm
The kind of real person I am knows that all people are real people. I wouldn’t want to be the kind that doesn’t know that.
Refuse to look at my blog if you like. It’s your loss. You’ve given me no reason to look at your blog. If that’s a real person’s picture, then that’s a person who has real feelings, too, and I will not aid you in their humiliation. I will shame you, if they are real.
Nor will I feel in the least cowed by your calling me pathetic, because I’m anything but. Folks who feel the need to call other people pathetic are much more likely to be so themselves.
By: djcnor on February 15, 2009
at 5:20 pm
Last of all, let me refer you to someone who’s saying the kind of thing I’ve been trying to say, but manages to do it in a way that I don’t think you will think is arrogant.
http://wiredsisters.wordpress.com/2009/02/15/the-mirrored-curtain/
By: djcnor on February 15, 2009
at 8:20 pm
I made have mixed up Denmark and the Netherlands. I actually was referring to liberal drug law countries. I will do my homework and check that out. One thing that I do is admit if I’ve made a mistake.
One mistake that I have not made, though, is the choices that I make to help. Check again….you say that I am willing to help my own but not others in need. I hate to point this out, but as I stated, I send support money to two families in other countries. Believe me, I have nothing in common with them that anyone would be able to see. They would not be considered “my people” by your implied definititon. I help them because they need it. I help them because I want to help them. I do not need the federal gov. telling me who needs my help and who doesn’t. In fact, I resent that a hellova lot. It is MY MONEY and I should be able to give where and when I want. If mandated/taxed by the government for money, I will be much less willing to share. I don’t see why you cannot understand that. I could choose to give that amount of money to “my people” but they are in more desperate need than anyone that I personally know.
As for the Pell grants, I stand my ground. I know what I’m saying is true. As in many things, maybe, every board is not the same. Rules may be rules but decisions are made my people. Corrupt? Ignorant? I don’t know. You tell me since you have been on a Pell grant board.
As for justakrusen being a truckdriver, I believe it was being pointed out that every person is valuable. You do come off as snotty with your “I’m a professor” attitude and I salute justakrusen for showing that ideas and beliefs are not limited to people who consider themselves more educated and knowledgable than others.
By: trailerparkbarbie on February 15, 2009
at 10:47 pm
No djcnor it is not your last of all. It’s my last of all. Your last off all was when I read your first of all.
By: Mark on February 15, 2009
at 10:48 pm
Mark…I don’t care who ya are…that was a funny sentence.
By: trailerparkbarbie on February 15, 2009
at 10:57 pm
Well trailerparkbarbie,
Her arguments {?} at least started getting shorter and shorter.
My links started going to my better halves blog which is no way near as belligerent as I get. My wife bless her heart wouldn’t say sh** even if her mouth was full of it.
I really never do brattle on like this, especially on someone else’s blog keep on doing what you do as are a very funny lady.
By: Mark on February 15, 2009
at 11:07 pm
Thanks back to you
Mark is my better half and the debater! How he ended up having the Justakrusen@wordpress.com blog (that is the one I use) show up in the comments he was leaving instead of the blog he uses “justakrusen.blogspot.com , I am not sure, but he is a feisty character (!), and is commenting from the blogspot one .
Thanks for coming over to the site I use, I do have a lighter outlook on a day to day basis.
I do love laughing at your blog
And the professor has definitely been a “itch-bay” ((pig latin ) and someone I am glad I did not have for a professor! That is one course I would have dropped out of , probably as soon as she opening her condescending mouth.
You keep believing in yourself, and don’t let the prof belittle you. Thanks Cindy
By: justakrusen on February 15, 2009
at 11:38 pm
Mark…God bless you heart for doing battle here. The reinforcement was much appreciated. Not sure if we wore her down or not. My experiences with ultra-liberals is that they ususally come back…and bring their buddies. But, no problem. My beliefs run deep and cannot be changed by a ex-pat Professor. Ya know, I can’t help but wonder why people leave our great country and then feel the need to “correct us” from wherever it is that they’d run to.
Cindy…you keep him in line (but for Heaven’s sake, do KEEP him.)
By: trailerparkbarbie on February 16, 2009
at 12:59 am
I’m all over the place as I’m exhausted; but here I go-
I had to stop reading after the 95% will receive a tax cut and the advice of investing and/or growing a small business to help out or something was given.
I’m not sure what I’m going to be doing with that extra $13 a week.
As for investing. WHY?
Anyone who honestly tries to grow their business (aka-create jobs) is penalized.
If government was actually serious about giving the economy and all citizens a boost,(since this is such a “crisis”) why NOT choose the less risky idea that would have quicker results?
Slash all taxes:
From all that is taken from workers’ take-home pay, to businesses & capital gains and see what happens. Some of that may even help Wall St. a bit, as for the banks…that’s an assault from a different front.
The tax cut idea would not cost the government as much and the results would happen a lot quicker than what is in that bill. (most ‘jobs’ don’t begin until around re-election time)
Text of H.R. 1: American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
Why not? It’s not what this current government actually wants.
This bill is more than pork, it is Chicago Pay-to-Play on a national level at best (creating a permanent voting base/dependent class); and at worst…it’s kinda obvious isn’t it?
It is pathetic when “the foreigners who now love us because of our dear leader” see the truth and print it, as our own media ignorantly stands by, too busy jockeying for a place in line to fellate this traveling snake oil salesman who seems to be playing at being president.
*Check that short article out TPB, it’s a damn good read. Here are a few money quotes:
There is no terminology available to express adequately the appalling irresponsibility of this naked political banditry. To have squandered a fraction of the near-$1 trillion cost of Obama’s pork barrel in days of prosperity would have been more tha
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n reprehensible; to do so at a time of financial crisis is unforgivable. Obama likes to pose as the heir of Abraham Lincoln: as this shameless bribery demonstrates, he is heir only to the Chicago Democrat political machine that spawned him.
…..The most blatantly sinister item is the allocation of $4.2bn to “neighbourhood stabilisation”, the programme that will enrich the far-left organisation ACORN which played so controversial a role in voter registration during the recent presidential election. In tandem with that goes $1bn to forward Obama’s ambition to control the 2010 census, rich in electoral opportunity for the promoters of the one-party state.
and finally “he Bush administration, in its last six years, ratcheted up deficits totaling $3.35 trillion. No wonder these pseudo-conservatives were repudiated by their voters
At least a “foreigner” knows the difference between a conservative and a liberal.
Bush kept us safe and for that I thank him; but he often spent more like a liberal and allowed government grow.
Conservative ideas did not fail. They are not at fault.
It’s time to blame big government. Making it bigger will lead to disaster unless your idea of successfully being stimulated is becoming a serf or some such shit.
There are a lot of “Reagan Democrats” that have a bad feeling about this bill. (and I personally know a few who are having a bit of buyers’ remorse over not seeing past the “D” by the name on the ballot.)
okay I’m done or I’d go on forever
*ps) correct my typos/too tired to proof read.
By: d *now with less f-bombs* on February 16, 2009
at 5:53 am
Advice to the fella in the film—do NOT buy those 50 cent gas station bathroom condoms!!!
and that’s all I’m gonna say about that.
By: The Vinyl Villager on February 16, 2009
at 5:57 am
barbie,
Regarding your choices to help, I was questioning why you seen to have such resistance about helping other Americans who have fallen on hard times when you are willing to help the folks you know who need help. Have you ever considered that those who need government help don’t have anyone like you to help them?
It is neither b…y nor arrogant to challenge ideas I believe to be illogical and wrong, any more than it is for you to challenge mine.
By the way, if you went to the wiredsister link, you would gain some idea of why someone would leave the US for another country. There is a way between all-out capitalism and the false American idea of socialism. Europe has it, and it provides a very high quality of life. When I was young, Americans learned a lot more about what life is like in other countries, knew a lot more geography, and valued travel a lot more for the insight it gives to other cultures and your own. It is America’s loss that this has changed.
Let me quote:
“When I was a kid, the Cold War and the Iron Curtain were ever-present facts of our lives. We heard about the brave Poles and Czechs and Hungarians who risked their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor to listen to Radio Free Europe and find out The Truth about the world outside, which they knew their communist masters were not telling them. Our corporate masters here don’t need to tell us that learning about life in other countries is forbidden and dangerous. They just have to tell us it’s boring. We don’t need an Iron Curtain. What we have instead is a curtain that we cannot even see, because all it does is reflect back at us an idealized, thoroughly retouched picture of ourselves, so that we have no way to imagine that there is any world out there that does not look like our own. A mirrored curtain, so to speak.”
Look beyond that mirrored curtain.
By: djcnor on February 16, 2009
at 8:47 am
djcnor…I was riled up by your comments. I usually am a fair and sqaure person and try to listen to both sides of an argument before jumping in with both feet.
I still don’t think that you understand what I am saying. It’s not people here that have actually fallen on hard times that I don’t want to help. Believe me, I ‘m surrounded by people who are generational welfare/food stamp people. They don’t even go out to vote. They sit around and bitch about not getting more. Sheesh…they have heath care. I don’t have any because I can’t afford it. They get clothing vouchers. They get checks sometimes for being alcoholics or drug addicts. THAT’S the people that I am NOT wanting to help. If people around me actually fall on hard times and are trying to get back on their feet, I’m right there to offer help. But,I WILL NOT willingly give money to the first group that I mentioned. This is why I do not want the Barry gov. taking my money and giving it to who THEY choose. I have already seen who they choose MOST OF THE TIME. That’s where you and I differ. I need to know that I am helping people that need a hand-up and not a constant hand-out.
By: trailerparkbarbie on February 16, 2009
at 1:47 pm
VV…you are a wise man!
By: trailerparkbarbie on February 16, 2009
at 1:47 pm
I understand what you’re saying.
But two points. First, on what basis are you saying what you’re saying about these people? Do you actually know them and their histories? Or are you making assumptions?
Second, if the parents are generationally dependent, the one way to make sure the next generation becomes even more so is to not provide a way out. Are you aware of how welfare payments are determined? They figure what it costs to provide what is absolutely necessary, then provide a percentage of that, usually 40-60% depending on the state, thus making it impossible to survive on it without cheating.
The fat that the person you werre talking about earlier with the Pell grant came through three semesters of college before dropping out makes is much more likely that she and any family she has will not remain a drain for years and years. The same thing goes for having good nutrition and healthcare when growing up. In other words, we don’t support their generational welfare parents because they deserve it. We support them beause we want to stop it there at that generation as much as possible. We do it for us, not them. We do it as a matter of practicality because if we don’t, the result is another generation and a whole crop of criminals costing us money by their crimes and by having to keep them in prisons. It’s not fair that it’s so, but it’s so. Pay a little now, or a lot later. You want to stop paying welfare for alcoholics and drug addicts? Pay for treatment programs. There are alcoholics and drug addicts all around you who got treatment and stopped using (which does not make them not addicts any more) and are paying back in taxes for that treatment. Again, it’s not fair, it just works to our benefit better than not.
By: djcnor on February 16, 2009
at 2:54 pm
djcnor…haven’t much time to answer right now. But, yes, these are people that I actually do know. I could tell you many stories of people draining the system and wanting more. People who feel entitled. Sleeping till noon, watching tv all day. Or,people who have claimed injury, been approved for government checks and then ride 4-wheelers all day. How can you ride a 4-wheeler with an injured back or leg. I personally know a guy who was being pursued by police, shot at the police, wrecked his car and got sent to prison. When he got out of prison, he was awarded SSI benefits for the injuries that he sustained while being pursued and shooting at police. Is this fair? Yes, unfortunately, I am speaking of people that I know personally.
The girl with the Pell grant….unwed with 2 kids. On welfare. Makes my blood boil. People given chances and wasting them. I could write plenty on this subject.
You ask me why I send my money to people not around me. Why would I choose to send money to a family hurt by the corrupt gov of Darfur? Simple….they are dying. They have no food, water, medicine. They have no aids medicine.
To me the choice is very simple. I would rather send money to keep a kid alive then have the government take my money so that some law-breaking loser can ride his toy all day long.
And, it’s not that I’m purposedly choosing overseas kids to help. If I find out about one living down the street, I’ll help. Kids are not at fault. BUT, I would find a way to help the child directly (ex. school clothes, supplies) rather than have the Barry administration take my money and give it to parents who are most likely lazy ass losers.
That’s where you and I differ. I want to choose where my money goes. I want to choose who it goes to and I want to KNOW that is where it went.
I don’t see why you are having such a hard time understanding that. Why do liberals insist on giving without demanding a certain re sponsibility from the recepient?
You left this area years ago. I chose to stay. I see these things every day. I know what I am talking about.
By: trailerparkbarbie on February 16, 2009
at 3:14 pm
hmmm this thread has turned quite interesting…with good points made by all. djcnor…in the area of the country I grew up in, there ARE many families that are just as Barbie described…generational welfare/social security disability recipients. These are small towns where everyone knows everyone, their mother, and their grandmother. I do not begrudge in the least my tax dollars going to help those who need HELP…but she is right that there is a portion who do not want a way out–the “Welfare” way is their way of life, was their mama’s way of life, etc.
I think you’re quite right (at least in theory) that funding the programs you touch on is for our long term benefit…IF they work. So many of these programs have become government boondoggles that long ago became quagmires that, in too many cases, just let the cycles continue.
But you all have my gears turning…I might be getting back on my soap box….
By: The Vinyl Villager on February 16, 2009
at 3:14 pm
oh…and I still say, dont use the gas station condoms.
By: The Vinyl Villager on February 16, 2009
at 3:14 pm
VV…she is from OUR area. That’s why I’m having a hard time understanding why she doesn’t get it.
I still think your advice is funny!
By: trailerparkbarbie on February 16, 2009
at 9:58 pm
I am from your area. And my dad was a Methodist minister, so my front door was where people came to when they had no other resources, and my dad was who they told their whole stories to. He wasn’t an easy touch. He knew that anytime he handed out any of the church’s charity fund, he’d better have verified the need and the potential to really help, and he knew how hard his churchmembers worked for their money. So it was almost never actually money he handed out, and nothing went out without a followup. I’ve also had two social worker “significant other”’s, and my college courses in race/ethnic relations and criminology have stuck with me. Does that help explain why I don’t get it your way?
By: djcnor on February 16, 2009
at 10:16 pm
Trailerparkbarbie,
In you about page you say you like to collect weird things. Well you sure have here haven’t you? I can picture the fine “Professor” sitting up in her coffin just to get the last word in. Or telling St.Peter: Yeah,but let me just say one more thing. I’m assuming she will be talking to St Peter as a benefit of the doubt kind of thing.
By: Mark on February 16, 2009
at 10:46 pm
No, it’s worse than that. I expect to be reincarnated!
By: djcnor on February 16, 2009
at 10:52 pm
(and you thought I didn’t have a sense of humor)
By: djcnor on February 16, 2009
at 10:52 pm
Mark…yep, that’s me…the collector of all things weird.
Have to say the St. Peter scenario is pretty darn funny!
djcnor…aha! You are human afterall! I guess it’s safe to assume (I know never “assume”…it makes an ass out of you and me…no wait, not me) that either we just do not see things the same or we use different language. I applaud your dad. Not just for helping but for being firm and not taking his church’s offerings lightly. But, it seems to me that you have veered off his path of thinking. Am I reading your words incorrectly? It appears that you want to give wihout question. It would be wonderful if we could do that(knowing that it is going to needy) but I stand by my statement that a large amount of people want a hand-out and not a hand-up. And, I’m just not OK with that. We have more in common that you think. My Dad was a lay preacher. I’m sure that you know that means that he did not go to school and did not have any kind of degree in theology, etc. Actually, he was put out of him home at the age of 9 years old. Hard to believe but true. His mother died and his dad simply did not want to be burdened with raising his kids. My dad went door to door looking for odd jobs just to eat. Shortly after, he went to work in the coal mines. This was before he had even became a teenager. He worked the rest of his life. I never saw that man ask for a single thing for free. After the coal mines had used him up and he could no longer breathe, he worked as a volunteer at a local church mission in exchange for second hand clothes and toys for us. I never saw him take one red cent without giving something back in return. This is the foundation on which I now live my life. I will give my last dollar to somebody in need who is trying to better their life or provide for their family. I will spit in the face of any able bodied adult who lays around waiting for the “1st of the month” check. I have worked several different jobs that deal with the public. I feel like puking everytime I hear a person saying, “when I get my check” yadayadayada. At the same time, my heart goes out to the kids who are learning that this is their right. Being taught that they are entitled to money from the government. It makes me sick to be in line at the grocery store behind a young woman with manicured nails,designer clothes, talking on a cellphone while paying for groceries with food stamps. It makes me sick to go to the doctor or the pharmacy and have to write out a check to pay for the doctor’s visit or medicine while obviously able-bodied men and women in front of me bitch because they have to pony up 2friggin’dollars for their pain medicine. And, this happens more often than not. And, an alarming amount of the time it is for pain medicine. What a joke! I’m not being hard or cruel. I’ve heard too many of them talking about the street value of their pain (what a damn joke!) medicines. So, you still think that I should just shut up and hand over my hard earned money to those lowlifes?
OK, I’m working myself up into a tizzy so I’m going to stop now and take a few deep breathes.
This makes me so damn angry….arrrrgggghhhhhh!
But, before I quit, let me restate that I do not object to helping people who have been hit by a catastrophe or people who are trying to help themselves. And, I have a very big heart for kids.
And, btw….I majored in social work and my son-in-law worked as a social worker until he could no longer stand the misuse and the abuse of the system.
By: trailerparkbarbie on February 17, 2009
at 12:31 am
I’m not saying such folks don’t exist. I am saying that they are a lot fewer than you think and it makes no sense spending $20 on measures to make sure you don’t give away $2 illegitimately.
All people, not just your father, put on the best face they can and keep going, whatever it take.
All people make bad choices as to how to manage that. There’s a marvelous song from Finian’s Rainbow about how much harshly poor people’s morals are judged than the morals of rich people.
When a rich man loses on a horse
Isn’t he the sport, yes, isn’t he the sport.
But when a poor man loses on a horse
He’s a gambler, he’s a spender,
he’s a low life, he’s a reason for divorce!… and so on
And if you ever took a criminology course, it would soon be obvious that rich people’s bad morals cause us a lot more damage than poor people’s.
————————–
Come on, Prof Donna!!!!! You say that you have lived in several countries. One of them must have been the country of Polyanna. NO, ALL people do not do that. Just come back and pay a short visit to your own old stomping ground. I know what I see and hear everyday. I cannot speak for other areas of the country. Only this part of southern WV. Welfare, food stamps, and other public programs are the number one means of income around here by a large margin.
Yes, rich people’s morals are as bad as poor people’s. But, that is not at all what this post is about. Ya wanna debate criminal statistics of social/financial classes? We’ll save that one for another day. I’m going to try one more time to explain the situation in this area. This is not only for your benefit but for anyone who happens along and reads this.
FACTS….SITUATIONS THAT I PERSONALLY KNOW THAT EXIST
1. Welfare around here is out of control. It has become a way of life for way too many families.
2.It is generational. And, all the programs designed to get the next generation off of welfare have failed miserably. One example is Headstart. The idea behind the Headstart program was to get the children into the educational system at an earlier age, thereby, making up for the lack of education received in their homes. Some idiot thought that putting 4 or 5 yrs old in a classroom with crayons, educational toys, and a teacher would give them a chance to catch up with kids that didn’t come from low income families. Of course, the assumption was that the non-welfare kids were getting a “head start” in day cares or private babysitters. MASSIVE FAILURE. Head Start did offer the kids a hot breakfast and lunch which was a very good thing. What a lot of people don’t know is that Head Start was a bigger perk for welfare parents than the kids. Two words…FREE BABYSITTER! Not to mention, the end of the year educational trips that both kids and parents were priviy to. One of my very best friends taught Head Start for two years. She left the Head Start program due to high blood pressure. HB pressure brought on by the waste she saw by the government’s money spent on Head Start. At the end of the year, parents and kids were sent on an all expense paid trip to Disney World.
Here’s what gets my panties in a wad. There were parents working their asses off to support their kids. They had to pay day care. They had to get up early in the morning, drop off the kids, go to work, and do all the things that parents need to do to produce responsible children. If they got a vacation, they had to save and pay for it.
Meanwhile, the large majority of the Head Start parents (mostly unwed mothers) were allowed to sleep in, go get their nails done, maybe do a little shopping, find a new baby daddy, watch their soaps, etc.
What is just or right about rewarding the lazy people? What is just about punishing the ones who are really trying?Of course, I can’t tell you that this is the way it is everywhere. I can only tell you what I know for a fact. If 15 kids were in a Head Start class, it may have made a difference in 3 of their lives. Yes, 3 kids are important. But, not any more important than the ones who did not qualify for daycare. So, 12 kids had a year of learning to stay in the lines while coloring, learning to socialize, and LEARNING THAT THIS IS A DAMN GOOD FREE RIDE. They learned that Mommy had more time to get her nails done, catch up on her sleep, run around the mall, and maybe, find a new daddy. Head Start is discriminatory and bias. Government waste at it’s best.
2. I do not have health insurance. I go to a governemnt subsidized health center. Yes, I did say subsidized. Here people on welfare or no income pay two dollars for a doctor’s visit and usually one to two dollars for their medications. In other words, it is income based. This means that I pay one hundred bucks where they pay two bucks. I go there because being subsidized, it is cheaper than private practices. The care that I get is not as good as I would get from private practices. But, since I have to pay for all the 2-dollar patients, it’s all that I can afford. A couple of months ago, I was in line at the pharmacy to pick up my prescription for arthritis (which I no longer take because the price went up). A man who looked to be in his early to middle twenties was behind me. A woman who looked to be in her late 30’s was in front of me. The guy behind me was in a chatty mood. Maybe, he had already filled one prescription and sampled it. For some reason, he chose to tell me about how he gets his doctor to write him a 90 pill script for Oxycontin. He told me that if I wanted some Oxy, just tell my doc that I was allergic to codeine. First, I wasn’t even feeling up a script for pain pills so I was not interested in his tutorial. Second, I was wondering exactly what his pain was and so I asked him. He found this to be rather funny and informed me that he had a “wink wink” bad back. He actually did wink. This idiot-to-the-bone then confided in me how he markets and sells the Oxycontin. He was making some bigass bucks on them. He disgusted me. I felt like I needed a shower just from being in his presence. Oh, but that’s not all of this saga. The woman in front of me was raising hell because of her script price. It had been raised from 1 buck to 2 bucks. How dare they? was her attitude. I wanted to haul off and slug her in one of her chins. My script was over 100 bucks for a condition that had been diagnosed by two different doctors using actual medical tests, not guessing.
Prof Donna…..you are amazed that I don’t want to help people of this type? What’s so hard to understand? Who in their right mind would want to hand over hard earned money to people who abuse the system, taking everything for granted.
The children of these people are being mind-fucked by our government. They are growing up learning that you really don’t have to do anything productive to get help. ANd, if you think that helping these parents is helping the kids, you are dead wrong. The only good that I can see in this whole mess is that most of the time, the kids get to food. They are suppose to get clothing. But, as with food stamps, welfare checks, etc. clothing vouchers are misused. Get in line behind some of the adults buying their kids school clothes with clothing vouchers. SInce when did Lil Suzy need some fancy, lacy thongs (which just happen to be Mom’s size). Where is the reasoning in spending a whole clothing voucher for Jr to have a pair of some athlete’s brand shoes while he doesn’t even have a warm coat. This is out of control and ridiculous.
Nuff said for now. Once again, I’m getting pretty bend out of shape with this crap.
Prof Donna, I suggest that you come back to your home state, take a job working with people, and then see if your opinion is the same.
By: djcnor on February 17, 2009
at 9:01 am
Arguing with a Professor is like fighting with a pig in the mud. .. After sometime, you realize that you are getting dirty but the pig is actually enjoying it.:-P
By: Mark on February 17, 2009
at 11:35 am
True, dat. Give up?
By: djcnor on February 17, 2009
at 12:10 pm
Nah,
I like the mud too. It makes my skin look younger.
By: Mark on February 17, 2009
at 1:25 pm
Hey dammit, where’s my comment? *spam box…go get*
Net neutrality is the latest thing to have been discovered that was slipped in there. <— Just a fyi
All this pos bill is, (is a giant trojan horse)an expansion of the welfare rolls, aka buying up a permanent/dependent base of voters.
*See Chavez, Hugo.
(welfare reform is now pretty much over)
Add the takeover of the banks in there.(nationalization)…watch for the auto industry to follow health care etc… and what do ya know? Chicago jesus & co have themselves a country of ignorant little worker bees all beholden to them. Complete with salaries set by the government. ykymf.
Go read yourself some Ayn Rand, “Atlas Shrugged”
I’m fucking shrugging.
By: d on February 17, 2009
at 1:37 pm
*hint*
You’re looking for the comment by: “d without f-bombs*
I forgot my manners here this morning heh.
What can I say? It’s a Chicago thing-you’ve all heard those Blago tapes by now, and if I don’t say so myself, I can be much more creative than my former Gov.
…but you knew that, didn’t you TPB
By: d on February 17, 2009
at 1:50 pm
Final thoughts:
I was thinking the other day, what if…what if this all goes to hell? Where to go? Ireland? Slovakia? Nah.. I want to stay here.
This is the best place on earth in which to live.
It’s the best place for even the poor to live. They are offered a hand up; and those who cannot (not will not) help themselves are helped out more than anywhere else on earth. Not just by the government; but by others because Americans are good people. Statistically, the middle class gives and does more for charity than any other. Destroy the middle class and…
There’s a Margaret Thatcher quote and I am going to have to paraphrase it: “The problem with socialism is that sooner or later you run out of other people’s money”
With a two class system, no one will be able to help those who cannot help themselves.
There will be the powerful corrutpt and the serfs.
Now I’m done
By: d on February 17, 2009
at 2:32 pm
d…nah, I would think it was an imposter without f bombs.
Glad you came. The world is just getting scarier and scarier. I’m heading down to the local hardware store (if it hasn’t gone under) and get me some building supples. Gonna start on my bomb shelter. You’re invited. We will start each morning with a prayer (before it’s totally outlawed) and a “shrugging exercise”.
Mark…I don’t mind getting muddy either. But, I do get a headache sometimes when I realize that I’m talking to a brick wall. Good to see ya this morning, buddy!
By: trailerparkbarbie on February 17, 2009
at 2:36 pm
Prof….out of curiousity. What is the title of your book and what is it about?
By: trailerparkbarbie on February 17, 2009
at 2:37 pm
d….just saw your comment with the Thatcher quote. Very good! I want to stay here, too. I love my country. RN…I don’t love the government of my country. I’m more afraid that I can ever remember.
But, if we decide to leave, I’ll betcha the Professor will let us come and live with her. HeeHee And, if not, I’m sure that she can give us a list of places to move to. Being an ex-pat, I’m sure that she knows of all the places that are BETTER than the US.
By: trailerparkbarbie on February 17, 2009
at 2:41 pm
d
It’s not, though, particularly for poor people. How do you know it’s the best? How do you know Amerians help more? Show me those statistics if you can. If so, then why does the US have more homeless? What about the medical system? It’s nowhere near as accessible for poorer folks. Have you actually lived anywhere else? Have you actually investigated the situation of poorer folks in any other first world country? Please read the wiredsister link I posted earlier.
By the way, here in the UK, they are regretting a lot that Margaret Thatcher did.
By: djcnor on February 17, 2009
at 2:42 pm
Measuring the charitability of countries is complicated. There are any number of ways to measure it. Amount given privately as money? As hours worked? As in kind donations? As a percentage of GDP? As official government aid? Do weapons count?
http://www.vexen.co.uk/countries/charity.html
The UK acutally looks at charitable activity as a requirement to gain citizenship.
And if you’re really interested in the ins and outs of poverty, check out this site:
http://www.globalissues.org/article/4/poverty-around-the-world
By: djcnor on February 17, 2009
at 3:07 pm
Books? I have two, more or less. The first was my doctoral dissertation on the biochemical basis of platelet function. The second is my unpublished novel entitled “Jesse Lives” which is, more or less, about a woman who moves to New York City and befriends an apparently homeless newsstand operator who turns out to be Elvis, who ran away from his life and took on his dead-at-birth twin’s identity to rebuild his life on a different basis. I also have an assortment of other publications, but I’m just as proud of having designed a crocheted shawl for a designer runway show.
If you should decide to leave the US, check out http://www.escapeartist.com, which contains all kinds of information on places where US expats have formed communities.
By: djcnor on February 17, 2009
at 3:18 pm
platelet function…biochemical basis….this is definitely a “HUH, WTF you talking about, Willis” moment. See, Donna, I don’t mind admitting when I’m really stupid about something. But, when I know that I’m pretty knowledgable on what I’m writing about, well, it’s fight til one gives up. Do yourself a favor, wave the white flag now. JK….are am I?
I think that I would actually enjoy your second book quite a bit. I can most likely even relate to it. I know homeless people and I just read a book where Elvis was a vampire. Are you going to publish it? Ya know, that shows a whole new side of you. Hey….you’re not MP (multiple personality) are ya?
Here’s a piece of advice. If you are going to argue with d, eat your Cheerios. She is amazingly smart, witty, and does her research on stuff like no one that I’ve ever known. PLUS, she’s really passionate about her beliefs and values. She’s a tough opponent. Just a warning.
PS..she’s, also, a loyal and thoughtful friend. She hates to be talked about in such glowing terms. She’s gonna be pissed that I called her such nice things. But, every one is true.
By: trailerparkbarbie on February 17, 2009
at 4:31 pm
Platelets are these little flying-saucer-shaped kamikaze cells in your blood that react to any number of things, including holes in blood vessels, by becoming very sticky and spidery and massing themselves into a network that traps other larger cells forming a clot.
I’ll wait to see how and if d replies to my post and then decide whether and how to continue the debate.
And no, I’m not multi-personality, just blessed with a whole bunch of interests that center around design and structure (I consider biochemistry an example of really really good design), and not certain enough of reincarnation to not try and develop every single one of them to the greatest extent possible.
By: djcnor on February 17, 2009
at 5:08 pm
Lord, where’d that huge post 50 1/2 come from?
I don’t know if you ever get to it, but while I lived in NYC, and even while I lived in Poland, I would go back every year for the Mountain State Art and Crafts fair, where I was an exhibitor. It was 4 days long and every exhibitor demonstrates, and often teaches, what they do to all comers. Then I would spend a few days with relatives. So I’m not out of touch. The SW part is a little different. I know it’s been ravaged by oxycontin as a legacy of black lung care, but you won’t convince me that everyone doesn’t do the best they can. You just won’t. I have an insider’s view from a person who spent 7 years homeless, then took the first break he got to excel at college and get accepted to the best grad school in his field.
Rich people’s bad morals cost you more! Pay attention to their actions. It will yield you more benefit.
I’ve looked up the data on HeadStart in the last week. It’s no failure.
You SHOULD have health insurance. You SHOULD have the benefits of universal healthcare. All the other first world citizens do. And it’s a bargain. You do get to choose your doctor. You don’t end up in long lines. The stories you hear aren’t exactly myths, they’re just the worst that happens. And they are examples of the way things work in universal healthcare countries. The press is constantly on the case of what’s going wrong, reports it, and the NHS is obligated to fix whatever problem they report. The fix story comes out too, but it doesn’t make US press.Everybody should have affordable access to healthcare. It just makes sense to care about the health of the guy who washes dishes at the greasy spoon you eat at. Diseases don’t respect class lines. And early prevention oriented treatment is cheaper than last minute, late stage, energency care treatment.
Did you take any sociology in college? It was a requirement where I went. Did you believe any of it? Sociological research does trump personal experience, but I know you won’t buy that.
By: djcnor on February 17, 2009
at 5:52 pm
Prof….Yes, I did. Yes, I do believe some of it. No, I don’t buy it. It does not trump personal experience.
d…sorry about your post. You were right. It did go into my spam. Why did it do that? Dunno. Now, it’s here as response #36. It would have been total shitola if it had been lost forever. Enough food for thought and facts in there to need some brain cell transfusions. You deserve to Pass Go, Collect 200 bucks, and have Park Place placed at your feet as an offering.
By: trailerparkbarbie on February 17, 2009
at 11:46 pm
You’re talking about the Arts and Craft Show in Ripley? Been there many times. You exhibited there? What? Not many po’ folks show up there. Prehaps you should promote the acceptance of food stamps as currency there.Or, how about some bartering with oxycontin? Po’ folks just love knick knacks especially unicorns and wolves.
By: trailerparkbarbie on February 17, 2009
at 11:49 pm
and Nascar “collectables”!!
By: The Vinyl Villager on February 18, 2009
at 12:41 am
I believe she was selling copies of Mein Kampf! I’m sure the back of her Volkswagen bus was still full when she left.
By: Mark on February 18, 2009
at 1:19 am
hey now, dont knock a VW bus. Those were awesome. And if I could find one that didnt reek of weed, Id buy it still!
By: The Vinyl Villager on February 18, 2009
at 3:14 am
Are you kidding? VV have weed smell sprayed on before they leave the manufacturer! Nascar collectibles…yes, yes, oh yes!
Mark…you are killin’ me.
By: trailerparkbarbie on February 18, 2009
at 3:18 am
I ain’t letting you off that easy. You have to stay here until the end of the ride like the rest of us.
By: Mark on February 18, 2009
at 3:31 am
The Mountain State Art and Craft Fair, at least during the time that I was exhibiting, is one of the top fine craft shows in the nation. In the top 5. The exhibitors are highly skilled in traditional arts that are the heritage of Appalachia. We are not talking nicknacks or buy/sell at all. It always includes artisans that are considered living national treasures. Plenty of poor folks show up there because there is so much given freely by the artisans as an act of preservation of the Appalachian heritage. To be so ignorant and disdainful of your own heritage and its value is both pitiful and shameful.
If you ever go there again, try to find the natural remedies offered by Dot. She is retired from a lifetime of research at the department of agriculture and knows the biochemical basis of every remedy she prepares as sells. They work great and are less expensive than regular medicine.
No, personal experience does not trump research because no one person can acquire the number of data points and cases that researchers do to come to their conclusions.
By: djcnor on February 18, 2009
at 9:47 am
No djcnor,
Here you go again looking down your nose!! I find that a remarkable achievement since your head is indeed so firmly ensconced up your Rectum. That being the necessary and quite accurate depiction of your latest diatribe of immense and utter bullsugar.
Calling someone ignorant and disdainful when you yourself have ran for the hills like the panty waste liberal that you are. Leaving the real Americans to fight the good fight of Reclamation of this land fought for by so many.(This being necessary by the handing over of it by what have you done for me lately like yourself), Cower in your little compound of chickens and cluck away if you must.But you my dear Bitchola have no ground to stand on when talking about heritage and value. You modern day Benedict Arnold are an embarrassment and perfect poster child for abstinence.
By the way. How are you doing today?
By: Mark on February 18, 2009
at 11:16 am
What I said was absolutely on the button. Do you know that the oldest versions of English folks songs have been found in the Appalachian mountains. Do you notice that an Appalachian fiddle sounds like bagpipes? Well, I do. There’s an excellent movie called “Songcatcher” on the subject, but I knew because when I went to the show at 13, one of the earliest, they announced that musicians would be gathering at a certain tree. Since I was very much into music at that time, I had taken along my guitar and thought I’d join in. I went to the tree and they’d say a song name, and everyone would start playing. But I’d never heard of the songs before. I’d never seen or heard a hammer dulcimer or a 3-string dulcimer before, or a psaltry, which is found nowhere else but Appalachia.
Do you know the reason for the very existence of the show? No? Well I do. When Kennedy became President he was very aware of how far behind the Appalachian region was compared to the rest of the country. But he also took the trouble to learn that traditional hand skills that had been abandonned in the rest of the country were still practiced at a high level in Appalachia. He also knew that if therre is no way for a person to earn a living praticing a skill, it is lost within just a few generations.
So the fair was set up to give the practictioners of these traditional skills a way to earn a living doing them. There is also a show of those human national treasures on the lawn outside the Smithsonian every summer.
The skills that I practiced were millefiori and tatting. Tatting is a lace-making skill that goes bak to the 15th century. Many of the paintings of female royalty in Europe from that period show them tatting with their bejeweled shuttles. The idea was to say at one time “I’m royal, and I’m rich, but I also have the Christian virtue of industriousness.” There are two version, one western European using a shuttle, and the other eastern European, using a needle. There is not machine that can tat.
Millefiori skills were practiced by the Romans and Phoenicians 3000 years ago using glass. When I began doing it, using the new material of polymer clay, the techniques used by these ancient glassworkers had been entirely lost. It was still practiced on a lower level than the ancient beads showed on certain islands near Venice, Italy. over the last 30 years, the skills have been brought back to life and modern beadwork is even more advanced. Jon Winters, who exhibited every year at the fair is one of the world’s top practitioners. Individual beads of his can go for hundreds.
Beads are important because they are among the first things one civilizaition trades with another one, because the first trades happen by chance among travelers. Beads are historically also the first things a new technical knowledge is applied to. From the beads at an archaeological site, an expect can tell you what other civilizations those people knew about and traded with, where they derived their ideas from because that shows in where local makers borrow patterns from, and what technologies they had and how far developed they were in using them.
It is through the works of the artists of past civilizations that we know anything at all about them. Material culture remains when everything else is lost. Two thousands years from now, a scientist may recognize beads discovered all over the world came from a West Virginian maker because my fingerprints will still be evident on those beads.
So there. Anybody reading this exchange will know which of us was most civil, most informative, and most logical, and your vulgar insults will not impress them in the least.
By: djcnor on February 18, 2009
at 1:37 pm
http://winterglas.com/home.htm
By: djcnor on February 18, 2009
at 1:43 pm
Yep, that’s the show that I’m talking about. I used the term “knick knack” jokingly. To be a knick knack is something that you don’t really need. It’s usually a “looky-see” that needs dusting. I should have said expensive knick knacks. I have been going there about every 2-3 years for the last 35 years. And, there are some neat and useful things for sale there. I usually buy some fresh cornmeal. There must be a secret handshake or secret corner somewhere where the po’ folks are given something. I’ve never seen it happen so it must be by invite only. I know about that the mountain music and the musical instruments. Tamarak has plenty on display and offer a mountain instrument concert. My oldest daughter bought one resembles a dulcimer/lap harp combination. So, please do not give me a lecture on knowing the history of the Appalachian mountains. As Mark pointed out, you tucked tail and ran from here to another country. Tatting is a nice skill. But, learning to make huge amounts of squirrel gravy for the down and out would be more useful around here. The people of Appalachia have always been known to be hard working and self reliant. It saddens me to say that this is no longer the case.
I’ll tell ya what….come on down to southern WV, my neck of the woods. I’ll give ya a tour and introduce you to the locals. You can do a socialogical survey. You can spend days or weeks on it. However, I can save you the time and give you some statistics right off of the top of my head without evening straining to think.
1. In the neighborhood that I use to live (we built a house out in the woods just about 1 mile from there 2 yrs ago), there are 6 houses on one side of the road. On the other side of the road sets 5 houses. Out of the 11 families, 2 are retired coal miners, 1 guy drives a beer truck, 1 lady works at a hospital, 1 is a working coal miner, and the remaining 6 are on government disability checks. That’s referring to the heads of the household. In those households, 5 children receive SSI. The 5 children, also, receive clothing vouchers, Toys for Tots, Shop with a Cop, Mac’s Toy Fund, free breakfasts and lunches, and who knows what else. Out of the 6 adults, 3 receive disability because they are alcoholics. Getting paid for staying drunk. All 6 own and ride 4 wheelers, go hunting, and fishing. I use to look out my window and see one of the guys who gets SSI for being a druggie/drunk messing around in his yard or playing on his 4 wheeler on an almost daily basis. Of those 6 households, 4 have children who have reached adult age and are now receiving SSI themselves. Police were constantly being called to one of the houses. Now, of the 4 adult children who receive SSI, 2 still live with their parents. Of course, that’s okey-dokey with the parents as 3 children have been produced out of wedlock and are receiving government aid. Can’t you see the picture here? The only benefit that I can see of all the sudies and books on social work would be if you hit the adults upside the skull with them. In one case, which is one of the worse that I’ve ever seen, a man and his wife both complained of back pain. Both were granted disability. They were crafty enough to figure out that if their backs hurt in WV, then their backs would, also, cause them pain in Va….and Ohio…and Ky. This couple begin rolling in the dough. They had scammed the system and were receiving checks from 4 states and food stamps from 4 states. So, let’s do some math here….2 adults receiving 8 checks a month plus 4 X foodstamps. Their unwed daughters were receiving 2 checks plus food stamps. The little kids were getting government aid. That’s a “bailout” no matter how you look at it. The working people in that neighborhood, including myself, got pretty fed up watching these people trade cars at a whim,ride 4 wheelers up and down the road at all hours of the night (waking up the working people), and live it up like Jim and Tammy Bakker. OH, BTW…the man got a preacher’s license on the internet and started his own little church where donations of course were tax-free. Calls started going in to the different agencies responsible for providing the luxury life of this family. He and she got caught with their hands in the many cookie jars. So, Donna, what do you think happened to them? Did they get punished? Did they get fined? NADA! Slap on the wrist and the 3 illegal checks stopped.
What’s my point in writing all of this? Reality trumps social studies. I don’t care what you say. It would be really great if the chain could be broken which is what your social studies suggest. But, it’s hard, if not almost impossible, to instill pride, work ethics, honesty, and other good qulaities into people who have found their piece of the pie in the government. What the government needs to do is a definite system of rules for qualifying before handing over MY hard earned money to low life drunken bums. And, they need to enforce the rules.
I’ve tried to understand where you are coming from and be willing to listen to your ideas. When in reality, I’ve had to keep myself from becoming very angry and telling you how stupid and naive that I think you are. You are no longer in touch with this area. Arts/Crafts shows once in a while just does not cut the mustard. You’re living in another country and trying to tell me what my area is like. That’s kinda like me living here in the boogerwoods, listening to rap and being smug enough to think that I actually know what it’s like to live in Harlem, East LA, outside Philly, or some ghetto area of a major city. I’m not presumptious enough to begin to think that I have a clue about the lives of people there.
You seem to be well-educated and maybe, even mean to be helpful. In reality, you are making about as much sense as a nudist colony in Anartica.When push comes to shove, I’m with Jim. He “gets it”….the it being the reality of how people live. And, I’m fairly sure that he got it by observing people, listening to people, and watching the lives that go on around him. I can’t imagine any books or studies taking the place of “reality learning”.
I’m not going to change your mind. That’s obvious. I feel sad for you. You are not going to change my mind. I feel sad for me….sad because I know that I’m right and I’d really rather not be.
Now,how about some freebie tatting because today I want to feel “I’m royal, and I’m rich, but I also have the Christian virtue of industriousness” instead of feeling sad about my tax money being spent on the earmarks that our government leaders have decided to finance.
By: trailerparkbarbie on February 18, 2009
at 3:18 pm
What’s free at the show is all of the music and storytelling, all the demonstrating and teaching that goes along with it. (I used to accumulate kids in my booth that had begged their parents to leave them there to watch what I was doing. They were also waiting for the beads they had made with their very own hands to be fired.) If you didn’t get that, it was your doing, because being ready to demonstrate is one of the requirements of the exhibitors. In addition, anyone over 14 can sign up to be an apprentice for the length of the show, put up in the lodges and fed for free while they learn from one of the masters. Have your kid sign up if you have one the right age. They have a ball.
The prices are usually about minimum wage for master-level work.
My in-house social worker tells me there is no such thing as getting disability for being an alcoholic. In actuality it’s really hard to get disability. It almost always involves appeals and extensive medical documentation.
There are cheats, but they are a tiny minority of the folks who get the benefits you are talking about. And the immoral rich are costing you a heck of a lot more than they every will, and selling you on watching the poor guys instead and letting them get away with it.
And to get that “I’m royal, I’m rich, but I also have the Christian virtue of industrious” feeling you need to be the one doing the tatting, which I would have been glad to teach you on the spot if you’d stopped by my booth.
No, we never will agree. And I do know I’m right.
By the way, I can tell you what it’s like to live in the Bronx. Not that bad, actually. Harlem is long since gentrified and not affordable for either of us.
By: djcnor on February 18, 2009
at 5:38 pm
OK…if you in-house social worker says that is so, then 2 people who get checks are lying thru their teeth. And, for the life of me, I can’t understand why 2 men would make something that demeaning up. But, then, there’s all kinds of crazies out there. Now, do me a favor and ask her how someone can receive gov. help in the following situation.
A man (actually a relative) got in trouble with the law. He decided to make a run for it and ended up in a high speed chase. During the chase, he shot his gun at the police officers. While shooting, he was distracted in his driving and wrecked. Of course, he was than caught and was sent to prison on charges of kidnapping and shooting at police officers. When he was released from prison, he found a job. He worked for around a month but then claimed to have pain in his leg. The pain was a result of being hurt when he wrecked the car….while trying to elude the cops and shooting at them. He applied for disability and received it. He’s as happy as a pig in shit right now. He can sleep til noon and then get up a ride his 4-wheeler. Yes, I know that I mention 4-wheelers a lot but it seems that a large majority of “injured and unable to work” people tend to buy a 4-wheeler as soon as they are approved for a check. Why? Beats me! Back to the guy….he has been declared unable to work. He is in his very early 30’s. Please ask your social worker how this can be. Because it boils down to this…a person broke the law, endangered the lives of police officers, and got injured while doing this. So, I’m estimating that for around the next 35-40 years, our taxes our going to be paying his way. Under what section of The Give’Em Check rules would I find the justification for this?
This might look like I’m nit-picking and trying to fuel the fire for our differences. Not so. I can spend all day today, tomorrow, and the rest of this month (and maybe all of March) siting different cases. So, this is not an unusual case.
What you just do not get is this….our system of doling out the bucks is corrupt, inadequate, failing, and sometimes almost laughable. Donna…I LIVE HERE ALL THE TIME. And, I’m sure that I’m not the only person who sees this stuff on a daily basis. How can I not be skeptical of the MIRACLE STIMULUS PLAN. There was earmark after earmark slipped into that package. The jobs Obama claims to be creating are at best temporary and not going to be realized in the near future.
And, on top of that, you think that I should just hand over MORE tax money with a smile on my face. That will happen when Hell freezes over.
One more thing that I forgot to comment on….if I have to choose between substandard health treatment and universal health care, you can beat the farm that I’m going for the substandard. I’d rather have substandard that’s available when I need it then have to wait who knows how long to even see a doctor. Now, if you can convince your liberal buddies to put a bug in Obama’s ear to treat taxpayers with respect and quit taxing us out of our asses, I’d certainly appreciate that. I don’t want the government mandated crap. I want to be able to keep my money that I’ve earned so I can afford eye, dental, and health insurance. It pisses me off like you can’t begin to understand that I cannot afford to buy insurance because I am paying for lazy-ass, drug addicted, alcoholics, etc. to see a doctor and get their meds for at the most two-friggin’-dollars. You have no idea how hard I’ve had to bite my tongue when I hear freeloaders actually COMPLAIN about paying 2 bucks. I would love to punch them right in the face. At least, they would have an honest injury for which to be treated.
Let me state here again….everybody who is on medicaid, welfare, food stamps, etc. is not a cheater, lazy bum or whatever. There are legitimate cases, especially when it comes to children. But, this system is broken and taking more taxes from honest, hard working Americans is not the answer.
I just cannot understand how intelligent, educated people can fall for Obama’s bunch of bullshit.
And, I do know, you are WRONG. But, you will never realize that as long as your are living in another country. Rubbing shoulders with the hill people for a few days every year or two does not qualify you to be a spokesperson for this area.
By: trailerparkbarbie on February 18, 2009
at 6:12 pm
The guy got disability because he was able to document through doctors that he had one. Disability does not depend on how it happens. Maybe it should, but if it did, can we also not give disability to anyone who smoked to the point of claiming emphaysema?
The UK system is one of the worst universal healthcare systems. There’s no wait. If you’re sick, you call your GP and are guaranteed to be seen within 48 hours. If you need a specialist, he puts you on the bottom of the referral list. The referral list is constantly revised and more urgent cases are moved forward. We’ve had about 4 referrals since we got here. In each case, we’ve waited a shorter time than we would have for an appointment with a specialist than we would have in the US. Our dental care is also under the NHS. My latest exam and cleaning cost $25. You MUST turn up every six months or you’re dropped off the dentists list of patients. This saves enormously because the worst things never get a chance to develop. You don’t want to hear about our experience of an emergency that ended in a week in the hospital, months of home visit follow-up care (daily for the first month), and continuing prescriptions. Ask if you want the bad news of just how good the care was.
I’ve only lived in the UK for 4 years. Before that, I lived in the Bronx for seven years. I know what you’re taling about, but I also know the other side.
By: djcnor on February 18, 2009
at 7:40 pm
Nah, Mark. I’m just waiting until I don’t think that she’s gonna come here anymore. AND, THEN, I’M GONNA POUNCE!
Just kidding. I’ve been really busy this weekend. I’ve writing down all the stuff that I’m going to buy with my $13.00 that the Prez is gonna send me. I’m having a problem, though. I can’t seem to find much more than a box of moonpies and a six pack of Bud that it will buy. What are you going to spend yours on?
I’ve had a post in my head since Friday and haven’t had time to write it. I’m hoping to get to it in a little while.
I’m overjoyed to know that you are still hanging around. It’s always nice to have back-up.
By: trailerparkbarbie on February 23, 2009
at 3:13 am
I was walking up my close (cul de sac) this weekend, and there was a neighbor hitting a tennis ball against his garage. We got to talking and he mentioned he’d just had a hip replacement, so I asked him how long he’d had to wait for it. He said he’d had really bad arthritis for years but it was just last February that his GP had recommended a hip replacement. He had an appointment with the hospital folks in April and they wanted to schedule the replacement for May. But he asked to postpone it to November when he could more conveniently take off the time he needed from work.
(Out of pocket cost of course £0.)
By: djcnor on February 23, 2009
at 11:14 am
I’m a little confused. Was his appt. for the following April (2 months away) and was going to be scheduled that May?
Why did he have to pay out of pocket? I’ll have to admit that I don’t keep up with which countries have socialized meds and which do not.
We simply cannot afford the high insurance premiums for health insurance. I need to get busy and check in to catastrophic insurance. One serious illness could wipe a whole lifetime of hard work out.
Now, maybe, you’ll listen to what I have to say about O’s stimulus plan. Small businesses are already taxed to death. If a big corp doesn’t pay it’s unemployment or worker’s comp taxes, they will usually get a slap on the hand and handed a reduced tax amount. Don’t want people losing jobs due to a co. being closed down for back taxes. I’m not being sarcastic there, either. We need to keep people in their jobs. BUT, I cannot speak for other states, here in WV a small business is easy target for gov. threats and foreclosures. Small businesses are being hurt under the O administration. His ignorance shows with his proposal of a small incentive amount to higher more people. Seriously, Prof. that is sheer stupidity. I believe the amount is $1500. That may have changed again. Correct me if that is wrong….and I’m sure you will. How is $1500 going to help me? It’s not. If I were going to hire someone anyway, then the bucks would could in handy. But, small business owners are not going to run out and hire a worker to qualify for the minute amount of money. It might pay for a new worker’s firt couple of weeks salary, but then what? Small businesses are the foundation of our economy. O’s plan is not a good one. We hear daily about the large businesses…stores, factories, etc,…that are going under. The stories of the small businesses is neglected by the media. As a small business owner, I can tell you that we are in big trouble. Once the Mom and Pop stores close, the economy will be in the toilet worse than it is now. Small business need the American people to come out from under the spell cast by O and take a serious look around. Small businesses need support from everyone. We need people to stand up and speak out in favor of tax breaks for the little business guy, not the megamillions being given to bail out companies who pay their CEOs exhorbant salaries and bonuses.
What happened to being rewarded for doing the right thing? Working hard? Living within one’s means? What is fair about bailing out people who bought homes that common sense should have told them that they couldn’t afford. Meanwhile, those of us who planned, budgeted, and educated ourselves on prime rates, loans, and what we could actually afford are being punished. What is fair about that?
I’m not even sure how I got off on that subject. Just built up anger and resentment, I suppose. Maybe, I should take my $13 stimulus check and buy a cheap bottle of wine and chill out.
Back to health care…..what we need is a tax BREAK for insurance. If we could claim a larger deductible for buying our own insurance, it would make more sense. I absolutely am against socialized medicine. I use to think that it would be great until I reserached it and the horror stories that came along with it.
This country was founded as a Democracy. We are creeping closer and closer to socialism. Right now, we are the most generous nation on earth. We give aid even to countrieswho would like to wipe us off the face of the earth in times of crisis. We do it because we have been taught to be compassionate and giving. We do it from our hearts. However, if giving becomes mandated by the gov., I seriously don’t think it would be done cheerfully and from the heart.
All joking aside, for the first time ever, I am afraid for the future of my country.
Prof..I hope that you can understand that.
By: trailerparkbarbie on February 23, 2009
at 3:29 pm
For the following April, 2 months away, with a wait of less than a month after that for the operation. NO out of pocket expenses what-so-ever.
Doesn’t socialized medicine sound horrible?
Our experience was the same. Emergency resulted in a week in the hospital followed by a month or more of daily home visits slowly tapered over months to once a month, prescriptions continuing to this day. Total budget hit for all this: a 3-month card that covers all prescriptions, no matter how many and of what kind, $60. No budget hit what-so-ever for the week in the hospital, all the home visits, everything else.
By: djcnor on February 23, 2009
at 4:05 pm
Wow, good read! TrailerParkBarbie I completely agree with you.
I’d like to comment on this…..”It makes me sick to be in line at the grocery store behind a young woman with manicured nails,designer clothes, talking on a cellphone while paying for groceries with food stamps. It makes me sick to go to the doctor or the pharmacy and have to write out a check to pay for the doctor’s visit or medicine while obviously able-bodied men and women in front of me bitch because they have to pony up 2friggin’dollars for their pain medicine.”
I have 3 herniated discs in my lower back and one in my neck and severe nerve damage to the extent I cannot have physical therapy and as of now none of the doctors, etc., I have seen recommend surgery due to the fact it could result in paralysis. As far as people in line and getting their pain pills. I have had a few people give me looks when I don’t have to pay. I’m overweight and look able bodied. BUT, there’s days when I can’t feel my legs and I spend approx. 85% of my life in bed. So, you can’t always judge a book by it’s cover. It just kinda hurts when people give me those looks, but in many cases, they are justified for some people. BUT, if I am having a good day I will do as much as I can (without worsening my condition) and try to enjoy a day and I will NOT feel guilty for that. As far as the grocery store girl, I totally get your point on that issue also. I have a cell phone and I only carry it with me for emergencies and really don’t use it otherwise.
I’ll tell you a little of my story to try and get to this socialized healthcare, disability and bailout business. I started having panic attacks and agoraphobia my first year of junior high. I struggled through school with that, missed alot, but still graduated with pretty good grades. (sidenote: My high school almost wouldn’t let me graduate because I had missed so much school but the kids that showed up, with barely passing grades ((trumped up grades)), didn’t have a problem. Just an irritation of mine.) In high school I was also in the co-op program and worked for attorneys. AGAIN, I struggled to do this. So many times I was driving to work or school and was pulling over, going back home, just plain panicking. Praying for a nearby pay phone to call someone to come get me.
So, I graduate, get a job a full time job working for attorneys and am feeling a little better. BAM, out of the blue panic attacks, scared to leave the house all comes rushing back again. I missed alot of work and made up all kinds of stories because I was ashamed of having the panic attacks, etc. Luckily I was a pretty good worker and, can’t remember how I managed this, but they let me come in to work from 5 pm to 10 pm, which was easier for me. Eventually my panic attacks were back full force and I didn’t work for a couple years. Long story short, worked for different attorney’s, ended up freaking out some more, good worker, they gave me a comp and let me work at home. I was very thankful! Out of work for a couple more years, more freakin out, got better, took a medical terminology class and got a job working at home as a medical transcriptionist.
During all this time I never applied for any type of aid. At about the age of 26 I started paying for my own health care, HMO, last time I paid I was 34 and it was almost $500 a month. I ALWAYS had it in the back of my head these panic attacks could really mess me up financially and I made some good investments and was paid pretty well so I had some money saved. I enjoyed working out, life was good, sometimes. I had been in a couple accidents and then comes the back and neck injuries. I have also been diagnosed with fibromyalgia, ulnar palsy, multiple neuropathies…the list is pretty long. I never had to bust my butt at a job, I applaud the people that do. I struggled because of my panic attacks, but my job wasn’t a physically hard one in the in a normal person’s world meaning. (Does that make sense?) However, because of my back, etc. I could not sit and type for 6 to 10 hours a day anymore and my doctors’ had me pretty scared with the paralysis thing. I was never married, have one son, but was in a relationship for over 10 years. He passed on due from complications from diabetes and doctor’s mistakes, I miss him everyday. I just add that, not for sympathy, but to explain my story a little more. He was not the father of my child and I never got a dime of child support.
Thankfully my parents now help me out alot, which I also have alot of guilt about. I’m an only child and it should be me going over there to help clean and help them out, not the other way around. Anyway, so, at 34 I filed for social security disability. After applying I received a letter stating that I was now “entitled” to food stamps, medicaid and cash assistance if I had any children under 18. As I still had some money saved I chose not to apply for any of that……..until…….maybe 1 year or 2 years later (my mind doesn’t seem to want to work anymore either and my memory is crap!) when my well had run dry. My son’s over 18 so I do not receive any cash but, and I’m not proud of it, do get medicaid and food stamps. (it’s kinda hard to make this long story short, sorry, my thoughts get jumbled). I had seen psychiatrists when I was younger and a little older and was put on all kinds of different meds, all made me feel like chit and sometimes, those psychiatrists were a litle crazy!!! haha Alot of times I felt worse after seeing them. I started getting severly depressed a couple years ago. I like to be in control of my life, the constant pain, not being able to pay for my health insurance or anything else for that matter on my own, I started losing it bigtime! Went to a psychiatrist who after talking to me wanted me to admit myself to a hospital for suicide watch, I refused, I thought they were gonna call the police, but they didn’t, thank goodness! I wasn’t going to kill myself.
A few months ago I went to the ER because I was just in a ridiculous amount of pain and no matter how many pills I took it would not go away. It was a long holiday weekend I wasn’t able to see my doctor or go to an urgent care. Turned out I had a pretty bad kidney infection, dehydrated bad enough to have an iv, but while there they were taking my history and I’m just listening to myself and all my diagnoses and I start crying like a baby. I just seem to cry everyday, so this is pretty normal for me. They contacted my psychiatrist (who I never returned to after I thought I was gonna be thrown in a locked room (I also have a fear of being trapped) and immediately come and say take off all your clothes, jewelry, give me any and all belongings you have with you…. I know what they’re getting ready to do. I learned a few things working for attorneys and doctors for years. lol (I have to laugh at my situations sometime to keep from crying, in no way am I joking about depression or suicide) I will not agree to being admitted and they ask my Mom if she’ll agree to take guardianship if the psychiatrist wants to admit me. Wait about 5 hours for the psychiatrist to come see me. He doesn’t even ask (but does state pain and depression have no correlation, which really pissed me off!) if I’m suicidal or wanting to hurt anyone else, but DOES SAY, you will never get any good treatment with the insurance you have now. Paid by you the people insurance. Now, if medicaid is messed up now and medicare, which IT IS, what in the world makes anyone think that socialized healthcare would be a good thing? Why make a bigger problem out of an already huge problem???
Now that elite liberal know it all professor can say what she wants, but I know people from Canada and Germany, and their socialized healthcare blows!!! Professors especially want that aid money coming to keep THEIR jobs and I will go ahead and say the majority, don’t even teach true history, or teach at all, FACT! I won’t even go into the carbon footprint these green people are so upset about and what a HUGE footprint they leave. Ok for them, but not for us common folk! I’m not so sure about how much I believe in ALL of this global warming anyway. The earth has it’s cycles. These elite liberals, inlcuding those in Hollyweird with all their money are the last to live in the real world and it’s a fact that Republicans and middle class donate more than democrats or liberals so that professor can take her statement about rich people (this took alot out of me, not gonna look up her exact statement) and stick it in her made up, to suit her agenda, text book! Granted though, rich liberals ARE a problem, tee hee! There’s not one thing wrong with having money. There is something wrong when our government is telling people what to do with their hard owned money!!! There’s ALOT wrong with that. I realize I’m being a bit of a hypocrite since I am receiving my health care from working people that can’t afford it for themselves or their children and I have guilt for that. I hate my situation and hate being a burden. I’m 40 now and my son is 18 and stll needs me, no matter what he says sometimes!!!
I do think sometimes though, this is just too much for me, but it could always be worse and I am thankful it is not.
As far as disability goes even though I have multiple doctors that, along with the state doctors the judge had sent me to, agree that I am permanently disabled, I was denied and am going through the appeal process. I know someone, same age as me, that has been on full blown welfare since she was 18 and never worked more than 1 year in her life with 3 kids. She applied for social security, (she couldn’t get social security disability because she didn’t have enough work credits), for polyps in her nose that surgery corrected and was approved in less than 6 months. I’ve been waiting 6 years now. This was about 5 years ago and she applied because welfare was revamping it’s system to the go to work plan (not a bad plan, huh?) I’m disgusted by this. This is one of your cell phone, nails and $100 dollar hair appointment girls. Oh, I could go on, it’s pretty bad. I can’t remember the last time I got a haircut, got my nails done or bought new clothes. I struggled to work and think I still would have found a way if not for my physical problems. I do not want to be a burden on society. This stimulus package is a joke, what, only 45% of Americans pay taxes as it is??? I’m not positive of that number but I think i’m pretty close. No socialized health care, NOBAMA! Wow, felt kinda good to say all that, but makes me cry at the same time. Again, I know I’m being a bit of a hypocrite but I pray for a miracle to be able to work again. It’s really hard to live this way and if I didn’t have my parents help I don’t know where my son or I would be. It’s the people like I mentioned above that are making me actually more of a drain on society. She does not in any way need social security. If I would have been approved in 6 months, I wouldn’t need the food stamps and I don’t know for how long, but I would still have been able to pay for my health insurance a little longer at least.
Hope this was understandable.
P.S. I really love your blog, thanx for the laughs!
By: PainInTheNeck on May 31, 2009
at 7:31 pm