Happy Monday Morning!
Yeah right.
3 words: It's cold outside.
Now here in the ATL, it's been all hot, in the 80s and all for the past month, and now all of a sudden, our temps are in the 30s and 40s. I had to dig in the closet and find my old trusty space heater (I refuse to turn on the furnace until it STAYS cold outside). So, when this happens I tend to catch a cold or something. I am going to the doctor today to get a shot, and if she say I can go to work, then I will.
I'm sure management don't like that. Management can go sit on a FAT tack.
I am sick and tired of Management. Management is NOT my friend.
My weekend. Pretty uneventful. I had to work on Saturday. My sinuses were already jacked, and well, that did me in. I stayed in bed ALL day on Sunday, even though I had a ton of chores to do. I'll take care of that during the week. I managed to wash clothes, but overall, I was tired, and decided to just veg out.
I laid around and read much of The Secret Life of Bees and watched football all day. So Master Chef Darius, if there is still room, please allow me to join your online bookclub. I had to see if I even had the time to do some reading. Work has smashed out my ATL bookclub meetings for now, since I have to work on Saturdays. I plan on finishing that up this week sometime.
Politics. Someone needs to explain McC.ain's healthcare plan to me. They being shady about that, all vague. I am one of those that have the "Cadillac" health policies he speaks of, meaning I don't need referrals and all that. If I want to go to a doctor on the Moon, I can. I already get taxed out the wazoo, so I have NO idea what his plan means. A 5000 tax credit don't seem like enough to me. So someone explain that to me. I feel like someone's trying to dupe me.
Interestingly, Co.lin P.owell was on Me.et the Press on Sunday Morning. There's been all this hoopla over who he was going to endorse for President. He endorsed Bara.ck Ob.ama, basically because of the country needing a new direction, McC.ain's questionable tactics, and his choice of Sarah Pa.lin for vice-president.
Well. No surprise here. I knew that he would endorse him. I'm neither here nor there with the candidates, but that was the most intelligent, rational non-political breakdown of a reason for endorsing either candidate I've seen to date.
Listen, after Pow.ell resigned and hightailed it out of Washington... after Bus.h and his peeps had Po.well sitting up LYING about weap.ons of mass destru.ction in Ira.q and what not. What did you expect?
Hmmm....
They've been all over John Lew.is, a Georgia Congressman and a big figure in the civil rights movement, for saying that McC.ain's rallies are akin to George Wa.llace's ish back in the sixties. John Lew.is ended up apologizing for his remarks.
Why you apologizing, John Le.wis? You've been marching for civil rights for Blacks, been jailed, beat down, water hoses turned on you, dogs sicced on you... Apparently, you were watching these McC.ain rallies and you saw something that reminded you of something that was going on 40 years ago. After all, you were there. I wasn't.
Folk need to stop apologizing... The truth seems to be coming out. The first time you say something, well, that is how you feel. Period.
Here's the issha: There may be a possibility of black president. I'm in a red state, so my vote don't matter (I am still reluctantly voting), but it seems to me like there's some white folks getting a bit upset. How folks really feel is coming out.
And I know you feel like me. READY FOR THIS TO BE OVER. It is getting on my nerves.
Here's a newsflash. Nothing will change for regular folk, for the most part.
You will still go to work everday.
You will pay your bills.
You will live.
Life will go on.
Enough said.
Quotes of the week. I've read some interesting blog quotes that have stuck with me.
from Aunt Jackie's 2830 blog, from the post (my) Chemical Romance:
"I remember love
Does love remember me?"
from Chele's Discoveries Blog, from the post it IS easier:
"...I'm at the point where what makes me happiest is being in my home. Comfort and security are the things that turn me on."
Plans for the week. None really. I will work everyday. I am more concerned about getting my schedule back to normal. I REALLY need to get some writing done. I am a tad bit behind on that. I plan on doing a bit of reading. I REALLY need to get back to blogging regularly.
Gotta get back to my LIFE, my LIFE that I love. Work has taken quite a bit of that away. So that is the overall goal and central direction I want to take this week.
For now, I just want to have a quiet, uneventful week.
That's all I ask.
And I hope the same for you. Really, I do.
Day 365
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One full year of alcohol freedom. Was it everything I thought it would be?
I’m not sure. Not drinking was easy. The thing that was difficult was
ma...
2 years ago
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I am not the one to explain McCain's health plan. I don't think he can explain it.
ReplyDeleteIt's Cold here too...McCain doesn't have a health plan...The one he's parroting is called "Republican Lite" There is nothing to explain.
ReplyDeleteI've got a four word response to your three words:
ReplyDeleteYOU.AIN'T.NEVER.LIED!!
Good Luck on getting an explanation of McCain's healthcare plan...
I gave up on trying to make sense of ANYTHING that man says these days.
Girl...turn on that furnace. You are making yourself sick. If/when the temperature goes off...you can turn it back on - right?
ReplyDeleteI read The Secret Life of Bees too. Loved it...not so sure how I feel about the movie yet. Mostly because of the cast. Luv Queen and love Sofi Okenedo (however you spell her name). Hell I even love the kid (I can't think of her name right now)...but Jhud and Alicia's acting ability bothers me.
Re: McCain...chile stop trying to make sense of foolishness!
Hope you get that quiet uneventful week.
@All... Come on ya'll... stop playing!!!
ReplyDeleteSOMEBODY UNDERSTANDS THE MCCAIN HEALTH CARE PLAN! SOMEBODY!!!
Or is it that all ya'll are just as confused as I am...
@OPinionated Diva... Look here, Mama!! I ain't turning the furnace on. It's gonna be 90 degrees next week, lol! We gonna work it out with the space heaters. Come Nov. 1st we should be away from these hot temps til next spring!!!
Okay, before I get going here Lee, remember, you asked.
ReplyDeleteFirst off let me explain that this is just how I understand it. I’m no insurance guru and often I find it hard to decipher Republican rhetoric, but I will do the best that I can.
The main component of McCain's health care plan is to cut out the tax break that individuals get if their employer provides their health care. The idea is to come to some stability in the health care cost by Employers stopping the flooding of the market with these huge health care benefits.
The way I understand it, McCain thinks employers have gone overboard with health care packages that they use to attract and negotiate with their employees. Thus running up the premiums. If individuals were responsible for their own health care plans, the rates would stabilize and the cost would go down.
For example;
McCain says that if you're earning $100,000 a year, he figures your company pays around $9,000 toward your $12,000 family premium, which is about average. I’m not sure where they get that average but to my knowledge, no one is really challenging it.
Today you're taxed only on your $100,000 salary. Under McCain's plan, you'd also pay taxes on the $9,000 as well. That could mean an extra $3,000 or so in federal taxes alone. To compensate for the extra levy, McCain would provide a $2,500 federal tax rebate for individuals and $5,000 per family, meaning a family would simply subtract $5,000 from its tax bill, and then pay the balance.
So much for not raising taxes.
Here's where it gets interesting. Employers would no longer be able to buy health care insurance with $9,000 of their employees' money than the workers could buy on their own. At least that the theory. Since the individual pays for the insurance, the Employers are now of the hook for the money that they would shell out for health insurance. Now, no one has to worry about the cost other than the individual. This in McCain’s mind would set up the theory of supply and demand thus reducing health insurance cost because more people would buy into the health care system.
Well, maybe some will and maybe some won’t.
But Employers have another reason to give up paying employee health costs. While wages are rising around 3% a year, their health-care costs are growing at three times that rate. They would love to dump that cost. And according to McCain, an employer that pays $9,000 for your benefits would simply pack an extra $9,000 a year into your paycheck. His rational - because in order to compete for the employee, companies would have to hand over that cash to employees or risk the employee going elsewhere.
But of course they don’t have to give you squat.
But back to what you get.
Theoretically, under the plan you'd have $6,000 after tax, plus the $5,000 family credit to buy insurance. That's $11,000 that a person can set aside for the $12,000 needed to cover your health insurance cost. And with all this extra money your employer is giving you, McCain figures that you'd have no problem.
So what can you buy when you get to buy health insurance?
People with corporate plans would probably rush toward high-deductible, low-premium insurance, and use what's left over to pay cash for routine procedures.
Again, that’s the theory.
They would couple those high-deductible policies with Health Savings Accounts, which allow families to put away up to $5,800 a year, before taxes, for medical expenses. McCain figures everyone is responsible and we will ALL do this. Those plans cost about $10,000. That's not a huge saving from the typical $12,000 corporate plan most folks pay into now.
Besides eliminating the employer exclusion, McCain figures there’s another trade off. You get to choose an insurance plan that suits you. If you're young and healthy, for example, you probably want the cheapest plan you can get. If you're 45 and have four dependents, maybe you want something a bit more expensive and generous. Nine states, including New York, California, and Texas already require plans have a whole list of coverages, everything from in vitro fertilization to mental health services to prescription drugs. These requirements increase the cost of insurance; they're a major reason young people have dropped their coverage. Under the McCain plan, insurers in any state would be free to offer the plans with a vast variety of deductibles, co-pays and benefits. He figures this would stimulate competition thus lower costs and packaging services for a reasonable price. And we all know the health care system is willing to reduce their prices right?
The problem with McCain's plan is that it does nothing for the poor and unemployed of this country. They would have no way to pay for insurance, nothing would change for them. And even for low income families wouldn’t be able to get it to work for them. Their simply wouldn’t be any money in the budget for health care.
But we'll come back to that.
Not only does McCain’s plan encourage class warfare in regard to insurance, it causes age warfare as well. For example, under the McCain plan States would set the rates for the insurance. In states with no restrictions - Pennsylvania, for example - could sell policies for 25-year-olds that cost around $1,200 a year, one-third the price in New York. Young New Yorkers would drop their plans in favor of Pennsylvania providers, forcing New York insurers to jack up premiums for people in their 50s or early 60s, who need those rich, community-rated plans that cover as many procedures as possible - but who no longer benefit from the excessive premiums paid by the youngsters. It gets worse. Anyone with cancer, diabetes, or other pre-existing conditions will see their premiums multiply too.
Now back to another issue. McCain does say he has a plan for relatively young, low-income Americans who can't afford insurance. He would increase the tax credit according to income so that poor families could buy insurance. At least that what they say. But once again, I can’t see how he gets that done without raising taxes which he says he opposes.
Again, this is my point of view and my take on it, I could be wrong. But just the fact everyone in America has a problem understanding it should tell you something.
Just ignore the man behind the curtain.
Sorry for blogging on your blog, but you asked Lee, and you know me, I have no short answer to anything.
Holla!
@Terry...
ReplyDeleteShorty, I read that twice. That is some craziness. I KNEW that I would be getting DUPED, but couldn't understand how. NOW I KNOW.
So that did it for me. You know I ain't getting down with that.
Hell, I read it 3 times and it still doesn't make fiscal sense to me.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, securing one's home and bringing family closer in these times should be a theme in most of our households.
We'll need security literally and figuratively more than ever in the near future.
Naw Old gal...I heard that health plan stuff regurgitated on the radio this a.m. -- Scratch what little hair I have on head and still made no sense to me. If I want to and put my mind to it (and I usally don't) --I can figure out most financial related jargon/rhetoric -- I squeezed my eyes real hard and this sh-t still didn't make sense...except for one thing that rang true...it will keep nerdy accountants like me in job -- :)
ReplyDeleteP.S. -- Yeah --I know things will be the same November 5th-- but if history is going down like I think it will -- I'm gon' grow some bigger balls--I'll cry,(yep--been doin' that already) --I'll sip on something stronger than water-- and I'll taunt the first white "conservative" that I see that day --I'll enjoy the moment -- I will!
I hope peaceful and uneventful for you too!
ReplyDeleteohh Terry you wrong for blogging in the comments...LOL I kept thinking I'd past up the comments and went to another blog.. good comment though LOL!
ReplyDeleteI like this morning rambling. Stay well hun get you some vitamin C. Will you let me know when the electino is over I'm tired! LOL