Republican candidates

Ron Paul

1 says that he would do away with the ADA, Social Security, Medicare/Medicaid,

2 believes that a business owner can choose to discriminate against any kind of person he does not like.

3 believes that public schools should be closed. School is a privilege not a right.

Newt Gingrich

Same as above with a few exceptions

1 if you hold public office, having an affair is "Patriotic"

2 As far as I can gather he believes in public schools.

Mitt Romney

1. Passed health care reform that is exactly the same as the affordable care act. He says that it was a good idea for his state, but the rest of the country doesn't need insurance. Did not mention his reform when he rolled out his new website.

2. Believes that giving money to small businesses is the same as socialism.

3. After saying that the auto bailout worked, he said that Obama was "the worst president".

Tim Pawlenty

1.Wants to eliminate ethanol subsidies while keeping them for big oil.

2. Wants Medicare doctors to be paid not just by volume but based on patient outcome. I like this idea actually. Those of us who have Medicare, or Medicaid know that quality of care is sometimes non existent. This idea at least tries to tackle the problem of fraud in the system.

Michelle Bachman

1. Repeal the affordable care act.

2. Amend the constitution so that it defines marriage as one man one woman.

3. Create jobs. (I guess)

4. De fund planned parenthood

Herman Cain

1. End all social programs, so that churches can take care of the poor.

2. Repeal the affordable care act.

3. End regulation of businesses, they will make the air and working conditions safer on their own.

Rick Santorum

1. End all regulation.

2. Repeal the affordable care act.

So there you have it. God help die hard Republicans if they don't field a better set of candidates than this.

All of these candidates are Tea Party suck ups. Where is the real Republican.

Strict constitution

I was not going to give this man any consideration at all. Yesterday I went to a lecture given by a man who called himself a constitutional expert. He received his degree from BYU (Brigham Young University), the same place that Sen. Mike Lee graduated from. This makes his degree illegitimate in my view, because they are taught that God helped write the constitution. They are also taught that this country is founded on Christian values, which it is not.
The guy was a conspiracy theorist who had no ideas of his own, so I was not going to write about him. What made me change my mind, was the thought that his popularity might grow if I didn't say something.
So one by one, I will take apart (or attempt to) his ridiculous claims.
1. The constitution is not a living document.
FALSE: written into the document itself is the means by which it can be amended. If the founding fathers had wanted the document to stay the same for time and eternity, it wouldn't be difficult to amend, it would be impossible.
2. The 3/4ths clause was established so that slaves could be free by 1808.
FALSE: This clause was written into the constitution to ensure that the southern states did not gain an unfair advantage when it came to representation. There were many people at the national conventions that wanted to end slavery, but they did not intend to do so via the 3/4ths clause.
3. If we raise the debt ceiling the constitution will become void and we will have to write a new one.
FALSE: Raising the debt ceiling allows us to continue to borrow money. There is no horrible tragedy to follow, beyond accruing debt.
4. The Illuminati want us destroyed so that the French can take over.
You know I'm not going to touch this one. If you want to read about them here is a link. FYI they are not French, and did not morph into the communist party.Or did they?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illuminati
5. It is cheaper for uninsured people to go to the emergency room than it is to provide Medicaid and Medicare.
FALSE: The cost of one emergency room visit is much higher than the cost of preventative care. I cannot believe that I have to explain this. It is cheaper to let someone visit a primary care physician and get a prescription for his high blood pressure, than it is to admit him after he has had a heart attack and needs major surgery.
6. Global climate change is an unproven theory.
FALSE: Glaciers are melting, strange weather patterns are developing, the fact is the evidence is overwhelming.
7. If corporations could do what they want without regulation, they would bring jobs back to America.
PROBABLE: I would like to just point out that the cost would be great. The health of our food, water, air, would be greatly depleted. Also safety standards would revert to the days of the industrial revolution, so great I have a job, but I work 16 hours a day for $2. Wow that sounds great.
8. Without social programs there would be no need for taxes.
FALSE: We would still need roads, bridges and other infrastructure. We would still need public schools. Also, since this guy claims to be a constitutional expert; our government has the right to tax.
To be fair I will present his hypothesis.
His idea for getting revenue for all the items mentioned above is this. Increase taxes and terr-ifs on imported goods. Also we would have to repeal NAFTA so that we can tax our allies. The other plan is sell all public land for development. So no more wilderness areas, no more national parks. Just a bleak dystopia. A place polluted and overdeveloped where we enjoy 100% employment in the sweatshops owned by GE, LEVI'S and WAL MART.
When I suggested giving everyone access to health care he said I was living in a dream world. I would rather live in my "dream world" where there is clean water, than is his nightmare republic.

HUD programs

There has been a lot of talk about the GOP spending bill. All of it is bad, from cutting PBS and NPR, to Planned Parenthood. Now it is revealed that the GOP plan would cut section 811 housing funding.
This is important for people to know, because this type of housing assistance helps those with permanent disabilities. This includes veterans. Yes there are non profits that help wounded vets get homes, but that accounts for a minuscule amount of our vets living in poverty and with a disability. The short sightedness of this cut is obvious, the GOP is not even thinking about where these people will go.
People who receive SSI have not been given a cost of living increase since 2008. The cost of living increase was one of the first things Obama cut in order to gain support for the stimulus programs.
But this isn't just about a group of people on a fixed income paying higher rent. This is about the fact that most wheelchair accessible housing is part of this voucher program. Even though the ADA says that multi-unit housing has to include one or two accessible apartments, there are many that do not. The other item to consider is that the waiting lists for accessible housing are as much as two years long in some communities. This means that even if a person could fix it so that they could pay higher rent, there may not be housing available.
Without this government aid most landlords will simply let the bank foreclose on the properties, or open it up to college students. Why let my husband and I live here for say 650 dollars when they can get quadruple that by renting to four students.
The GOP are not thinking (or maybe they are) about the pure capitalist mindset of land lords. Do they really think that these LLC's will show restraint or concern for their current tenants.
Gloria Steinem said that to the GOP life begins at conception and ends at birth. What she meant by this is that women must give birth to every baby, and take care of them all on her own.
I have heard the arguments before, "my tax dollars shouldn't go to the poor".
My answer to that is two fold, some of those poor fought for your freedom, and my tax dollars go to fund unethical wars. We all pay for things we don't use or programs we don't agree with. At some point we have to decide what kind of people are we going to be. Do we let the disabled and the vet die on the street or locked up in institutions, or do we stand up for each other and treat every person with dignity.
I know what kind of person I am. What kind of person are you?

Healthcare part II

Hello everyone, I know I have talked about this before but it needs to be looked at again. With many Tea Party supporters now entering the house the GOP are all aflutter with the idea of repealing Health care reform. On the Today show this morning New Mexico's former mayor said that now is the time to cut spending by cutting social security medicare and medicaid. He said it was the responsible thing to do. Now I fully get that debt is bad, but why is it that these guys never suggest cuts to programs that help the rich? We did not cause this financial mess, but dammit we (the elderly, poor, disabled) we should clean it up. Now I have said this before so I wont go over it again, what I want to mention is his plan. He says that in the spirit of bi-partisanship the Republicans should repeal the prescription drug coverage that they helped pass in the 1990's. Isn't that a great idea? Lets get rid of a program that is working to keep people alive. The idea seems to be that we work toward getting rid of all social programs, it is sad that I have to explain this Preventative care is cheaper than after the fact care! Lets say his dream comes true. No Medicaid for any adult, sounds great, well in the short term it saves states money. But then people start to visit the emergency rooms for colds, food poisoning, body aches etc... Why are they going to the emergency room instead of to a family doctor, because they have no insurance. They make the same crap wage, their rent has gone up and food stamp benefits have been cut again. So the state starts loosing millions a year. That is the reality you cannot just cut spending without thinking.

The side of heathcare reform you haven't heard

Hello all,
If you read my intro you know that I am disabled. All ready some of you have jumped to the conclusion that I am lazy a "Tax taker" as Glenn Beck and his cronies call us. Well I will get into that a little later, right now I would like to present for your inspection an argument for the new health care bill.
To millions of Americans the end of exclusion from insurance due to preexisting conditions is an exciting prospect. To persons with disabilities it may mean a chance to finally put a hard fought for education to use.
When any person interviews for a job, he or she is judged on many factors before they are hired, one of these is whether they can pay into a company insurance pool.
By definition a disability is a preexisting condition, so a company who hires a disabled worker does not gain an employee who can help lower insurance costs. This is discouraging to both the employer and other employees, so for the most part disabled people are hired only part time (no benefits) or not at all.
There are thousands of well qualified workers who are out of work. The most recent statistics put it at 70%, that is seventy percent of all college educated disabled people are unemployed. In the state of Utah that stat is 90%. A potential employees insurance (or lack there of) is a very real part of this sad statistic.
I for one am very excited that I will have a better chance of finding work in 2014 when I can purchase insurance.
For most people the nature of their disability does not put them at a greater health risk than any other American. The flip side of that is that the medical and adaptive equipment that they need to lead full and active lives is in most cases as expensive as luxury items. For example a person who uses a wheelchair will go into debt to the tune of 21,000 dollars or more. Imagine, you are unemployed through no fault of your own and need over priced equipment just to live. It is about time that the disabled community is allowed to fully contribute to society.