Saturday, March 02, 2013
AMAZING SOLICITATION
One of the many solicitations I received in the mail today asked for $5 donation in order to meet their modest $15,000 goal. The letter was asking me to help them support the not-so-modest “progressive vision for America.” Their vision for America was spelled out in the first line:
Voting rights (When did we lose the right to vote? We’ve been voting freely for many years, give a few incidents here and there, like the voter intimidation in Philadelphia by the Black Panthers; even the women’s suffrage was successful in 1920; we are so successful, we allow illegal aliens to vote, and some poll workers in Illinois boast about voting six times. They must be referring to photo IDs. It is so evil to require someone to prove that they are who they say they are; after all, we have to produce photo ID everywhere else in society, why require low information voters to be inconvenienced by a silly photo ID.)
Health care (Did our President and the Democrats not pass the Affordable Care Act that nobody can afford? Did they not fundamentally change how our health care will be delivered to all citizens, non-citizens, and illegal aliens? Are they not gutting Medicare and Medicaid as a result of this law? Do we not have to pay now a minimum $20,000 a year premium for the Bronze level insurance and the Supreme Court says it is a tax? Is the IRS not the enforcer and overseer? How much more can we change health care that would satisfy the socialists?)
Gun Reform (Are progressives not pleased until everybody is disarmed except the elites in power, Hollywood, and hardcore criminals?)
Amnesty (Apparently progressives will not rest until we have open borders to all our enemies and we give blanket amnesty to every unfortunate illiterate immigrant who does not care about America, its values, its language, flag, and Constitution. Who are we to judge that illegal aliens are only interested in our generous welfare system and taking back the lands that have been ‘unjustly’ confiscated from the previous owners by war and purchase; by this definition, nobody has a claim to their country or their borders, so open borders makes sense to generous-with-other-people’s-money liberals.)
DOMA (Homosexuals, LGBTs should have the same rights as heterosexuals, they should be allowed to be equally miserable in marriage, divorce, and whatever other rights they do not currently have; at the same time, no child should be allowed the right to feel uncomfortable when children of the opposite sex use their bathrooms, they should definitely be punished if they feel discomfort and complain.)
Climate Change (Capitalism is evil and whatever progressives must do to destroy the U.S. economy must be accomplished quickly. The wealth confiscated through carbon swaps, carbon footprint, carbon taxes, and other “green” schemes, must be immediately distributed to third world nations and to Americans who are allergic to work and prefer the safety net of undeserved welfare while the industrious Americans are held slaves to high taxes in order to pay for it all. The unjustified fear mongering of global warming/climate change fits the bill. Low information voters believe whatever misinformation is fed to them, including catastrophic weather events caused by faux man-made global warming. The masses are kept happy with sports, vampires, reality shows, and other trivial Hollywood drivel, the modern day equivalent of bread and circuses.)
Voting rights (When did we lose the right to vote? We’ve been voting freely for many years, give a few incidents here and there, like the voter intimidation in Philadelphia by the Black Panthers; even the women’s suffrage was successful in 1920; we are so successful, we allow illegal aliens to vote, and some poll workers in Illinois boast about voting six times. They must be referring to photo IDs. It is so evil to require someone to prove that they are who they say they are; after all, we have to produce photo ID everywhere else in society, why require low information voters to be inconvenienced by a silly photo ID.)
Health care (Did our President and the Democrats not pass the Affordable Care Act that nobody can afford? Did they not fundamentally change how our health care will be delivered to all citizens, non-citizens, and illegal aliens? Are they not gutting Medicare and Medicaid as a result of this law? Do we not have to pay now a minimum $20,000 a year premium for the Bronze level insurance and the Supreme Court says it is a tax? Is the IRS not the enforcer and overseer? How much more can we change health care that would satisfy the socialists?)
Gun Reform (Are progressives not pleased until everybody is disarmed except the elites in power, Hollywood, and hardcore criminals?)
Amnesty (Apparently progressives will not rest until we have open borders to all our enemies and we give blanket amnesty to every unfortunate illiterate immigrant who does not care about America, its values, its language, flag, and Constitution. Who are we to judge that illegal aliens are only interested in our generous welfare system and taking back the lands that have been ‘unjustly’ confiscated from the previous owners by war and purchase; by this definition, nobody has a claim to their country or their borders, so open borders makes sense to generous-with-other-people’s-money liberals.)
DOMA (Homosexuals, LGBTs should have the same rights as heterosexuals, they should be allowed to be equally miserable in marriage, divorce, and whatever other rights they do not currently have; at the same time, no child should be allowed the right to feel uncomfortable when children of the opposite sex use their bathrooms, they should definitely be punished if they feel discomfort and complain.)
Climate Change (Capitalism is evil and whatever progressives must do to destroy the U.S. economy must be accomplished quickly. The wealth confiscated through carbon swaps, carbon footprint, carbon taxes, and other “green” schemes, must be immediately distributed to third world nations and to Americans who are allergic to work and prefer the safety net of undeserved welfare while the industrious Americans are held slaves to high taxes in order to pay for it all. The unjustified fear mongering of global warming/climate change fits the bill. Low information voters believe whatever misinformation is fed to them, including catastrophic weather events caused by faux man-made global warming. The masses are kept happy with sports, vampires, reality shows, and other trivial Hollywood drivel, the modern day equivalent of bread and circuses.)
Friday, March 01, 2013
God's Judgement
If Pharaoh, Herod and Cesar were used to execute God's Judgement on Israel, were they wrong in resenting it? Should they have pushed back or should they have accepted it without a peep? IF God puts those in charge who bring evil upon his people what should the church do? OR should we passivity accept it? It is time to examine ourselves. Repentance for evil deeds is now in order or the Judgement of God will continue. By the way, for those who are of the theological opinion that God does not judge or allow evil to come on people and if you are of the theological opinion the God leads the hearts of men and uses events to shape people, I don't want an argument or you have to deny the net effect of the diaspora on the whole world in 72AD. God or not. Judgement or not? Folks we are there again.
I remember well the shift that took place when I became disenchanted with the left. I was once a card carrying liberal. Voted for Hubert Humphrey. But I began to see rot and corruption in the democrat party and liberalism. Not that conservatism and repubicans are pristine. They are not. What is true is the level of deceptions and lies from the left all the way to the President is blatant and out of order for a republic like ours. I want to see "In God we trust" off our currency.. because it is now blasphemy to say so. We no longer trust HIM. We are a pagan nation with pagan leaders. I want to eliminate "one nation under God" from our pledge of allegiance. We are taking the name of the Lord in Vain when we say that. I can only hope that in time we could restore the nation's roots. To pretend mocks God. He has removed his hand of protection for that reason. The demons of homosexuality, Molek (abortion), gay marriage and corruption are rampant in the USA. To pretend that we are Under God is a farce.
NOTE TO MY UNEMPLOYED READERS... here is wisdom.
I have several friends who are unemployed. Keep saying there is NO WORK. Send out resumes (which never works), fill out on line apps... 1/100 are even looked at. It doesn't work any more. In Chicago we have a saying that "We don't hire nobody nobody sent". It means you gotta be connected. You gotta know someone. It used to be you might wander in the door and get a job by filling out an app. Not any more. SO what to do? One of the wealthiest men in our community owns a large chain of Temporary Employment Agencies. He lives very near me in a ten thousand square foot mansion. How does he do that? Simple. He finds inventory, sells it to people at a mark up and collects the difference. With that he built a mansion. As Tony Soprano said.. It's just business, nothing personal.
Here's a true story. My Son, (the younger) has several times moved into an area without work. He is now 41 years old. He is unmarried so he has the flexibility to do this. He NEVER applies for a job when he goes into an area. He goes immediately to the employment agencies and becomes inventory. They love his abilities and quickly find him a place. They aren't doing it because they like him. They do it because they make money on his placement.
It always happens. While he is working there, out among them, he begins to rub shoulders with folks. He begins to meet people. They soon see that he is able. He is a good smart guy. And they point him to a better job.. In other words they "Sent" him.
In a couple cases the part time became full time. Benefits and all. He has done this perhaps 8 times in the last 20 years since graduation from college. He has ended up significantly well paid. The same thing has happened to my nephew. He is not yet 25, a few years ago took an employment agency job with a common carrier for peanuts. He just got a new job which he acquired because over time he got to know someone. Now his paycheck is well over fifty grand.
Here's the question. Are you better off chasing the resume sending on line app filling track, or are you better out there, meeting people, yes not for as much money, but you are in the market.
Remember this one truth if you get nothing else out of this, the agency doesn't care about you, They care about you as INVENTORY. Nothing more nor less. Be good inventory and move up.
Now get out there and seize the day.
Here's a true story. My Son, (the younger) has several times moved into an area without work. He is now 41 years old. He is unmarried so he has the flexibility to do this. He NEVER applies for a job when he goes into an area. He goes immediately to the employment agencies and becomes inventory. They love his abilities and quickly find him a place. They aren't doing it because they like him. They do it because they make money on his placement.
It always happens. While he is working there, out among them, he begins to rub shoulders with folks. He begins to meet people. They soon see that he is able. He is a good smart guy. And they point him to a better job.. In other words they "Sent" him.
In a couple cases the part time became full time. Benefits and all. He has done this perhaps 8 times in the last 20 years since graduation from college. He has ended up significantly well paid. The same thing has happened to my nephew. He is not yet 25, a few years ago took an employment agency job with a common carrier for peanuts. He just got a new job which he acquired because over time he got to know someone. Now his paycheck is well over fifty grand.
Here's the question. Are you better off chasing the resume sending on line app filling track, or are you better out there, meeting people, yes not for as much money, but you are in the market.
Remember this one truth if you get nothing else out of this, the agency doesn't care about you, They care about you as INVENTORY. Nothing more nor less. Be good inventory and move up.
Now get out there and seize the day.
Thursday, February 28, 2013
Comparing
Houston and Chicago for gun violence. One has strict gun laws and no
concealed carry, the other has free gun access and a concealed carry
law. Demographically and racially both cities are about the same.
Income is about the same. BUT... in
2012 on Chicago Streets we killed 506 people, mostly young. In Houston
207. I blame the cold weather in Chicago... how about you. There can be
no other explanation.. right? Right? Because if we listened to
democrats it has to be that we don't have enough gun laws. In fact they
insist we make it even harder to defend yourself and then... we can
have a thousand a year murdered.
Don't ever kill a Bumblebee. I feed them when I can. They take to my hummingbird feeder. I will hate to see them disappear.
Bumblebees Scarce in Midwest
www.newser.com
It
is not just honeybees that are in trouble. The fuzzy American bumblebee
seems to be disappearing in the Midwest. Two new studies in today's
journal Science conclude that wild bees
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
This
is a concept that if you don't understand you will keep being taken
advantage of. Both parties do it. It's why big business controls the
USA. A bit of a complex issue, but critical if you are going to think
clearly about big busines...See More
Making it on less
How to make it...
Go to the ant, sluggard; consider her ways and be wise; who having no guide, overseer, or ruler, provides her food in the summer and gathers her food in the harvest. (Proverbs 6:6-8)
Financial tip of the day:
It's good to remember that ants don't just plan for their provision, but they are also not wasteful or irresponsible with their resources.
If you're really needing to economize to get your financial house in order, then you need to start making better decisions on how you spend money. Yes, God can take you to a place of abundance, but if you're not there just yet, spending as if you were is not acting it's faith, it's being irresponsible, and you're probably delaying your own blessing because you can't even be trusted with what you've already got.
When I was about to go to college, I didn't have much money for a new wardrobe. Just a few weeks before I left for Princeton, the son of one of my father's friends died just after having bought a LOT of new clothes. He was about my height and build, and his father wanted to be rid of the clothes, so I got a couple thousand dollars worth of clothes for free. There was another time that the owner of a high-end gentleman's store had some suits which had been tailored and put on layaway but never picked up, and as a result, I was given a very expensive italian suit that fit like it was tailored for me. However, provision hasn't always come that way. Yes, God CAN and DOES provide, but sometimes your valley experience is also about teaching you to be responsible and resourceful.
Brown-bag your lunch, avoid eating out, and NEVER buy ANYTHING on impulse. When you really do need to spend money, do some research first to see how you might get a better value. For example, as an artist, I could easily spend a lot of money on art supplies. Instead, I buy supplies in bulk toward the end of the year when stores are unloading inventory at steep discounts. 2 years ago, I scored a pile of sketchbooks for $4 each. I'm just finishing the 2nd one. 3 years ago, I found a deal on my favorite type of pencil. Still haven't needed to buy more, and probably won't buy another pencil for at least another 2 years. I've got at least another year until I need to buy the paper I do my finished work on. As a result, in 2012, I spent a total of perhaps $50 on odds and ends needed for the 'studio.' For 2013, I've spent nothing so far, and it's unlikely that I'll need to buy anything, unless I take on a project for a client, in which case they're paying for it, not me.
Need to buy clothes, but are barely getting by? Swallow your pride and go to a discount store or a thrift store like Value Village. In the case of the latter, pick one near an affluent area and you'll find new and almost-new clothes at very low prices. I know a man who buys high-end suits at Value Village for $30. I scored a suit there for $15 once that would have cost me $600 had I gone to the mall to find it. No one who sees me in it will know that some short banker wore it two or three times before I did. You may not have to shop this way forever, but while you're in the financial valley, a small sacrifice like this will help you to save money to move forward in your financial plan.
Learn to use everything you already have effectively and efficiently. Remember those sketchbooks? I like to go back and draw in whatever blank space I can find on previously used pages. After all, I use them for practice, so it doesn't matter if every page is crowded with drawings, or if the sketches overlap, etc. Some would think this to be tad extreme, but it has meant that during the last few years, which have been lean financially, I have been able to practice enough that I'm now starting to get people asking me to illustrate books for them, and I was able to bless a young artist with some supplies despite the fact that I'm not quite walking in abundance at the moment.
It's not about being a miser, but rather about better stewardship.
Go to the ant, sluggard; consider her ways and be wise; who having no guide, overseer, or ruler, provides her food in the summer and gathers her food in the harvest. (Proverbs 6:6-8)
Financial tip of the day:
It's good to remember that ants don't just plan for their provision, but they are also not wasteful or irresponsible with their resources.
If you're really needing to economize to get your financial house in order, then you need to start making better decisions on how you spend money. Yes, God can take you to a place of abundance, but if you're not there just yet, spending as if you were is not acting it's faith, it's being irresponsible, and you're probably delaying your own blessing because you can't even be trusted with what you've already got.
When I was about to go to college, I didn't have much money for a new wardrobe. Just a few weeks before I left for Princeton, the son of one of my father's friends died just after having bought a LOT of new clothes. He was about my height and build, and his father wanted to be rid of the clothes, so I got a couple thousand dollars worth of clothes for free. There was another time that the owner of a high-end gentleman's store had some suits which had been tailored and put on layaway but never picked up, and as a result, I was given a very expensive italian suit that fit like it was tailored for me. However, provision hasn't always come that way. Yes, God CAN and DOES provide, but sometimes your valley experience is also about teaching you to be responsible and resourceful.
Brown-bag your lunch, avoid eating out, and NEVER buy ANYTHING on impulse. When you really do need to spend money, do some research first to see how you might get a better value. For example, as an artist, I could easily spend a lot of money on art supplies. Instead, I buy supplies in bulk toward the end of the year when stores are unloading inventory at steep discounts. 2 years ago, I scored a pile of sketchbooks for $4 each. I'm just finishing the 2nd one. 3 years ago, I found a deal on my favorite type of pencil. Still haven't needed to buy more, and probably won't buy another pencil for at least another 2 years. I've got at least another year until I need to buy the paper I do my finished work on. As a result, in 2012, I spent a total of perhaps $50 on odds and ends needed for the 'studio.' For 2013, I've spent nothing so far, and it's unlikely that I'll need to buy anything, unless I take on a project for a client, in which case they're paying for it, not me.
Need to buy clothes, but are barely getting by? Swallow your pride and go to a discount store or a thrift store like Value Village. In the case of the latter, pick one near an affluent area and you'll find new and almost-new clothes at very low prices. I know a man who buys high-end suits at Value Village for $30. I scored a suit there for $15 once that would have cost me $600 had I gone to the mall to find it. No one who sees me in it will know that some short banker wore it two or three times before I did. You may not have to shop this way forever, but while you're in the financial valley, a small sacrifice like this will help you to save money to move forward in your financial plan.
Learn to use everything you already have effectively and efficiently. Remember those sketchbooks? I like to go back and draw in whatever blank space I can find on previously used pages. After all, I use them for practice, so it doesn't matter if every page is crowded with drawings, or if the sketches overlap, etc. Some would think this to be tad extreme, but it has meant that during the last few years, which have been lean financially, I have been able to practice enough that I'm now starting to get people asking me to illustrate books for them, and I was able to bless a young artist with some supplies despite the fact that I'm not quite walking in abundance at the moment.
It's not about being a miser, but rather about better stewardship.
Getting rid of Religious Demons
Sure fire way to rid your church of religious spirits on a Sunday morning...
Invite the men of all ages to come up front and become part of the new
"Men's Worship Dance team"
Invite all to dance ad lib and with all their hearts to a slow worship song.
Sit back and watch the demons run screaming as the congregation roars with laughter.
Repeat often for full effect.
There's just something about men dancing in church that makes God laugh and bend down to watch. Little kids , too.
It's high time to git down...and dance before the Lord like David before the Ark. (perhaps with more clothing though).
Invite the men of all ages to come up front and become part of the new
"Men's Worship Dance team"
Invite all to dance ad lib and with all their hearts to a slow worship song.
Sit back and watch the demons run screaming as the congregation roars with laughter.
Repeat often for full effect.
There's just something about men dancing in church that makes God laugh and bend down to watch. Little kids , too.
It's high time to git down...and dance before the Lord like David before the Ark. (perhaps with more clothing though).
Be in Sackcloth
Reading
the mornings articles, comments and blogs I came to a realization of
what I am observing on a daily basis. The principle is simple but
devastating. "Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow never comes", is the
operating condition of our government today. Simple signs of hedonism
and lack of understanding (aka wisdom) pervade. We should be in
sackcloth and ashes in repentance for what we have become as a people. -
Dr. Jim Garrow
Supporting a Family
Jake had proposed to young Gina and was being interviewed by his prospective father-in-law.
"Do you think you are earning enough to support a family?" the older man asked the suitor.
"Yes, sir," replied Jake, "I'm sure I am."
"Think carefully now," said Gina's father.
"There are twelve of us..."
Fail
The church is trying to disciple worly
Christians who are being discipled by MTV, BET, CMT, ABC, NBC, CBS,
BEYONCE, RIHANNA, JAY Z, MADONNA, AND SO ON AND SO ON. The harvest is
great but the laborers are few.
Religion or not?
I
saw this from a Buddhist apologist. It was interesting. What do you
think? Does anyone know anything about all this. OR... is this just a
secular region... like we have in the USA?? OR is it part of the gross
deception? I really don't know.
""A lot of religious people like to boast that theirs is not a religion, it's a lifestyle. (Don't tell me you haven't heard that.) But in all seriousness, Buddhism is the one with the strongest claim to not being a religion, but a philosophy. There was nothing divine about the Buddha, and you don't actually pray to him (well, the more superstitious Buddhists do, but the more knowledgeable ones know that it doesn't work that way). You don't actually pray to anything. There really isn't anything about Buddhism that demands any great leaps of faith.
...well, except for reincarnation. But that's not actually a Buddhist thing; strictly speaking, it's a Hindu thing. Buddhism simply came about in a socio-cultural environment in which reincarnation was taken for granted as the way the cosmos works.""
It came from this post:
When
it comes to Constitutionally protected rights, need has nothing to do
with it . . . it is a right regardless of what others believe, and those
rights shall not be infringed. Bear in mind, the only tool we have to
protect and defend all of those rights is the Second Amendment for
without it, all of the others are meaningless.
James
1:5-8 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all
liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let
him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of
the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that
he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man,
unstable in all his ways.
Before
we get all crazy. The Federal Government was scheduled to spend 100
billion more this year than last year. The sequestration is an 85
billion dollar reduction in the INCREASE. That means that the
government will only be able to spend 15 billion more this year than
last... and THAT's a CUT?? It's like saying that the anticipated twelve
cent per hour raise you were hoping for will only be about 2 cents due
to poor business. IS that a CUT?? Someone is lying here...and I know
who it is.
How to save a lot of money in government today
Abolish the IRS DHS TSA ATF DEA FDA DOE FBI ED NSA CIA EPA FCC CDC's, NLRB and eliminate Depts of Education, Commerce, Transportation. In fact, eliminate all departments and then reinstate them ONLY if they have an essential function. Very few will. Our government is out of control.
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Obamacare won't fix this, just make it much worse
This gigantic money making scam has become so large that it
threatens to collapse both the U.S. health care system and the entire
U.S. economy.
The following are 50 signs that the U.S. health care system is a massive money making scam that is about to collapse…
#1 Medical bills have become so ridiculously large that virtually nobody can afford them. Just check out the following short excerpt from a recent Time Magazine article. One man in California that had been diagnosed with cancer ran up nearly a million dollars in hospital bills before he died…
#3 The United States spends more on health care than Japan, Germany, France, China, the U.K., Italy, Canada, Brazil, Spain and Australia combined.
#4 If the U.S. health care system was a country, it would be the 6th largest economy on the entire planet.
#5 Back in 1960, an average of $147 was spent per person on health care in the United States. By 2009, that number had skyrocketed to$8,086.
#6 Why does it cost so much to stay in a hospital today? It just does not make sense. Just check out these numbers…
#8 One study discovered that approximately 41 percent of all working age Americans either have medical bill problems or are currently paying off medical debt.
#9 The U.S. health care industry has spent more than 5 billion dollarson lobbying our politicians in Washington D.C. since 1998.
#10 According to the Association of American Medical Colleges, the U.S. is currently experiencing a shortage of at least 13,000 doctors. Unfortunately, that shortage is expected to grow to 130,000 doctorsover the next 10 years.
#11 The state of Florida is already dealing with a very serious shortage of doctors…
#13 In America today, many hospital executives make absolutely ridiculous amounts of money…
#15 If you can believe it, the U.S. ambulance industry makes more money each year than the movie industry does.
#16 All over America, people are reporting huge health insurance premium increases thanks to Obamacare. The following example is from a recent article by Robert Wenzel…
#18 Aetna’s CEO says that health insurance premiums for many Americans will double when the major provisions of Obamacare go into effect in 2014.
#19 Close to 10 percent of all U.S. employers plan to drop health coverage completely when the major provisions of Obamacare go into effect in 2014.
#20 According to a survey conducted by the Doctor Patient Medical Association, 83 percent of all doctors in the United States have considered leaving the profession because of Obamacare.
#21 Approximately 16,000 new IRS agents will be hired to help oversee the implementation of Obamacare, and the Obama administration has given the IRS 500 million extra dollars “outside the normal appropriations process” to help the IRS with their new duties.
#22 During 2013, Americans will spend more than 280 billion dollarson prescription drugs.
#23 Prescription drugs cost about 50% more in the United States than they do in other countries.
#24 In the United States today, prescription painkillers kill more Americans than heroin and cocaine combined.
#25 Nearly half of all Americans now use prescription drugs on a regular basis according to the CDC. Not only that, the CDC also says that approximately one-third of all Americans use two or more pharmaceutical drugs on a regular basis, and more than ten percent of all Americans use five or more pharmaceutical drugs on a regular basis.
#26 The percentage of women taking antidepressants in America is higher than in any other country in the world.
#27 In 2010, the average teen in the U.S. was taking 1.2 central nervous system drugs. Those are the kinds of drugs which treat conditions such as ADHD and depression.
#28 Children in the United States are three times more likely to be prescribed antidepressants as children in Europe are.
#29 There were more than two dozen pharmaceutical companiesthat made over a billion dollars in profits during 2008.
#30 According to the CDC, approximately three quarters of a million people a year are rushed to emergency rooms in the United States because of adverse reactions to pharmaceutical drugs.
#31 According to a report by Health Care for America Now, America’s five biggest for-profit health insurance companies ended 2009 with a combined profit of $12.2 billion.
#32 The top executives at the five largest for-profit health insurance companies in the United States combined to bring in nearly $200 million in total compensation for 2009.
#33 The chairman of Aetna, the third largest health insurance company in the United States, brought in a staggering $68.7 million during 2010. Ron Williams exercised stock options that were worth approximately $50.3 million and he raked in an additional $18.4 million in wages and other forms of compensation. The funny thing is that he left the company and didn’t even work the entire year.
#34 It turns out that the financial assistance that Barack Obama promised would be provided for those with “pre-existing conditions” under Obamacare is already being shut down because of a lack of funding…
#36 People living in the United States are three times more likely to have diabetes than people living in the United Kingdom.
#37 Today, people living in Puerto Rico have a greater life expectancy than people living in the United States do.
#38 According to OECD statistics, Americans are twice as obese as Canadians are.
#39 Greece has twice as many hospital beds per person as the United States does.
#40 The state of California now ranks dead last out of all 50 states in the number of emergency rooms per million people.
#41 According to a doctor interviewed by Fox News, “a gunshot wound to the head, chest or abdomen” will cost $13,000 at his hospital the moment the victim comes in the door, and then there will be significant additional charges depending on how bad the wound is.
#42 It has been estimated that hospitals overcharge Americans by about 10 billion dollars every single year.
#43 One trained medical billing advocate says that over 90 percent of the medical bills that she has audited contain “gross overcharges“.
#44 It is not uncommon for insurance companies to get hospitals to knock their bills down by up to 95 percent, but if you are uninsured or you don’t know how the system works then you are out of luck.
#45 According to a study conducted by Deloitte Consulting, a whopping875,000 Americans were “medical tourists” in 2010.
#46 Today, there are more than 56 million Americans on Medicaid, and it is being projected that Obamacare will add 16 million more Americans to the Medicaid rolls.
#47 Back in 1965, only one out of every 50 Americans was on Medicaid. Today, one out of every 6 Americans is on Medicaid.
#48 Today, there are more than 50 million Americans on Medicare, and that number is projected to grow to 73.2 million in 2025.
#49 When Medicare was first established by Congress, it was estimated that it would cost the federal government $12 billion a year by the time 1990 rolled around. Instead, it cost the federal government $110 billionin 1990, and it will cost the federal government close to $600 billion this year.
#50 Even if you do have health insurance, that is no guarantee that medical bills will not bankrupt you. Just check out what a recent Time Magazine article says happened to one unfortunate couple from Ohio that actually did have health insurance…
So what can be done about all of this?
The following are 50 signs that the U.S. health care system is a massive money making scam that is about to collapse…
#1 Medical bills have become so ridiculously large that virtually nobody can afford them. Just check out the following short excerpt from a recent Time Magazine article. One man in California that had been diagnosed with cancer ran up nearly a million dollars in hospital bills before he died…
By the time Steven D. died at his home in Northern California the following November, he had lived for an additional 11 months. And Alice had collected bills totaling $902,452. The family’s first bill — for $348,000 — which arrived when Steven got home from the Seton Medical Center in Daly City, Calif., was full of all the usual chargemaster profit grabs: $18 each for 88 diabetes-test strips that Amazon sells in boxes of 50 for $27.85; $24 each for 19 niacin pills that are sold in drugstores for about a nickel apiece. There were also four boxes of sterile gauze pads for $77 each. None of that was considered part of what was provided in return for Seton’s facility charge for the intensive-care unit for two days at $13,225 a day, 12 days in the critical unit at $7,315 a day and one day in a standard room (all of which totaled $120,116 over 15 days). There was also $20,886 for CT scans and $24,251 for lab work.#2 This year the American people will spend approximately 2.8 trillion dollars on health care, and it is being projected that Americans will spend 4.5 trillion dollars on health care in 2019.
#3 The United States spends more on health care than Japan, Germany, France, China, the U.K., Italy, Canada, Brazil, Spain and Australia combined.
#4 If the U.S. health care system was a country, it would be the 6th largest economy on the entire planet.
#5 Back in 1960, an average of $147 was spent per person on health care in the United States. By 2009, that number had skyrocketed to$8,086.
#6 Why does it cost so much to stay in a hospital today? It just does not make sense. Just check out these numbers…
In 1942, Christ Hospital, NJ charged $7 per day for a maternity room. Today it’s $1,360.#7 Approximately 60 percent of all personal bankruptcies in the United States are related to medical bills.
#8 One study discovered that approximately 41 percent of all working age Americans either have medical bill problems or are currently paying off medical debt.
#9 The U.S. health care industry has spent more than 5 billion dollarson lobbying our politicians in Washington D.C. since 1998.
#10 According to the Association of American Medical Colleges, the U.S. is currently experiencing a shortage of at least 13,000 doctors. Unfortunately, that shortage is expected to grow to 130,000 doctorsover the next 10 years.
#11 The state of Florida is already dealing with a very serious shortage of doctors…
Brace yourself for longer lines at the doctor’s office.#12 At this point, approximately 40 percent of all doctors in the United States are 55 years of age or older.
Whether you’re employed and insured, elderly and on Medicare, or poor and covered by Medicaid, the Florida Medical Association says there’s a growing shortage of doctors — especially specialists — available to provide you with medical care.
And if the Florida Legislature goes along with Gov. Rick Scott’s recommendation to offer Medicaid coverage to an additional 1 million Floridians — part of the Affordable Care Act that takes effect next January — the FMA says that shortage will only get worse.
#13 In America today, many hospital executives make absolutely ridiculous amounts of money…
In December, when the New York Times ran a story about how a deficit deal might threaten hospital payments, Steven Safyer, chief executive of Montefiore Medical Center, a large nonprofit hospital system in the Bronx, complained, “There is no such thing as a cut to a provider that isn’t a cut to a beneficiary … This is not crying wolf.”#14 Health insurance administration expenses account for 8 percent of all health care costs in the United States each year. In Finland, health insurance administration expenses account for just 2 percent of all health care costs each year.
Actually, Safyer seems to be crying wolf to the tune of about $196.8 million, according to the hospital’s latest publicly available tax return. That was his hospital’s operating profit, according to its 2010 return. With $2.586 billion in revenue — of which 99.4% came from patient bills and 0.6% from fundraising events and other charitable contributions — Safyer’s business is more than six times as large as that of the Bronx’s most famous enterprise, the New York Yankees. Surely, without cutting services to beneficiaries, Safyer could cut what have to be some of the Bronx’s better non-Yankee salaries: his own, which was $4,065,000, or those of his chief financial officer ($3,243,000), his executive vice president ($2,220,000) or the head of his dental department ($1,798,000).
#15 If you can believe it, the U.S. ambulance industry makes more money each year than the movie industry does.
#16 All over America, people are reporting huge health insurance premium increases thanks to Obamacare. The following example is from a recent article by Robert Wenzel…
A California small businessman tells me that he switched healthcare insurance carriers in 2012. The monthly premium for him and his wife was about $400, but when he received his first bill in January of this year it was for $1,200. He hasn’t been to a doctor in years, his wife has only gone for minor care.#17 Blue Shield of California has announced that it wants to raise health insurance premiums by up to 20 percent this year in an effort to keep up with rising health costs.
Apparently there is some clause in the Affordable Healthcare Act that results in health insurance firms using a new method to calculate premiums. Those who have health insurance plans that have been in effect since at least 2010 are grandfathered under the old calculation method, but insurance carriers are using a new formula for new plans.
#18 Aetna’s CEO says that health insurance premiums for many Americans will double when the major provisions of Obamacare go into effect in 2014.
#19 Close to 10 percent of all U.S. employers plan to drop health coverage completely when the major provisions of Obamacare go into effect in 2014.
#20 According to a survey conducted by the Doctor Patient Medical Association, 83 percent of all doctors in the United States have considered leaving the profession because of Obamacare.
#21 Approximately 16,000 new IRS agents will be hired to help oversee the implementation of Obamacare, and the Obama administration has given the IRS 500 million extra dollars “outside the normal appropriations process” to help the IRS with their new duties.
#22 During 2013, Americans will spend more than 280 billion dollarson prescription drugs.
#23 Prescription drugs cost about 50% more in the United States than they do in other countries.
#24 In the United States today, prescription painkillers kill more Americans than heroin and cocaine combined.
#25 Nearly half of all Americans now use prescription drugs on a regular basis according to the CDC. Not only that, the CDC also says that approximately one-third of all Americans use two or more pharmaceutical drugs on a regular basis, and more than ten percent of all Americans use five or more pharmaceutical drugs on a regular basis.
#26 The percentage of women taking antidepressants in America is higher than in any other country in the world.
#27 In 2010, the average teen in the U.S. was taking 1.2 central nervous system drugs. Those are the kinds of drugs which treat conditions such as ADHD and depression.
#28 Children in the United States are three times more likely to be prescribed antidepressants as children in Europe are.
#29 There were more than two dozen pharmaceutical companiesthat made over a billion dollars in profits during 2008.
#30 According to the CDC, approximately three quarters of a million people a year are rushed to emergency rooms in the United States because of adverse reactions to pharmaceutical drugs.
#31 According to a report by Health Care for America Now, America’s five biggest for-profit health insurance companies ended 2009 with a combined profit of $12.2 billion.
#32 The top executives at the five largest for-profit health insurance companies in the United States combined to bring in nearly $200 million in total compensation for 2009.
#33 The chairman of Aetna, the third largest health insurance company in the United States, brought in a staggering $68.7 million during 2010. Ron Williams exercised stock options that were worth approximately $50.3 million and he raked in an additional $18.4 million in wages and other forms of compensation. The funny thing is that he left the company and didn’t even work the entire year.
#34 It turns out that the financial assistance that Barack Obama promised would be provided for those with “pre-existing conditions” under Obamacare is already being shut down because of a lack of funding…
Tens of thousands of Americans who cannot get health insurance because of preexisting medical problems will be blocked from a program designed to help them because funding is running low.#35 In America today, you are 64 times more likely to be killed by a doctor than you are by a gun.
Obama administration officials said Friday that the state-based “high-risk pools” set up under the 2010 health-care law will be closed to new applicants as soon as Saturday and no later than March 2, depending on the state.
#36 People living in the United States are three times more likely to have diabetes than people living in the United Kingdom.
#37 Today, people living in Puerto Rico have a greater life expectancy than people living in the United States do.
#38 According to OECD statistics, Americans are twice as obese as Canadians are.
#39 Greece has twice as many hospital beds per person as the United States does.
#40 The state of California now ranks dead last out of all 50 states in the number of emergency rooms per million people.
#41 According to a doctor interviewed by Fox News, “a gunshot wound to the head, chest or abdomen” will cost $13,000 at his hospital the moment the victim comes in the door, and then there will be significant additional charges depending on how bad the wound is.
#42 It has been estimated that hospitals overcharge Americans by about 10 billion dollars every single year.
#43 One trained medical billing advocate says that over 90 percent of the medical bills that she has audited contain “gross overcharges“.
#44 It is not uncommon for insurance companies to get hospitals to knock their bills down by up to 95 percent, but if you are uninsured or you don’t know how the system works then you are out of luck.
#45 According to a study conducted by Deloitte Consulting, a whopping875,000 Americans were “medical tourists” in 2010.
#46 Today, there are more than 56 million Americans on Medicaid, and it is being projected that Obamacare will add 16 million more Americans to the Medicaid rolls.
#47 Back in 1965, only one out of every 50 Americans was on Medicaid. Today, one out of every 6 Americans is on Medicaid.
#48 Today, there are more than 50 million Americans on Medicare, and that number is projected to grow to 73.2 million in 2025.
#49 When Medicare was first established by Congress, it was estimated that it would cost the federal government $12 billion a year by the time 1990 rolled around. Instead, it cost the federal government $110 billionin 1990, and it will cost the federal government close to $600 billion this year.
#50 Even if you do have health insurance, that is no guarantee that medical bills will not bankrupt you. Just check out what a recent Time Magazine article says happened to one unfortunate couple from Ohio that actually did have health insurance…
When Sean Recchi, a 42-year-old from Lancaster, Ohio, was told last March that he had non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, his wife Stephanie knew she had to get him to MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. Stephanie’s father had been treated there 10 years earlier, and she and her family credited the doctors and nurses at MD Anderson with extending his life by at least eight years.By the way, that hospital down in Houston made a profit of 531 million dollars in one recent year.
Because Stephanie and her husband had recently started their own small technology business, they were unable to buy comprehensive health insurance. For $469 a month, or about 20% of their income, they had been able to get only a policy that covered just $2,000 per day of any hospital costs. “We don’t take that kind of discount insurance,” said the woman at MD Anderson when Stephanie called to make an appointment for Sean.
Stephanie was then told by a billing clerk that the estimated cost of Sean’s visit — just to be examined for six days so a treatment plan could be devised — would be $48,900, due in advance.
So what can be done about all of this?
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