Congressman Steve Chabot the Lemming on Capital Hill

“I take very seriously my charge to protect the unborn and have worked diligently during my time in Congress to be an advocate for these babies so their voices are heard. I am committed to working on legislation that protects these sacred lives and offers important legal protections for doctors and other health care providers who refuse to perform abortion procedures to which they are morally opposed.”-Steve Chabot

Let's see now...
Congressman Steve Chabot, my representative in the House believes in the sanctity of life. I'm taking him at his word since I pulled the above quote directly from his website. Despite all evidence to the contrary, every vote he takes points to the exact opposite of what comes out of his mouth. Every vote Chabot takes has been an attempt to choke the life out of all those sacred little lives preventing their voices from ever being heard.

Yesterday he voted along with 216 other members of Congress to cut $40 billion from the Federal food stamp program, otherwise known as SNAP. 
 
Says he is saving we the taxpayers money and being oh so fiscally responsible. Guess I'm supposed to pat him on his back and yell “well done, Steve-O.” Well guess what, Stevie, I'm not happy about the vote. 
 
It wasn't right. It wasn't just. It wasn't fair, it wasn't necessary and it certainly wasn't Christian, which Congressman Chabot claims to be to anyone within hearing distance. During the myriad of times that I've seen him in public and shaken his hand, he always is quick to let you know two things...he's Christian and he used to be a teacher. 
 
Scary thought people like Congressman Steve teaching kids. No wonder the school system is screwed up.
Cutting this money from the program means that 30 million poor people are gonna have to scrounge around for food and health care or starve and die. Millions of kids can now look forward to going to school hungry, great way to jumpstart learning-on an empty stomach.

(Wonder if Congressman Steve knows that pregnancy and giving birth remains the number one killer of women in America.) We certainly know that he doesn't care.

Women, pregnant women, since men can't get knocked up, will now have to find other places, if they exist, for prenatal or neonatal health care for all those unborn babies. Or maybe they have to figure out a way not to get pregnant since Congressman Steve is also against giving birth control to poor people as well. (He hates those nasty little foil-wrapped condoms, apparently.)

Not a stretch in logic since yesterday's vote was also a vote to defund the Affordable Care Act.
And don't laugh.

Congressman Steve is not only picking on poor people, by the way. He's after what's left of the middle class and sorta rich people, too. His vote yesterday was also designed to trash the country by not funding the government and causing it to default on our debt.

A move tried unsuccessfully several times in the recent past for the sole purpose of destroying the Black Man in the White House.

Because that is what this is all about. It's not about sanctity of life. It's about fear of the Black man. If the Black man is for it and it works for the people...all people...then it's no good and Congressman Steve and his cronies try to trash it. Nevermind that the GOP may have originally created the program in the first place. It was theirs until the Black man said he liked it and let's put it into law. 
 
How many times has Steve and company voted to defund Obamacare...40 times? Damn! 
 
Persistent little buggers aren't they. But somebody needs to tell em that doing the same thing over and over is tantamount to running a 10K on a hamster wheel. 
 
But it is September, and here we are again, doing the same old dance. Listening to the same old arguments, from the same old people.

Still waiting to hear something about jobs, guys....

Guess I shouldn't pick on my Congressman Steve. He's not one of the vocal ones in the House. He's not that other Ohio Congressman from up the road...Boner..er...Boehner...yeah..the dude from West Chester, originally from Reading Oh High O...Grew up in a bar ( Some things never change).

Congressman Steve just basically does what he's told to do. That keeps him employed and on the good side of Boehner, and Cantor and the corporate puppetmasters who really run Capitol Hill.. 
 
A do-nothing Congressman from a do nothing State who is trying to destroy the country.
Sounds like another day in the USA.

And by the way...

Hey Christian er Conressman Steve...saw this on your website too;

“I also believe marriage is between one man and one woman, and I will continue to defend its sanctity.”-Steve Chabot

Does this mean you're going after heterosexual adulterers sometime soon? Just askin'

The Affordable Healthcare Law-Some Plain Talk

I don't know what made Chief Justice Roberts vote the way he did on the Affordable Healthcare case.

Maybe it was like Sophia said in The Color Purple; “Day iz a gawd!”

Maybe his check from Karl Rove and the Heritage Foundation got lost in the mail, while Thomas, Scalia and Alito laughed all the way to the bank.

Or maybe it was as simple as Justice Roberts remembering that he is the Chief Justice of the United States of ALL of America and not just some cantankerous group of ultra conservatives bent on destroying the Republic.

Nobody will ever know unless he opens up about it somewhere in the distant future.

The fact remains, that despite all the newly formed conservative conspiracy theories, Chief Justice Roberts got it right and for that I can only say thank you.

Thank you as a woman, and thank you as someone with a chronic, eventually terminal and pre existing condition. Roberts gave me back my human-ness instead of relegating me to the forgettable statistic column.

Justice Roberts vote finally brought some equality to women. Pregnancy is no longer considered a pre existing condition. Birth control becomes free, just like viagra. Preventative healthcare is moved to the forefront.

Soon, maybe even dental work will become routine for all Americans.

The media and its talking head conservative driven news programs is making much of the idea that now everyone has a new tax to deal with because of the Affordable Healthcare Law....That the penalty is a tax hike that all taxpayers must anti up.....This is simply not true.

The correct analogy is that the healthcare penalty is like the tax on cigarettes or the tax on liquor or the tax on gasoline. This is what Justice Roberts pointed out to the court.

These taxes are only paid by users. In other words...if you smoke cigarettes or drink whiskey or drive a car, then you must pay the taxes to do so.

The same is now true for healthcare.

In other words, you can no longer treat the emergency room as your own personal doctor's office without penalty. You won't pay it when you get treated, but you will pay it on your taxes.

Because everyone needs healthcare...because everyone gets sick...or has an accident..simply gets older...the law states you have to pay for your healthcare, whether it be through buying a plan, privately purchased, through your employer, or through any number of insurance exchanges that are being set up.

If you choose not to buy insurance before you get sick, you have to pay a penalty on your income tax. It's as simple as that. Buy insurance...no penalty...Don't buy insurance..pay the tax..

This tax eliminates the free ride....If you play...you now will have to pay. And since everyone will eventually need a doctor or medical care...everyone pays for his or her own healthcare.

That is all that the Affordable Healthcare Law does. It does not expand government power. Government, as Justice Roberts said, already has and exercises this power.

The other thing that is being overlooked is that most of the Affordable Healthcare Law won't take affect until 2014.

Right now, parents can keep their college age kids insured until they are 26.

Right now, co-pays for preventive care have been wiped out.

Children with pre existing condition must be granted insurance with no expiration date.

Right now, the insurance companies cannot drop you when you get sick.

Seniors get help with their drugs purchases.

And insurance companies are being forced to use the money they collect from us on medical care for us. If they don't...they are required by law to give us back our money in cash.

Those checks are now in the mail.

And despite what the GOP says the plan is working. Ask a doctor or a nurse or someone other than a politician whose only goal is to deny Barack Obama a second term in the Presidency.

Mittons Romney doubled down on his “repeal and replace” position yesterday. He lied to you about what happened with Romneycare in Massachusetts when he was governor.

His program is very successful. Folks in Massachusetts love Romneycare. It was and remains the plan upon which The Affordable Healthcare Law is based.

But he chooses to side with the nut bags...just to get elected President...as if it is his Mormon-given right to lead us. (there is Mormon prophecy that speaks to this divine right to lead)

He.....Mitt Romney is a liar...he lies about healthcare,...he lies about his role in creating healthcare...he lies about his positions on jobs and the economy without telling you what his real positions are...

The whole truth of the healthcare law is that “Obamacare” as the right insists on calling it was modeled after "Romneycare" which was modeled after the 1993 version of the healthcare act that was put forth solely and completely the Republican party.

The individual mandate...the penalty that everyone is bitching about, was a creation of the Heritage Foundation conservative think tank that now fights tooth and nail and buys supreme court justices with the names of Scalia, Alito and Thomas.

The Affordable Healthcare Law is, was and remains a Republican idea, adopted by Mitt Romney when he was a governor, which was then adopted by Barack Obama in his unceasing and suicidal efforts to work with Congress in a bipartisan manner.

Their law...his name... and they don't like it...

It's that simple, really...

2011 Ohio Election Results

Well, Ohio still can't seem to get it right on federal health care, but never the less Ohioans did get it right more often than not, in this off year election last night.  Issue 3, was largely a symbolic vote against what the GOP calls Obamacare. It was really on the ballot so that the GOP/teabags can mount a court challenge to health care. Issue 3 spoke to the mandate requiring that all Americans have health care.


If the federal health care mandate is wrong...then so is the requirement for having insurance, in general, Right? Think the business driven GOP is going to kill one its staunchest allies, the insurance industry? I think not, in the long run. So we will have these skirmishes until SCOTUS rules.


Ohio did get it right on SB 5, Kasich's first and blatant attempt at union busting. SB 5 or Issue 2, went down in flames, which was a good thing in particular for the LGBT community. In addition to union busting, if SB 5 had been allowed to stand all hard won domestic partnership rights would have been flushed down the toilet. This is because domestic partnership benefits are negotiated rights in Ohio and SB 5 would have turned back the clock and prohibited unions from negotiating for them in the future. This is what SB 5 said:

“The recognition or extension by the state of the specific statutory benefits of a legal marriage to non-marital relationships between persons of the same sex or different sexes is against the strong public policy of this state. Any public act, record or judicial proceeding of this state, as defined in section 9.82 of the Revised Code, that extends the specific statutory benefits of legal marriage to non-marital relationships between persons of the same sex or different sexes is void.”

Don't think Kasich is done. I'm sure he will now take a page out of President Obama's book and attempt to piece meal this travesty through the house, when he thinks folks are no longer paying attention.

Voters in Cincinnati elected a democratic majority to City Council. The field was led by Roxanne Qualls, followed by newcomer PG Sittenfeld, Wendell Young, Cecil Thomas, Charlie Winburn, Laure Quinlivan, Yvette Simpson, Chris Smitherman, and Chris Seelbach.

Incumbents, all of em GOP, were unceremoniously retired. Those would be the Bortz family scion, the immature and mean girl Ghiz, the Japanese speaking Murray and the very bland and vanilla Lippert.

The fact that voters returned Winburn and Smitherman to council means the city must still need some comedy relief mixed in with its politics in these dire economic times.

Another good sign that the city is waking up is the vote on Issue 48, which was a COAST driven amendment that would have destroyed all city development until 2020 if it had passed. It didn't, thankfully. The street car will go forward and that is a good thing.

Cincinnati's school levy failed....not surprised...there are not enough homeowners in the city to make this an equitable tax. This statewide taxing system is well past its expiration date and needs to be changed.

The war on women is still raging, but with a little less steam, today. The personhood amendment in Mississippi, failed by a wide margin. However, the papers to resurrect it have already been filed here in Ohio. This very bad law criminalizes sex, and pregnancy, putting all burden on the woman while exempting men and their sperm from all childbearing and child-raising consequences.

Overall a good night.... now if we can just get that Kasich recall going for real..

Like Kanye Said, “GOP Don't Like Black People”

One of the most troubling aspects of  GOP/teabagger attempts to “take back their country” is their rabid intent to repeal the Affordable Health Care Act of 2009, otherwise known as Obamacare. Republicans make it very clear in their Pledge to America that dismantling this law is a primary goal.

The progressive think tank Center for American Progress recently completed an analysis of the Pledge and came to the conclusion that Blacks would suffer big time, if the GOP is allowed to trash this monumental piece of legislation.

You can read the analysis here. 

The Pledge to America promises a number of moves including;

The GOP promises to undo or defund the provisions establishing the Office of Minority Health within the Department of Health and Human Services. This minority office is designed to address the blatant and historical disparities in health care suffered by all nonwhites in this country, particularly Black Americans.

Blacks are already more likely to be uninsured, or victimized by substandard medical treatment and facilities. Repealing these provisions brings a halt to the recent progress as well as on going progress that will be generated by the new health care laws.

The Pledge to America intends to replace health care reform with isolated measures to benefit only those who already have health care. It does not speak to, nor address the problems of the uninsured.

In other words, the uninsured are screwed and left hanging. Those who have pre existing conditions are basically out of luck if the Pledge to America is enacted by the GOP.

The Pledge does repeal Medicaid, financial help for small businesses as well as the tax subsidies to help families afford more insurance to cover their needs.

There are no plans to improve or expand primary care for anyone. Blacks and other minorities will continue to be victimized by lower quality and disparities in treatment facilities. The Pledge does away with data collecting so the government won't know who is being shafted and when, and therefore can't correct the wrongness built into the system through discrimination and institutionalized racism.

So the GOP/Tea Party hybrid can yell, scream and jump up and down all it wants claiming not to be racist.

It can use all the chocolate talking heads it wants to try and sell this bigoted agenda to the American people. But it won't work.

The GOP don't like Black People and they prove it everytime they announce their intentions or write agendas like this Pledge to America.

Finally, Health Care Reform

What kicks in on September 23, 2010.. It's being called the Patient's Bill of Rights and includes:

1. Allowing children under 26 years old to stay on their parents' health care plans 
   
   
2. Prohibiting insurance companies from discriminating against children with pre-existing conditions 
   
   
3. Barring insurance companies from rescinding coverage once a customer becomes sick, or if he or she made a mistake on their application 
   
   
4. Barring insurance companies from putting lifetime limits on health coverage  No out-of-pocket costs for preventive care
5. Insurers are banned from charging more for emergency services obtained outside of a customer's network
   
   
6. Customers are guaranteed the right to appeal insurance company decisions to an independent third party
   
   
7. Customers have the right to choose their own doctor in their insurer network
   
   

President Obama signed the health care reform bill six months ago, to take effect on Thursday. Several misconceptions are still circulating and probably will continue to spread until the above reforms kick into full gear.
Can't imagine anyone wanting to repeal a piece of legislation that will protect their children up to age 27, the way this one does. More reforms are phased in with the bulk of the health care bill coming to fruition in 2014.
That still gives the GOP and the Tea Party plenty of time to rail against the measures, much like they do with social security, medicare and medicaid.
I will really start to worry about the opposition when the teabaggers start giving back their benefits, which will signal their willingness to live in a true free market society and compete along with the rest of us.
However, until I see social security card, medicare card burning parties or old white guys tearing up their social security checks at teabagger rallies....I'm not worried...
If the GOP is serious about repeal or shutting down government...let them first agree to cut off their own health care, give back their pensions and refuse to use medicare or medicaid.