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Like I said before I don't want to clutter up the heath care exchange website till the first of the year because I want this ACA to succeed unimpeded. However, I just heard Thom mention the Kaiser Family Foundation website subsidy calculator. I just tried it. You can find it at this link.
http://kff.org/interactive/subsidy-calculator/
You can play with location, age, income level, household size, and so on in order to check out the available subsidies. Very nice! I learned that if I retired today I could get a middle of the road plan for two for about $350/mo. The lowest level plan would be free. This is very nice. it has placed early retirement within my reach; and, possibly the reach of millions of other citizens. That alone will have a positive impact on the job market and unemployment. Thank you President Obama!
Marc, your "weedies" story was rib tickler. My hubby & I got a good guffaw outta that one.
PD, I don't currently have a business-related online address, although I am a business owner. But it never ceases to amaze me how many small business owners buy into that Republi-con crap, particularly concerning healthcare. Because our current system puts the biggest burden on small business owners! Yet most of these guys seem to be against single payer. Go figure.... AIW
Yeah "akunard", ALL the Repub Teabrains hate democracy, along with some Democrats (in name only). Voter ID isn't about one person, one vote; it's about sabotaging the vote by placing yet another barrier in front of poor and marginalized voters.
akunard ~ What's the matter? Crossing a name off a list is too complicated for you? Too many mistakes possible? Funny how losers are always the first to cry cheat. If you ask me this little trick is going to backfire big time--just like all the other reich wing trickery. When the people learn a countermeasure--and it won't take long--this voter ID law is going to be a huge disadvantage to cheating Republicans. Hoisted, on their own petard.
DAnneMarc: "Don't forget to eat your Weedies!" That was funny!
Aliceinwonderland: In re: receiving mail from Karl Rove... It could just be that if you have some sort of business then maybe your on-line address is tied in with your business on-line address..and maybe they are just targeting business owners thinking that they must be like-minded conservatives. Data miners can actually mine our email address contacts right out of our email address books.
Re: Social Security
I know that there are a few who get more out of Social Security than others, relative to what they put in. I wonder how the change in the earnings curve has impacted that. I suspect that the reason we have as much of a shortfall as we do is because more people are poor enough to get more back than they put in. Further, I suspect that the high earners who would normally be putting in more than they get out are earning too much. In other words, the expected earnings curve should have the low end earning more and the high end earning less, meaning a much greater portion of total earned incomes would be subject to the SSI tax.
You do not have to sabotage ACA software; just underfund it. In addition to underfunding then stress it with making the feds do the state's job.
Voter ID means one person - one vote and Dems HATE that concept!
Aliceinwonderland ~ Interesting story. It reminds me of a joke advertisement a friend of mine once made on the computer with Photoshop. Somehow they "managed" to somehow get a picture of a cereal bowl full of green sinsey-buds. They then Photoshopped a picture of someone sitting at the bowl with a spoon full of buds, with a big wide-eyed smile on his face. The caption said, "Don't forget to eat your Weedies!" They too framed the image and hung it on the refrigerator. Must be a popular theme. Very cute.
It was hard choosing between the 2 options because I think we should do both.
How the Repub Teabrains got ahold of my online address is anyone's guess. Seems a likely scenario, what Palin described.
This isn't the first time I've found myself on conservative-extremist mailing lists. I've also (altho not recently) received their crap via snail mail. I've saved most of it for posterity; perhaps for one of my satirical collages. Ya never know when inspiration will hit!
About a decade ago I received a glossy, colorful piece of advertising junk mail showing three children drooling over a table full of mouth-watering confections, with the caption: "Remember how it felt to be a kid in a candy store?" I slapped that over a page from my High Times calendar, surrounding that image with wide border full of gorgeous sinsemilla buds! They blend so well together, you'd almost think this was the original graphics. Turned out so great, in fact, I had a bunch of color xerox copies made for my like-minded friends, and framed the original!
I know I've strayed off-topic. My point is, never underestimate the power of graphic images when they are recycled through a mischievous pair of hands! Maybe I oughta take another look at that rightwing junk mail... Heh-heh.... - Aliceinwonderland
Phillip, I love that shit-eatin' grin on your face. Don't ever change avatars, ya hear?!
Of course the Republi-cons are going to distrust the people they keep screwing, while projecting their own negative character traits onto us. It's what they do! And as far as the ACA website is concerned, you could very well be onto something. It wouldn't surprise me either, to hear that some of those programmers sabotaged it maliciously.
This country, and certain sectors of its population, have always had a mean streak. - Aliceinwonderland
Aliceinwonderland ~ Somehow the National Republican Senatorial Committee got a hold of your email address. Any idea how that might have happened; or, do you think Palindromedary's suggestion is the likely cause? If it was a friend playing a practical joke you owe them big time. I'd sign them up for a Glenn Beck newsletter.
For the life of me, I don't know why my posts occasionally get cluttered with all that nonsensical crap. My apologies, folks...
Palindromedary ~ That might be the case. I too have noticed a drop in those annoying calls since I changed numbers several years ago. However, I made a point of calling all those debt collection companies back and making sure my new number was deleted from their lists. One of the things I noticed is that there were a plethora of different names associated with the number. Either a very popular number, or there are many scam artists out there sharing it. Imagine if one phone number can be compromised so many times before anyone calls it to find out if it is legit. I don't know about you, but if I loaned anyone money I would check out their info before they saw one dime, not after they were late in their payments. I often have wondered how these lender's can be so careless; and, what do they do when they realize they were had? Do they write off the losses and let taxpayers shoulder the burden for their carelessness? It would appear that every time something gets deregulated We the People get screwed.
By the way, I saw a funny picture of a sobbing kitten the other day. The caption said, every time a Republican gets elected a kitten cries. It was cute; and, so, so true.
Marc says "Please don't tell me you've given your personal e-mail address to Karl Rove?" You are too, too funny!
Here's the return address, by the way:
<info@nrsc.org via bounce.targetedvictory.mkt5241.com>
If any of you are in the mood for a little mischief, we can clog up their in-box with an avalanche of wise-ass comments! - AIW
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I expect that there are computer programmers working for the United States Government who are against the Affordable Care Act. I would not be surprised to learn that some of them have intentionally damaged the ACA website to harm the system. I hope that some computer forensic experts are at work to determine how much of the system glitches were sabotaged work by people who hate President Obama.
Republicans in the Congress and in many state legislatures are anti-democratic. They do not trust the people. They are against a government that is by the people and for the people. These people believe they have been told by God and Jesus Christ that they are to rule the country. They appear to have an all out war against women. They seem to want to return the country to the laws of 1830 when women could not vote, blacks could not vote, and only people who owned real estate were in charge. They love corporations but seem not to care about everyday people such as children whose single mothers are unable to earn enough money to feed their family. Ted Cruz, Rand Paul, Paul Ryan, Michelle Bachmann and their ilk seem to despise ordinary Americans.
voter suppression:
"progressives" persuading people to never use elections for any good purpose... to either always vote for the (D)'s evil, or not vote
election:
malevolent mockery masquerading as democracy
regularly held installations of interchangeable parts, used to prevent or delay the needed revolution
a completely corporate person controlled process in which the majority of the natural persons participating are allowed to choose which corporate sponsors they'd prefer to have decide what all of the next few years of gangster government policies will be, and how those crimes will be done — either hot-bloodedly by Republicans, or cold-bloodedly by Democrats
election cycle:
a) mentally disturbed (R) voters get gun totin' mad
b) Republican candidates drag their hairy knuckles around
c) mentally deficient (D) voters hysterically react like maniacs
d) Democrat candidates slyly offer implied promises cleverly filled with negating qualifiers
e) every available sane and sensible non-corporate alternative is either completely ignored, or rejected
f) sociopathic policies of the corporate (R) & (D) party receive another 99% popular vote mandate, again
g) Democrats partner with Republicans to produce even more deeply depraved policies, with greater transparency
h) repeat cycle
election results:
chronicle of corruption documenting the self-determined decline of America's sociopathic society
______________________________
The APT: American Political Terms
www.chenangogreens.org
DAnneMarc: Yes, I agree, if the NSA is helping debt collection agencies collect debts, then they are probably giving away all kinds of personal information on all of us. On the other hand, maybe by the NSA giving more up to date information on us to debt collection agencies...the debt collectors won't keep badgering us by calling the old numbers, that used to belong to debtors, that some of us now have because we changed phone numbers and got the old debtor phone numbers. Maybe that's why I haven't been getting the volume that I used to get when I first got my number. Although I still get a pest calling from Wisconsin. I know exactly who it is because I investigated and found it to be a one or two person investment scam outfit with an annual income of $110,000 that doesn't seem to abide by the "Do Not Call List". I know his address and used Google Earth Street View to go right up to the office building where his scam business is located. That building is full of Investment Scamsters and Lawyers. I know the name of every business in that building.
By the way, I'm glad you got to see that video. It was very informative.
IG -- I certainly hope that Canadian company is not in charge of our economy.
Palindromedary ~ You are probably right. Also, like we've discussed before, the NSA is also probably selling our info to the highest bidder; or, perhaps even just giving it to their "special" friends. Personally, I can't think of many people as "special" as Karl Rove.
By the way, I got a chance to see that 1978 rare JFK documentary the other night. Thanks for the link. It was most informative. Quite amazing actually getting to hear testimonials from players who are no longer with us. Very well done. Thanks again.
You think that all of those petitions you send, even the leftist ones, are not sold to anyone with the money, including Carl Rove? Many of those petitions, while originated by people, politicians, organizations that may be leftist usually hire other businesses to handle the petition web sites. And just like our government needs to hire and rely upon businesses to get their software right for things like the implementation of Obama Care, how can it be assured that those businesses aren't going to try to sabotage it?
I think Mauiman2 must have been on Carl Rove's mailing list.
When at first you don't succeed, cheat, cheat and cheat. That is the Republican mantra. Even when people are fed up with Democratic candidates the Republicans naturally assume they are the underdogs. After all, who in their right mind would ever vote for that party again after the last Bush administration? I suppose they are right in that respect. However, with people as fed up and desperate as they are, I doubt they are going to take this slick sorcery lying down. You can't please all the people all the time; but, you sure can't win if you just piss everyone off.