No, not really. But, small businesses and large businesses need to get out of the Healthcare business and do what they do best…their business.
Far too long American businesses have dabbled in the Healthcare industry. Each business that provides Healthcare for its employees tweaks what it will pay for and won’t pay for to its best advantage. They teeter-totter between keeping their own costs low and providing an enticing benefit to attract quality employees.
Sadly, when the employee leaves the company they no longer have Healthcare. They’re at the mercy of their next employer determining whether they have a “pre-existing” condition that might not be covered. The American people need their own Healthcare that frees them from their employer. Many people stay in jobs they don't like just for the Healthcare benefits. It's time this antiquated system ended.
What we need is a healthy balance between Capitalism and Universal Healthcare. Healthcare should not be “free” but it also should not be cost prohibitive. People should get the care they need when they need it at a fair and reasonable price. There's plenty of money already being spent by employees and employers to cover the costs of a new system. We don't need "new" taxes for this. What we need is to correctly funnel the money already being spent into a new and improved system for the American people.
By taking Healthcare out of the hands of the employers this frees up the employers to focus on their business. Without the overhead of determining and maintaining a Healthcare benefit for their employees they’ll save money, create jobs and grow their business.
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Sunday, October 5, 2008
TAXES (Who really Pays)
This should come as no surprise to anyone, but generally the middle income earners pay the majority of the Federal/State Income taxes. To illustrate where the IRS gets most of its revenue, I will use a simple Bell Curve. Take a piece of paper and with a pencil or pen simply draw the shape of a BELL.
On the left side of the Bell, just outside of the line write “10%”. On the right side of the Bell, just outside the line write “10%”. Inside the Bell diagram write “80%”. The left side of the Bell shows that 10% of the people in the U.S. do not pay any Fed/State taxes because they are either not working or are getting a very small income. The right side of the Bell shows that 10% of working American are what Senator Obama would call Wealthy Americans. The remaining 80%, those inside the Bell are Middle Income wage earners of varying degrees of income. As you can see Middle Income wage earners is where the Democrats go to for more money in the form of a TAX Increase.
For this election Senator Obama/Biden are claiming that they will reduce the Taxes for those who reside inside the Bell and only increase Taxes for those who reside on the right side of the Bell, which by the way include all of America’s huge corporations. This sounds great, but, there are consequences to any Tax Hike of any kind. Lets take a closer look:
I will start by stating a few basic truths about the RICH:
1. The Rich did not get Rich by paying huge sums of money to the Government.
2. Corporations like profits and will NOT see their profits lowered by increased Taxes. Corporations will pass the increase onto the consumers, that means you and me, Middle Americans.
3. The incentive to become Rich is diminished knowing that once you reach the $250,000 or greater mark, the Government will swoop down and take it away as planned by the Senator for Change, Obama
If Senator Obama/Biden win the Presidency the Wealthy Americans will see a Tax Increase and everyone else will get a Tax decrease. Lets follow the money. I will use Corporation “A” as an example, but this also applies to every Small Business Owner in America that qualifies for the Tax Increase.
Corporation A is made up of Employees, Middle Income Americans, and those Americans who have bought Stock in the Company, usually the Wealthier Americans. The revenue from the sale of stock is used by the Corporation for Research and Development, Buying other Companies, etc….
The people who own this stock in Corporation A expect to earn a profit from their investment and the Corporation will do anything it can to provide that profit. So, if Corporation A now has to pay more Taxes, the corporation has to get the money from somewhere and still provide a profit to the shareholders.
Corporation A has several solutions:
1. Lay off Employees and ship the jobs overseas where the labor is cheaper and where there is a more favorable Tax structure. Enjoy that TAX Break while you can, because you may be outsourced to pay for it.
2. Raise the cost of the product that is being sold to the consumer. Maybe this will work since Middle Americans will have that big reduction in their Taxes. At least for those who still have their Jobs.
On the left side of the Bell, just outside of the line write “10%”. On the right side of the Bell, just outside the line write “10%”. Inside the Bell diagram write “80%”. The left side of the Bell shows that 10% of the people in the U.S. do not pay any Fed/State taxes because they are either not working or are getting a very small income. The right side of the Bell shows that 10% of working American are what Senator Obama would call Wealthy Americans. The remaining 80%, those inside the Bell are Middle Income wage earners of varying degrees of income. As you can see Middle Income wage earners is where the Democrats go to for more money in the form of a TAX Increase.
For this election Senator Obama/Biden are claiming that they will reduce the Taxes for those who reside inside the Bell and only increase Taxes for those who reside on the right side of the Bell, which by the way include all of America’s huge corporations. This sounds great, but, there are consequences to any Tax Hike of any kind. Lets take a closer look:
I will start by stating a few basic truths about the RICH:
1. The Rich did not get Rich by paying huge sums of money to the Government.
2. Corporations like profits and will NOT see their profits lowered by increased Taxes. Corporations will pass the increase onto the consumers, that means you and me, Middle Americans.
3. The incentive to become Rich is diminished knowing that once you reach the $250,000 or greater mark, the Government will swoop down and take it away as planned by the Senator for Change, Obama
If Senator Obama/Biden win the Presidency the Wealthy Americans will see a Tax Increase and everyone else will get a Tax decrease. Lets follow the money. I will use Corporation “A” as an example, but this also applies to every Small Business Owner in America that qualifies for the Tax Increase.
Corporation A is made up of Employees, Middle Income Americans, and those Americans who have bought Stock in the Company, usually the Wealthier Americans. The revenue from the sale of stock is used by the Corporation for Research and Development, Buying other Companies, etc….
The people who own this stock in Corporation A expect to earn a profit from their investment and the Corporation will do anything it can to provide that profit. So, if Corporation A now has to pay more Taxes, the corporation has to get the money from somewhere and still provide a profit to the shareholders.
Corporation A has several solutions:
1. Lay off Employees and ship the jobs overseas where the labor is cheaper and where there is a more favorable Tax structure. Enjoy that TAX Break while you can, because you may be outsourced to pay for it.
2. Raise the cost of the product that is being sold to the consumer. Maybe this will work since Middle Americans will have that big reduction in their Taxes. At least for those who still have their Jobs.
Saturday, October 4, 2008
O.J. Guilty...duh.
A jury found O.J. Simpson guilty. What a shocker. O.J. Simpson would be found guilty of anything he’s charged with in America. There’s no way he could get a fair trial.
There are so many people in this country who have considered O.J. Simpson guilty of murdering his ex-wife 13 years ago that they’d use any excuse to put him in jail. In professional sports it’s referred to as a “make-up” call. If charged, O.J. would even be convicted of being the second-shooter in the Kennedy Assassination.
None of this should be a surprise to anyone. Without getting into the details of his recent court case O.J. is mainly guilty of one thing...being an idiot. He should’ve known that he’d never get a truly fair trial in America and should’ve been extra careful to not do something stupid.
Where O.J. failed was in being stupid enough to do something that would get himself arrested. He should’ve remained above reproach. O.J. would be found guilty of J-walking, driving 56 in a 55, and eating more than he could eat at an all-you-can-eat Salad Bar. Thus, O.J. is guilty of being an idiot. He may spend the next 15 years in prison for being “stupid in public”.
There are so many people in this country who have considered O.J. Simpson guilty of murdering his ex-wife 13 years ago that they’d use any excuse to put him in jail. In professional sports it’s referred to as a “make-up” call. If charged, O.J. would even be convicted of being the second-shooter in the Kennedy Assassination.
None of this should be a surprise to anyone. Without getting into the details of his recent court case O.J. is mainly guilty of one thing...being an idiot. He should’ve known that he’d never get a truly fair trial in America and should’ve been extra careful to not do something stupid.
Where O.J. failed was in being stupid enough to do something that would get himself arrested. He should’ve remained above reproach. O.J. would be found guilty of J-walking, driving 56 in a 55, and eating more than he could eat at an all-you-can-eat Salad Bar. Thus, O.J. is guilty of being an idiot. He may spend the next 15 years in prison for being “stupid in public”.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Mortgage Crisis Blame Game
Nancy “will Bush Bash for cash” Pelosi claims its Bush’s failed policies that have lead to this financial mortgage crisis we find ourselves in today. Is it the “failed policies” or greed that led to this crisis?
Thanks to these “failed policies” we’re American Homeowner’s today. We failed to qualify for a home twice during the Clinton administration. We bought our first house in 2002. We sold that house and bought our current house in 2006. We’re one of those “no money down” borrowers that are being bashed in the news. The news seems to not realize that not ALL “no money down” homebuyers messed up.
For BOTH houses our lender pre-qualified us for $50,000 more house than we were shopping for. It was nice to have that flexibility but it would’ve been irresponsible to spend that money. Our priority was a house our family could live in and our ability to make our monthly mortgage payment. Combined we’ve now been homebuyers for 6 years and we’ve never missed a payment because we didn’t get greedy and “overbuy” a house we couldn’t afford.
It’s not the “policies” that have failed. It’s human nature that has failed. Greed on both the lender and the borrowers’ side has lead to this crisis. Both Congress and the President should’ve paid attention to what was going on and either warned us or put a stop to it. But, ultimately it was the lenders dangling the giant carrot and the borrowers biting off more than they could chew that lead us to where we are today.
Polls are mixed as to whose blame it is. Regardless of whether the industry is “regulated” or “de-regulated” it ultimately comes down to two things. The lenders authorized the loans and the borrowers signed on the bottom line.
Thanks to these “failed policies” we’re American Homeowner’s today. We failed to qualify for a home twice during the Clinton administration. We bought our first house in 2002. We sold that house and bought our current house in 2006. We’re one of those “no money down” borrowers that are being bashed in the news. The news seems to not realize that not ALL “no money down” homebuyers messed up.
For BOTH houses our lender pre-qualified us for $50,000 more house than we were shopping for. It was nice to have that flexibility but it would’ve been irresponsible to spend that money. Our priority was a house our family could live in and our ability to make our monthly mortgage payment. Combined we’ve now been homebuyers for 6 years and we’ve never missed a payment because we didn’t get greedy and “overbuy” a house we couldn’t afford.
It’s not the “policies” that have failed. It’s human nature that has failed. Greed on both the lender and the borrowers’ side has lead to this crisis. Both Congress and the President should’ve paid attention to what was going on and either warned us or put a stop to it. But, ultimately it was the lenders dangling the giant carrot and the borrowers biting off more than they could chew that lead us to where we are today.
Polls are mixed as to whose blame it is. Regardless of whether the industry is “regulated” or “de-regulated” it ultimately comes down to two things. The lenders authorized the loans and the borrowers signed on the bottom line.
Sunday, September 28, 2008
EXPERIENCE (Is it Important?)
There has been a lot of TV and Internet advertisements from both presidential candidates about their competency to be President based on their experience. Senator McCain has been in the Senate for over 25 years while Senator Obama has been in the Senate for about 3 years and two of those he has spent running for President.
Is Experience really that important? Well to put this question into perspective lets up look at this in a much lower level. When a working class person, such as myself, begins looking for a job, the first thing on the potential Employer’s list of requirements is how much and what kind of Experience do you bring to the table. Most of the job openings that I have looked at require at least 5 to 7 years of Experience. That Experience must also be geared toward the type of work that will be performed. A college professor with 20 years of Experience teaching Family Law does not qualify him to be a Criminal Defense Lawyer.
A college student who just graduated with an MBA does not qualify that person to be a CEO of a major corporation. Anyone who is at the top or who is on their way to the top of any company had to start at the bottom first.
So…why are many Americans so willing to put a Junior Senator from Illinois with zero experience into the White House. Senator Obama has never run a business, never governed a city, big or small, never had to work with unions and never had to work with both parties to come to a compromise on a piece of legislation. Only Mayors and Governors have to do it all. Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin has done all of this and much more. She is more qualified to be President than the Presidential candidates themselves.
Again, is Experience Important? Every job that I have applied for requires it. Every hiring manager that I have every talked to questioned me about my experience. Every board of directors for every corporation in America demands it before hiring a CEO and every American who holds stock for any corporation in America would be appalled if they found out that the board members had zero Experience in running a corporation.
Okay, America, here is the choice everyone who votes must make. Vote for the candidate with the Experience to run America or vote for the candidate of Change, Senator Obama with no Experience.
The way I see it, if Senator Obama becomes the next President and your job is lost, when you are talking to a hiring manager and that person asks you about your Experience in that particular field and you say that you don’t have any, tell that manager that you should be hired anyway because after all, you did vote for Senator Obama and he had no Experience either.
Is Experience really that important? Well to put this question into perspective lets up look at this in a much lower level. When a working class person, such as myself, begins looking for a job, the first thing on the potential Employer’s list of requirements is how much and what kind of Experience do you bring to the table. Most of the job openings that I have looked at require at least 5 to 7 years of Experience. That Experience must also be geared toward the type of work that will be performed. A college professor with 20 years of Experience teaching Family Law does not qualify him to be a Criminal Defense Lawyer.
A college student who just graduated with an MBA does not qualify that person to be a CEO of a major corporation. Anyone who is at the top or who is on their way to the top of any company had to start at the bottom first.
So…why are many Americans so willing to put a Junior Senator from Illinois with zero experience into the White House. Senator Obama has never run a business, never governed a city, big or small, never had to work with unions and never had to work with both parties to come to a compromise on a piece of legislation. Only Mayors and Governors have to do it all. Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin has done all of this and much more. She is more qualified to be President than the Presidential candidates themselves.
Again, is Experience Important? Every job that I have applied for requires it. Every hiring manager that I have every talked to questioned me about my experience. Every board of directors for every corporation in America demands it before hiring a CEO and every American who holds stock for any corporation in America would be appalled if they found out that the board members had zero Experience in running a corporation.
Okay, America, here is the choice everyone who votes must make. Vote for the candidate with the Experience to run America or vote for the candidate of Change, Senator Obama with no Experience.
The way I see it, if Senator Obama becomes the next President and your job is lost, when you are talking to a hiring manager and that person asks you about your Experience in that particular field and you say that you don’t have any, tell that manager that you should be hired anyway because after all, you did vote for Senator Obama and he had no Experience either.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Biden Doesn't Know What's in his Own Plan
Democrats and the mainstream media have accused Sarah Palin of not know what the “Bush Doctrine” is. Are they now going to attack Joe Biden for not knowing what’s in the Obama-Biden energy plan?
Today in Ohio, when asked about clean coal technology plants in America, Joe Biden responded with "No coal plants here in America," he said. "Build them, if they're going to build them, over there (China). Make them clean. We’re not supporting clean coal," he said of himself and Obama.
Hmmm, Joe Biden doesn’t seem to know what’s in the Obama-Biden energy plan. According to the Obama-Biden energy plan they support "clean coal" technology and want to support financially five coal plants that use carbon capture and sequestration technology.
So, if they want to support five coal plants but they won’t be in America where will they be? More outsourcing? Is the Obama-Biden plan going to ship more jobs out of America or does Joe Biden just not know what he’s talking about?
Today in Ohio, when asked about clean coal technology plants in America, Joe Biden responded with "No coal plants here in America," he said. "Build them, if they're going to build them, over there (China). Make them clean. We’re not supporting clean coal," he said of himself and Obama.
Hmmm, Joe Biden doesn’t seem to know what’s in the Obama-Biden energy plan. According to the Obama-Biden energy plan they support "clean coal" technology and want to support financially five coal plants that use carbon capture and sequestration technology.
So, if they want to support five coal plants but they won’t be in America where will they be? More outsourcing? Is the Obama-Biden plan going to ship more jobs out of America or does Joe Biden just not know what he’s talking about?
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Wall of America
There has been much talk and many proposals on how to handle the illegal immigrant situation. Senator McCain and Senator Ted Kennedy came together in a joint effort and proposed an immigration reform bill that would lead to the amnesty and eventual citizenship of approximately 12-million illegal immigrants, which was eventually defeated in the Senate.
Illegal immigration is a very sensitive subject where 80% of the American People wanted some sort of immigration reform, which included the closing and securing of the border. After much hesitance by the Bush Administration the solution was to build a fence along the border. The cost of such a fence is of course, enormous, and the fence itself, is of course a joke. Any U.S. marine could get over the fence within a few seconds. This is a shoddy attempt, at best, to appease the American People at Taxpayers expense.
We at America’s Voice are not against immigration, but we are opposed to illegal immigration. Although the fence is a good idea, we at America’s Voice believe it should be on a grander scale. We believe that the fence should be replaced by the “Wall of America”.
The “Wall of America” would be on the scale of the ‘Great Wall of China’. This wall would essentially be a super highway consisting of 4 to 6 lanes across, 50-feet high and about 30-feet deep. The walls on both sides would consists of re-enforced concrete about 5 to 8-feet thick. There would be guard towers every half mile on the Mexico side containing the latest in surveillance technology. These towers would also be large enough to allow the border patrol to station an officer in the tower. These towers would be accessible via steps or an elevator from inside the wall in an open space between the walls below the highway.
This open space under the highway would be 3-stories deep where the ground floor would also be a highway specifically for the border patrol and/or possible troop movements along the entire stretch of highway above. The other two lower stories could house the control rooms that monitor the cameras and any other listening devices to prevent tunneling or explosions of any sort.
On the American side there would be on and off ramps at various locations, especially where there is current border crossings. These locations would have the usual GAS, FOOD, and LODGING available, like any other U.S highway.
The "Wall of America" would be built completely on the American side of the border by anyone who would be willing to work on the project for a fair wage and benefits. Each border state would be responsible for building their section of the wall, which would be funded by both the state and the U.S. Government via tax dollars.
If we can fund a war, wouldn’t the money be better spent putting thousands of people and ex-military solders to work to build a monument that could easily become the 9th wonder of the world leaving behind a testament to the determination and engineering genius of Americans from the 21st century?
Once completed each border state could put a toll on the part of the highway that runs through their state to recoup the money spent in building it. Since this would be a modern marvel it could also be billed as a tourists attraction that would allow tourists from around the world to travel the 720 miles of highway stopping along the way at the Hotels that would surly be built.
The “Wall of America” would provide the security along our border that the American People want, provide thousands of jobs and eventually become a tourist attraction, thus providing even more jobs because of increased tourism and more importantly give our politicians time to come up with a very real and comprehensive Immigration reform policy.
Illegal immigration is a very sensitive subject where 80% of the American People wanted some sort of immigration reform, which included the closing and securing of the border. After much hesitance by the Bush Administration the solution was to build a fence along the border. The cost of such a fence is of course, enormous, and the fence itself, is of course a joke. Any U.S. marine could get over the fence within a few seconds. This is a shoddy attempt, at best, to appease the American People at Taxpayers expense.
We at America’s Voice are not against immigration, but we are opposed to illegal immigration. Although the fence is a good idea, we at America’s Voice believe it should be on a grander scale. We believe that the fence should be replaced by the “Wall of America”.
The “Wall of America” would be on the scale of the ‘Great Wall of China’. This wall would essentially be a super highway consisting of 4 to 6 lanes across, 50-feet high and about 30-feet deep. The walls on both sides would consists of re-enforced concrete about 5 to 8-feet thick. There would be guard towers every half mile on the Mexico side containing the latest in surveillance technology. These towers would also be large enough to allow the border patrol to station an officer in the tower. These towers would be accessible via steps or an elevator from inside the wall in an open space between the walls below the highway.
This open space under the highway would be 3-stories deep where the ground floor would also be a highway specifically for the border patrol and/or possible troop movements along the entire stretch of highway above. The other two lower stories could house the control rooms that monitor the cameras and any other listening devices to prevent tunneling or explosions of any sort.
On the American side there would be on and off ramps at various locations, especially where there is current border crossings. These locations would have the usual GAS, FOOD, and LODGING available, like any other U.S highway.
The "Wall of America" would be built completely on the American side of the border by anyone who would be willing to work on the project for a fair wage and benefits. Each border state would be responsible for building their section of the wall, which would be funded by both the state and the U.S. Government via tax dollars.
If we can fund a war, wouldn’t the money be better spent putting thousands of people and ex-military solders to work to build a monument that could easily become the 9th wonder of the world leaving behind a testament to the determination and engineering genius of Americans from the 21st century?
Once completed each border state could put a toll on the part of the highway that runs through their state to recoup the money spent in building it. Since this would be a modern marvel it could also be billed as a tourists attraction that would allow tourists from around the world to travel the 720 miles of highway stopping along the way at the Hotels that would surly be built.
The “Wall of America” would provide the security along our border that the American People want, provide thousands of jobs and eventually become a tourist attraction, thus providing even more jobs because of increased tourism and more importantly give our politicians time to come up with a very real and comprehensive Immigration reform policy.
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