Ralph Martire is My Hero--Illinois Fiscal Policy Wonk.

Ralph Martire is the executive director of the Center for Tax and Budget Accountablility which is a bipartisan nonprofit research group that studies budget and fiscal matters. Mr. Martire also writes a monthly column for the Springfield Journal Register.

This month's column dealt with how government spends money. There are 2 ways, first directly on services(roads, education, medical, prisons, human services, etc.) but the other way is indirectly by enacting tax breaks/cuts.

I think all of us understand the first category at least a bit, although some skew it to just spending on poor lazy people who just won't get a job(of course they are the only ones that use the roads, education, medical, IEMA, Commerce Agency....yes, I'm being snarky). But the second category is a bit wonkier....now, we, as normal people, do receives some tax cuts, dependent and property tax "cuts" could be considered "tax expenditures", but this category are giving to businesses to allegedly "help fund a public good", you know-economic development. Such as jobs.

OK, the first category, direct expenditures, are given direct funds from the budget...hence the term, "direct expenditures"(OK, duh), but indirect or tax expenditures, Illinois doesn't collect anything, they allow businesses to keep the profits they would pay in taxes(or a percentage) and expect the business to provide a public good...you know, jobs and such. Now, don't get me wrong, this is a very "noble" aspect and a good partnership, if neither partner tries to screw the other...HELLO Google, Sears, CME! I'm talking about you!

Once corporate tax cuts(rarely are these given to the mom and pop small business groups--cities and counties can give local tax cuts) are made law...the cuts are not inspected to see if they are being used as intended...you know, more jobs rather than...oh...junkets to Costa Rica.  Corporations don't have to come back on a yearly basis, begging for their tax cut, unlike schools, social service agencies--they must make their argument annually for their share of the budget...and these same services also compete with each other for what's in the pot...sort of like the reality shows like Survivor or Fear Factor(among others), each agency has to prove their more worthy than the next for a budget that keeps shrinking...strongest man left standing. 

Now, its understandable that during times of sluggish economy, services might have to fight to be King of the Hill, but why only those? Why not corporate tax cuts? As I noted, both Google and Sears are still receiving the tax cuts even tho they lied about how they were going to help Illinois! Everyone needs to pay their fair share.

SB1159/HB390, the Close Corporate Tax Loopholes bills were written during this session to close/investigate changes within a couple of our worst loopholes in Illinois. Forcing service providers to slug it out for funding during difficult fiscal times may be unavoidable, but why only direct expenditures? Why not big corporations having to also be scrutinized? Tax expenditures should also be scrutinized. Even Gov. Quinn endorses it as well as having bi-partisan supporters.

The first loophole that was identified in this bill is the Foreign Dividend Exemption. Corporations in Illinois don't have to pay any taxes on dividends made in foreign lands, only on profits in the United States...could we make it any easier for companies to move much of their profits into dummy corporations in, oh, I don't know, Viet Nam????? How about the job outsourcing? No taxes paid for that call center in India? Cool, lets screw the Illinois citizens. This is an annual loss of $300 million.

The second loophole is almost as bad as the first. The Domestic Activities Production Deduction which is guided by federal law that states that businesses may deduct 9% of their income if they are producing anywhere in the United States. So, what does Illinois do? We have the same freakin' wording, so that if an Illinois company moves its business to say, Alabama, it get to keep the deduction from the Illinois business instead of only making it about Illinois. Yes, this does encourage businesses within the US, but why not just make it for Illinois? Instead of encouraging businesses to grow in other states?  The cost of this idiotic law? $100 million annually.

And last, the non combination rule. This rule exempts all financial, insurance and transportation businesses from reporting all profits. So, if I'm in charge of a big corporation that has a transportation subsidiary...how long do you think it'd take me to figure out, move most, if not all, of my profits to that business and not pay taxes? Maybe an hour if I'm a bit dull, I'd say. This costs us about $25 million--not as large as the other 2, but I'd pick it up in a flash, wouldn't you?

And as we know in these times of corporate greed and lobbyists, this bill wasn't even called for a vote.

But there a couple  more that I'd like to see changed and I've complained about them in the past:

The Retailer's Discount on Sales Taxes and Accelerated Depreciation.

Accelerated depreciation is very easy to understand. Some businesses get to depreciate equipment (computers, cars, JETS) at a faster rate than other businesses--doesn't sound very fair to me.

The Retailers Discount goes sorta like this---I go to a store, buy $100 worth of clothing and pay the 6.25% state sales tax. The retailer then sends the $6.25 to the state at the end of the quarter/year, right? Nope. This  tax cut allows the retailer to keep some of the sales tax. It was established years ago when it was more difficult to figure out the taxes in a small window of time. My idea? To the State legislature...ummm, we have computers now, this problem is alleviated! Get rid of this giveaway NOW!  This costs the state between $4-5 Billion annually! We wouldn't have a so-called pension problem if we changed this law to only include small local businesses. Walmart walks out with an extra $9 million a year---you mean to tell me you think Walmart, the one that pays its employees so little that over 80% receive medicaid and food stamps...and we give them another $9 Million of our tax money?????
Yes, its time for some changes in Illinois, but that means everyone should pay their fair share, not just Mr. and Ms. John Q Public...Caterpillar its time to get your lazy ass off of corporate welfare and get to work!

SCANDAL! SCANDAL! Scandal? Republicans, again, using the throw the spaghetti on the wall and see if something sticks.

This week, it seems that the most important news in this country is the Obama administration's evil and illegal scandals and cover ups! OH...MY...GOD...teabaggers and republicons are worse than high school gossip and soap operas...white trash soap operas....so, I will try to muddle through this slimy stinky pile of crap that the right have been falling on their fainting couches over.

First: Benghazi. I haven't understood this yet...it seems that the republicons were mortified that 4 embassy staff, including an ambassador were killed and President Obama did absolutely NOTHING, but wait...no, its not about the men dying, its because Obama tried to cover it up and downplay the terrorist act during the election...but wait, President Obama called it an "act of terror" the day after the attack...so its because he didn't use the term, "terrorism"...huh? Confused yet?

This basically began as a campaign to slam Susan Rice so she would not be able to accept the Secretary of State position. Ms. Rice did make the talking head circles after the attack with prepared statements from the CIA which did downplay it being a terrorist attack, but the reasoning behind it was they hadn't investigated it enough to be sure it was a terrorist attack. But you can't go on TV and say, "we haven't had the time to investigate the reasons for the attack" cuz then the talking points would be "OBAMA'S NOT INVESTIGATING QUICK ENOUGH, BENGHAZI'S ON THE BACK BURNER"...or something worse. But then it was Hillary's fault, she hid from the patriotic teabaggers by giving herself a concussion, but even with a concussion, she made more sense than Rand Paul. So, we have Boehner complaining about emails he didn't see because when the White House invited him to see the emails, he refused...and then we have a star witness in Mr. Hicks...who isn't so much of a witness after all, then we have the "EMAIL Scandal"  which ends up only being a scandal because Faux News and the Daily Standard made up what was in the emails and now we have all of the emails and no "there" there, in fact the White House wasn't even involved...but WAIT, THERE'S MORE!

So, onto the next spaghetti plate...er...scandal: the IRS auditing right wing tax shelters...oh, sorry, non-profits. First, that's what I thought was one of IRS's responsibilities--to audit/approve non-profit applications. Well, silly me..BUTBUTBUT the IRS did a much larger investigation in right wing applications! That's wrong! Really? Let's remember that since 2010, there has been a major upswing in batshit crazy right wing groups(with the Citizen's United decision) and that many of them have no problem bragging, in print or on TV about how much they've raised for political purposes rather than social welfare. So again, more hearings, more spells on the fainting couch, more turtle hysterics, only to discover that this, again, doesn't lead to the White House. It was handled poorly(although didn't effect any of the high rollers in the non-profit campaign financing shills such as Crossroads or Americans for Prosperity), shouldn't have been done that way, but with no White House demands...OK, so that's done....
And there goes the plate of salad! The DOJ subpoenas phone records of AP reporters!!!! What happened to the Fourth Estate?!?!??! Freedom of the Press???? Freedom of Speech!!!! It died with the Patriot Act. Now, to be technical, there was no wrongdoing. The DOJ followed the letter of the law and did it under the guise of "national security" and received the records for phone numbers, there are no recorded conversations, just phone records--and there had been a bill, called the Shield Law, which would have stopped this, but the republicons voted it down...and now they blame Obama? Well of course! And, still this only goes to the Dept. of Justice, not the White House. Too bad, you lose again teabaggers...
OK so now goes the dessert(I'd never throw the dessert) splaying across the wall...today, the newest scandal? President Obama had a Military escort hold his umbrella!!!!! NO President has ever done that in the past!!! Except for Reagan, BushI, BushII....oops, you the cons lose again.
There very real wrongdoings, in my opinion, with the Obama Administration, one of which is the treatment of whistle blowers, the cons won't bring this up because its something cons approve.
So, after all of the screaming, fainting, crying, and yelling, Congress has just wasted their time and our money...and actual problems? Nope, not even touched.

Let's Review the week of April 14, 2013

The week of April 14, 2013 left me feeling like I'm under the influence of a 3 day bender of tequila and Fritos...and I hate Fritos.
OK, Sunday was boring,
So, from  Monday on  gave us the Boston Marathon bombing, congressional hypocrisy, Texas fertilizer plant explosion, blizzards in WY, CO, MN, tornadoes in OK and people in my neck of the woods building arks, by Thursday, the Boston bombers got jealous and started killing people again, including the older brother.
So, on Monday, April 15, lovingly known as Tax Day throughout the United States and Patriot's Day in Massachusetts, the Boston Marathon Bombing occurs. I think its safe to say that it knocked many of us to the core and we learned that a little boy was killed, along with his sister losing a leg and mom receiving some type of brain injury...all because they, as a family, watched dad run in the marathon. By the time it was over, 3 people were killed and over 200 injured and during the hunt for the 2 brothers, many citizen's rights were trampled upon. My opinion? I understand why the police trampled, but I hope that this is a very rare case, both the bombing and the trampling of rights. The good news? By the end of the week, one brother was in custody and the other was in the morgue. Lindsay Graham screamed about immigrants, then fell back on the fainting couch, Peter King did the same...and all forgot about the other immigrant, Carlos Arrendondo, the gentleman in the cowboy hat. The one that lost one son in Iraq and his other committed suicide due to his brother's death? You know, the one who assisted the marathoner, tended to his injuries, grabbed him and his dis-attached  legs and got him very quickly to medical staff? Yes, that immigrant. By the way, due to his quick interaction, not only the man survive, but the injured marathoner ID'd the bombers which helped police catch them that much quicker.
At the same time, 2 letters tainted with ricin were received by the mail facility addressed to one Mississippi senator and President Obama. First they pick up an Elvis Impersonator(Kevin Curtis) who swears he didn't do it, but has an idea who did and the other guy(James Everett Dutschke) was just setting him up...and that's the actual story! Yes, America it's finally happened...we ARE the reality show.
But there were many other stories that didn't get the publicity that they should have, First, again in my opinion, was the overturn of the Stock Act by Congress almost a year after it was signed into law as I wrote about here. This law updated the Congressional Ethics act of 1978, banning congressional members being able to enrich themselves on insider trading -- just like the rest of us. Well, Congress overturned it, saying it was a matter of National Security that they be able to get rich on something the rest of us would be put in jail...just ask Martha Stewart.
Then there was the West Texas fertilizer explosion. This explosion killed 15 people and injured over 200. It also decimated the town around the plant, including 75 homes and 80 apartments, one nursing home and damage to the school(luckily, the school wasn't in session when the explosion happened).  Now,  within 2 days, the 2 brothers had been named and we all knew what they looked like. It took over a week to find out much about who owned the Fertilizer plant. See, its a private company and I guess in Texas, they don't even keep records on who owns what! Yes, that was snarkey.
Mr. Donald Adair, owner of the West Fertilizer Co., Adair Grains, Inc. did finally come out and make a statement, but has not, as far as I can find, given any reasons on why he had so much of the ammonium nitrate at the facility, 270 tons of the stuff, 1350 times the amount that they were supposed to legally have one site. Then the word comes out that there hadn't been an OSHA inspection in almost 30 years! But, then considering there are only 2200 OSHA inspectors nationwide(and millions of sites to inspect). This is what happens when republicons keep cutting OSHA's budget, which is down to about $568 Million. Yes, their "small government" can be defined by the people that are killed by it. Oh, and the kicker? This asshole only has $1 million of insurance on the friggin' plant...so, any guesses on who's gonna be paying for this disaster? Or should the rest of the nation treat the Texas disaster the same way Texas congressmen treated Hurricane Sandy?
This was the real tragedy and crime of the week of April 14. not the Boston bombing. That was 2 psychopaths who've been caught. The explosion is the true terrorism--the annihilation of  the American Middle Class and a Democratic government. Because when government does not protect the people, only the big bidness, we are now living in a plutocracy. Mr. Adair needs to be in prison for the murder of those victims and the millions of dollars of property damage he chose to allow due to his negligence and abuse. Plain and simple.

Governor Quinn is being a mouse turd

Yeah, I get it, the state is in financial ruin(if we made the 2/3 corp.that pay no income tax pay like citizens have to, it wouldn't be).
Yeah, I get it, we have a pension(Although I don't get the meme of how much we make, since over 60% make under $25K and no social security).
NO I DON'T GET WHY WE'RE THE PROBLEM!!!!
Governor Quinn decided he's gonna take his ball and go home....just like the mouse turds that use to do that in neighborhood ball---name your sport, football, basketball, baseball---you know the kid. He wasn't able to bully the other kids into what he wanted so his panties got in a bunch and he owned the ball.
REALLY????
Gov. Quinn Cancelled our contract and lied about the reasons why: he said AFSCME wanted too much money, we wouldn't even think about playing ball(not when "playing ball" meant a 20% pay cut). He whined that we were just too mean....
Again, REALLY???
Let's look at what has been happening for the last....oh...30 years...
First, for the employees: Employees have paid into the pension every paycheck their fair share, somewhere between 4 - 9% of their paycheck, every paycheck, towards their pension.
Second, AFSCME has negotiated, for at least the past 30 years to protect pensions--we've gone without raises/benefits/language to keep the pension for our members. Why? Because we thought it was important for our members to be safe during retirement.
Third, the state's reaction to pensions? For the past 30 years, they've acted like a drunken sailor when it came to pension payments. Not only have they not paid their part for at least 26 of the past 30 years, but they took my money out to spend on other things such as projects the governors wanted to do(remember Illinois First? That was done with public employees pension funds) or to pay other funds. And now? Oh, its too much of a bother to pay what they owe...I feel the same way about my mortgage, but I still must pay it - if I want to keep my house. The same for the state of Illinois--if they want to keep their employees, they must pay what is due.
And then, there are the lies that Quinn has told. The first one? Before the election, he spoke about how much retirees made when they retired. He said that if an employee in 1992 was making $65K, that retiree now would have doubled what he was receiving due to the overgenerous COLA...sure. What Quinn didn't relay is that in 1992, the average pension was about $11,000 a year, no where close to $65K(that was the pols and governor appointees) so, even if he is right about the pension doubling in 20 years, that doubling would only amount to $22K for most long term retirees!
And some more lies: Quinn whines he's cancelling the contract because AFSCME is being mean...you know how bullies are, they either intimidate you or snitch that you're being mean...BUT the facts are far from what he's whining about.
AFSCME negotiated a contract, but came back to the table to defer raises and find money savings in health insurance 2 years ago. AFSCME also requested meeting about negotiating changes in retirement earned benefits with only one caveat--that these changes would only effect future retirees, not present ones. The union was rebuffed by the Governor. AFSCME has always tried to work with the state during times of duress, but that doesn't mean we are going to roll over and play dead. Now some facts:

• Quinn is arguing that AFSCME is making excessive demands in negotiations. The truth? AFSCME has been at the bargaining table for almost a year now working in good faith to try to reach a contract settlement. Contrary to the governor’s claims, the Union’s economic proposals have been very moderate in recognition of the state’s dire fiscal condition.
• Quinn tries to give the impression that the Union has been dragging its feet in negotiations. In fact, progress in negotiations has been moving at a snail's pace for only one reason -- the Quinn Administration for more than 10 months was demanding that every employee’s pay had to be cut by 10%. And Administration is the one that cancelled meetings, not AFSCME.
•  Even now the Administration continues to demand that employees’ wages be reduced by demanding a three-year wage/step freeze and massive health care cost increases.  
• Quinn is basing his efforts to drive down employee wages on the lie that Illinois state employee salaries are the highest in the country. NOT TRUE. Although Illinois ranks 7th in the nation for wages, Illinois public employees rank only 9th, compared to other states.  

And, yes, I know, AFSCME endorsed Quinn during the last Governor's election. But I don't think we really had much of a choice, considering Brady(R) veers on teabagger and made his money the old fashioned way---he married into it and Whitney(G) had no game---no ground game, no finance game, no election game. Yes, Mr. Whitney had good ideas, but no one knows who he is, which means, no name recognition for the voters.
So, what happens now? We live in a state that seems determined to bankrupt seniors so 2/3 of Illinois based corporations pay nothing in income taxes. We seem to think its just fine if these seniors lose their homes, their savings, their future, their dignity, but can't change our laws so that the state receives all of the 6.5% of retail tax, instead of retailers keeping about 1.5%(which gives Wallmart an extra $9 million in profits just cuz they don't have to pay the tax to the state).
But, then, there we are--I think the administration of this state would like to pay us the way Wallmart pays their employees...little to nothing and the employees qualify for food stamps and Medicaid...so, then the state budget crisis would just go from so-called pension problem to the Medicaid and food stamp program...but at least the employees of those agencies know what they need to qualify for those benefits. Just very sad and shameful.

The Political Right's War on Healthcare for Citizens

Again, during this campaign we have seen and heard Republicons' vitriolic babble on what they're gonna do when they are in control....repeal health care is # 1 on their list(and 1.5 is the Lily Ledbetter act, 2 is defund schools...). They say this because it will be so much better under them (hmmm.....I remember Shrub, Bush I, King Ronnie..nope very much not better for women), but just for debate's sake, I'll decide not to say they're just lying...I mean they are the party that wants schools to get rid of teaching critical thinking skills...so instead of just laughing at their babble, how about tearing it apart with facts and logic, something the 'cons are very lacking:

So, first the evil ObamaCare...or its real name, the Affordable Care Act..Repeal that and women can get insurance easily, right? Wrong.

The ACA provides free screenings for many basic items for men women and children, although I will highlight women and children: mamograms(and breast cancer chemoprevention counseling is she's high risk) being one of the most important, birth control another.  But also, depression, diabetes 2, cholesterol, blood pressure screening are included for basic health concerns. All normal immunizations for children are covered(the ones that children need to go to school). Also, an annual free well-person visit.

Also included for women are screenings for gestational diabetes, HIV, HPV, Hepatitis B, STD(screening/counseling--obviously this is for both genders), Rh Incompatibility, tabacco use, Osteoporosis, folic acid supplements, anemia screening, cervical cancer, domestic/interpersonal violence screening and counseling and breastfeeding counseling

For children? Some of the screenings are: autism, blood pressure, depression, alcohol/drug use assessments for teens, behavioral assessments for all ages, developmental screening, dyslipidemia(if at risk of lipid disorders), hemoglobin screening, lead screening TB testing, vision screening, medical history, obesity screening/counseling. Also many tests for newborns such as: congenital hypothyroidism, hearing, hemoglobinopathies, PKU.

And why is care for children listed in my post about women? Because even if the child lives in a 2-parent household, mothers are the ones that take time off from work for children's health care issues, whether that issue is a doctor's visit, sitting around in a county health center(bring a book and stuff for child to do) or a child's illness. Yes, I know there's that one dad out of thousands that stays home with the kids or the 2 dads out of thousands that shares childcare equally with mom, but they are not in the majority. Not...even...close. It's gotten better, but women still make most of the decisions on many of these issues and spend more time on children's healthcare.

Just this July, people and companies started receiving rebate checks from the Insurance companies due to the Medical Loss Ratio section of the ACA. See, it is now law that Insurance companies must use at least 80%(85% for large companies) of the premium paid for health care. Up until this law, Insurance companies were using maybe 70% for health care, the other 30% was used for "administrative costs"...you know, marketing, those so-called seminars to Costa Rica? Or the bonuses/raises/outlandish salaries paid to the upper echelon of the corporate structure. For comparison, Medicare spends under 5% for Administration costs, Veterans Affairs is under 3% and both of these programs have a much higher patient approval rating than private insurance companies. The ACA also allows children to stay on their parents' insurance until age 26, giving the kids a bit of breathing room after college and parents some peace of mind about the "baby". From personal experience this has been great for my son who was laid off(he worked with the developmentally disabled in schools), but could still access my insurance for a root canal, glasses and allergies.

Did you know that some insurance companies considered pregnancy as a pre-existing condition? No, not that you are pregnant and looking for insurance...you had been pregnant in the past and may become pregnant again so we won't insure you. Under the ACA this practice is illegal. As of July, 2010 children must be covered and no pre-existing condition denials are legal. In 2014 all use of pre-existing crap is no more.

Also, because of that silly pregnancy stuff, women pay higher insurance rates than men in most states. Again, this is now illegal.

Since the takeover of the House of Representatives by the bats**t crazy teabaggers(who even hold their own Speaker hostage), the House has voted 33 times to repeal health care for Americans...oh, and not one vote on any other Jobs bill....

And how does the Romney/Ryan ticket want to handle this? Annihilate it! Those families don't deserve nuthin'!

The Romney/Ryan ticket, along with the Republicons, have promised to repeal the ACA right after he's declared president. And what does he want to do to replace? Well, that's the question, isn't it? "ObamaCare" was fashioned from a republican view--Bob Dole's plan, Heritage plan and oh, yeah, "RomneyCare"...so, this should be pretty embarrassing for the right wing. Of course that would be true if corporate media actually reported this instead of the screaming mimis of the right's doom and gloom...

His answers to this is "secret", just like all of his other plans...memories of Nixon and his "secret plan" to end the Viet Nam war(which actually ended when the Democratic Congress refused to fund it). Any time Romney mentions what he would do during an interview, one of his staff comes up behind him and says, "Well he really didn't mean what he said". Of course Mittiot is being interviewed on National TV and the other guy is reported on radio/newspaper--where many people, specially low information, do not garner information. Romney is not trying to protect citizens...he wants to make sure that the insurance companies can still live in the plutocratic/objectivist paradise of less taxes, less services to citizens and more obscene profits. Take away the ability of women to get free screenings for breast & cervical cancer. Take away the ability of women to receive birth control without having to pay high prescription rates(and please remember that women who use birth control consistently account for only 5% of the rate of unintended pregnancy--and birth control is much cheaper for insurance companies than pregnancies. And, again, many women and children not being able to use our medical system for less expensive preventative care rather than having no choice, but to live in fear of both medical and financial disaster--and costing all of us much much more.

And, Again, Mr. Romney,

WHERE ARE YOUR TAX RECORDS?!?!?!?

WHAT ARE YOU HIDING?!?!!?!

There has been much skuddlebutt about who wants to do what to/for seniors...so where are the views of the 2 parties and the candidates? Glad you asked:

1. Maintain Medicare's free preventive services:

Because of the passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Medicare patients now receive many screenings and an annual "Wellness visit"(although you must use this terminology when making your appointment with your doctor). Seniors also receive cancer screenings and other disease prevention services with no copays.

Obama supports this, Romney wants to terminate this care

2. Continue closing the Medicare part D "donut hole".

First, for people who haven't dealt with this, this is how the donut hole worked prior to the ACA(Obamacare): Senior prescriptions were covered until they got up to $2750...then, even tho seniors were still paying the drug insurance premium, they were responsible for prescription costs up to $4500, then Part D would kick in again. This may not sound like much...except I know that one of my prescriptions, without my insurance, costs about $400, and I have 2 more that add up to $400...this is per month( I have insurance and I only pay a co-pay)...and these are for asthma, blood-pressure, not some rare disease. So it'd only take maybe 3 months for part D to throw me in the donut hole, not too much help.

In the ACA, the "donut hole" has already been cut in half and will be closed by 2020 and this affects over 4 million seniors!

Obama, obviously, supports this. Romney? Nope, let those seniors pay the high prices.Can't afford it, get a job.

3. Stop waste, fraud, abuse in Medicare:

The ACA puts laws in place that ends subsidies for insurance companies, tracking down fraudulent providers who either overcharge or try to swindle Medicare. Just this piece of the legislation is predicted to add about 10 years to Medicare Solvency! In one Fiscal Year alone, this act saved over $4 Billion in fraud and overcharges. 

And yes, again, Obama supports this, but Romney doesn't....

So is there anything that Romney supports? Oh, sure.....

4. Raise the Retirement age:

Romney, Ryan and many of the republicon congress support a requirement for all Americans to work to age 69 or 70 before being able to collect full Social Security earned benefits and not receive Medicare until 67. You betcha Romney supports this(and President Obama opposes).

This has been an ongoing march because, we all know that people are living longer! I mean our basic mortality is now in the 80's so we should be able to work longer! Another lie. 

Our life span has not been lengthen because all of us are getting old..remember, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Ben Franklin and many other of the fore-fathers lived well into their 70's and 80's. The difference is that infant, child, women of child-bearing age was much lower until the 1950's or so. In the 1930's our life expectancy was about 58, its now 77. BUT the difference in infant mortality? In 1935, the infant mortality rate was 56.7 per 1000 live births. In 2009? It was only 6.7 deaths per 1000 live births. Just that fact skewers the idea that Americans are living so much longer....no, its just that many more people are making it through childhood!

The other fact that is not included in this factoid is there is a big difference on who can work until old age. Look at the Supreme Court! I'm sure their average age is about 65! This works well for people who have worked in higher income workplaces. But for the working poor? Those people who serve you at diners, work fast food, retail(yes, I'm really thinking about mallwart here), middle class workers such as police, firefighters, trades--all of these people are at risk of shorter life spans.

Again, Romney is just fine with people working until they die. President Obama opposes this.

5. Medicare Coupons..or the Ryan plan of Medicare vouchers.

We already know who's plan this is....So Romney/Ryan/Republicons want to end Medicare and give Seniors a voucher of about $7000 to "shop" for health care insurance. Now, any senior that has to search through Part D plans or Medicare Advantage plans knows how difficult and aggravating that is. And the triple R's want you to do that with insurance companies...why not just farm it out to Groupon like a spa coupon? I can see the email:

"Hurry for your chance at this medicare groupon discount!!! Our program ensures you'll get some care...just don't be very ill cuz it doesn't cover cancer, transplants, heart disease...or anything else that may be considered too expensive for our partners to be able to make any money!"

Add to this, their idea of repealing the ACA and losing the savings that Medicare has seen since 2010 and that spells financial ruin for many middle class seniors.

This is one of the Romney/Ryan's great plan, Romney has called Ryan's budget, "Marvelous"...President Obama Opposes.

6. Block-Grant Medicaid and reduce funding.

Why should seniors worry about Medicaid? That's for poor people. Sorry, but one of the largest uses of Medicaid funds is for Nursing homes for middle class seniors. The House budget committee would cut funding by $800 Billion and allow states to spend the remaining funds any way they want.

Romney, of course, supports this. President Obama opposes.

Romney doesn't care about seniors who aren't as rich as he, and before you go to the polls, you need to know this. If you are a senior and vote for Romney and the other R Politicos, you are, in all probability, affecting your ability to live safely and securely with the knowledge that your health care is covered...and again....

Mr. Romney where are your TAX RECORDS!!!!!

WHAT ARE YOU HIDING!!!

Republicons and their hatred of women...or is it just Uppity Women?

Since spring, the Republicons have had their foot in their mouth over women and women's rights--employment, health, reproductive, birth control, and what is actually a "legitimate" rape, now, even how some girls "rape easy":
We have Congressman Todd Akin who is now trying to be a senator, saying that women who get raped can't get pregnant cuz their body shuts down the lady parts...or some drivel like that; and when he tried to walk back from that statement, he brought up the idea that the lady parts fizzle only works if its a "legitimate" rape....sure....and the republicons think this guy is smart enough to be a Senator??? Really??? 
Of course, there is also  Rep. Roscoe Bartlett(R-MD) who stated that there are very few women who ever get pregnant from rape and he thinks that one of the main causes for abortion is the baby is the wrong gender or the woman just doesn't want to be bothered. 
And the illustrious boy VP candidate, who has co-sponsored "personhood" bills with Aiken, endorsed(and now undendorsed) the state senator that feels some girls are just easy rapes, has compared a woman getting pregnant through rape to "just another form of conception".
There's been Rep. Tom Smith, another one running for a senate seat, this time in Pennsylvania who compared rape to an out-of-wedlock pregnancy, but these are the ones that are crazy enough to make it to national tv and many of these have been kind of swept under the rug as just some of the more extreme views....pay no attention, dear women voters...we're not really that far out. We'll not take away your rights...well. only the ones we don't agree with.
But...then...look at what many of the state legislatures have been busy with: personhood bills(these not only attack abortion rights, but also birth control and in-vitro fertilization); when there is a referendum on ballots about personhood, its voted down by a large margin, but when taken up in the state assemblies? It is usually passes at least one house...and usually by men, republicon men. Doing just what the republicon platform states.
And now, the piece de resistance? Wannabe senator Murdoch. Mr. Murdoch, when asked about abortion said that he would not support any law that allowed for an abortion due to the woman being raped...violated...attacked...one of the worst things that can ever happen to you without you dying, although there are enough women who commit suicide after a rape.
Now, does a suicide have much to do with a pregnancy, one of "god's will" as Mr. Murdoch puts it? Only if you want to know what the woman may be going through as a human being.
The 2012 Republican platform did address these issues by inserting them into the platform:
"We assert the sanctity of human life and affirm that the unborn child has a fundamental individual right to life which cannot be infringed."
Of course that "sanctity of life" ends when the baby is born....

And, again, Where are Mitt's tax returns?????