I just can's help myself, I can't ignore stupidity!

There is a new governor in Wisconsin, Scott Walker, and he is threatening to take away government workers' right to form unions and bargain contracts.  Now to me that sounds more like a dictatorship than a democracy and we should all be very worried about this.  Worse is his thinking; "We can no longer live in a society where the public employees are the haves and the taxpayers who foot the bills are the have-nots... the bottom line is that we are going to look at every legal means we have to try to put that balance more on the side of the taxpayers."  Public employees are the haves?  No, Governor Walker public employees are the ones working damn hard for a small slice of the pie and you want to take away the one safety net they have, unions.  And guess what, public employees are taxpayers!  So, excuse me, but what in the hell are your spewing?  A bunch of crap I think, in the guise of sounding intelligent and as if you care about the workers of this country.  Then there is another new governor, John Kasich of Ohio, who wants to ban strikes by teachers, and says "If they want to strike, they should be fired.  They've got good jobs, they've got high pay, they get good benefits, a great retirement, what are they striking for?"  What?  They wouldn't want to strike if their great pay, good benefits, and great retirement wasn't about to be taken away!  What a moron!  How do these idiots get elected, and why or why are there so many people, who will be deeply affected by their agendas, in support of them?  I'm trying to go in a different direction with this blog, but when I read this stuff I just can't help myself!
Rosemary

This is a really "I Don't Get It."

I know I was going to go in a new direction, but this is something I need expert clarification on.  I have a 25 year old son who attends school and works.  His health care has up until now been on my policy.  I was expecting that he would continue to be on my policy until turning 26 with the new health care deal.  When I called my benefits person today I was informed that since our enrollment period begins with the new school year, and not January 1st, he falls off now and can't get back on!  While I know how lucky we have been to have been provided with health care for our son, I really don't get how the new law states that a parent's insurance provider must provide insurance for a child until he or she turns 26, but my employer is telling me that they don't have to.  I will be happy to receive responses, especially those that may help me to understand why my son can't be covered, or even better, how I make a case to get him covered!  Thanks to all who take the time to help me "get it."

Rosemary

Let the New Year Begin!

I needed to post something yesterday but not having a really deep thought I didn't  post one!  Today I do, have a deep thought that is.  How do you see 2010?  I see it as having been a year that brought some pretty good things my way, yet all that was hoped for did not come to fruition.  I am not complaining.  I am one of the lucky ones whose life did not completely fall apart, or even really feel much change.  I look back on 2010 and smile at some pretty wonderful memories, shake my head at some pretty ridiculous stuff that went on, and basically know I had a very good year.  I want another one.  I do not live an excessive lifestyle.  I try to take care of myself.  I work hard. I take care of my family.  I pray, and I hope, and I dream.  And there you have the deep thought.  I am lucky enough to believe; I mean really, really believe.  So I pray and know that my prayers will be answered.  I am not sure how they will be answered, but God is listening and will reply.  I am fortunate enough to be able to hope.  I hope that everyone I love will be safe, happy and healthy.  The ability is there for that hope to be a reality, that's lucky.  I also dream of good things.  I get lost in my dreams sometimes and know that they will not be reality, but that's okay because my life now is good enough that I can be okay with my dreams.  What I want, is for 2011 to be a year that allows growth and change to be embraced.  I pray that those I love will find whatever it is they might be searching for; love, peace, contentment, joy, companionship, or simply the ability to be comfortable in their skin and place.  I hope that those I know and care about who are suffering will find relief and healing.  I hope that those I know and love will continue to live lives of fulfillment and prosper in this new year.  I dream the dreams of mine.  May 2011 be the year that allows you to see beauty in a gray day, to hear music in the noise, to speak the truth when it is difficult, to smell the flowers that are on the path that you journey, and to touch a life that you do not know you touch, in fact, may you touch many.  God Bless and Happy New Year.
Rosemary

One Year

My blog is a year old, and like the day I started I am at a loss as to what to write about.  I don't know where I will go from here.  I will keep writing, it is good for me, however, change is needed.  We'll see.  Happy New Year to all, and to all a good night.
Rosemary

Dear Governor Snyder,

With all due respect, let me tell you why your plan to get Michigan working and growing again is skewed.  Your plan asks those of us who have been sacrificing for quite a while now, to take another hit.  Many of the people you are targeting, and you are targeting us, have spouses who have been laid off, so we are the sole support;  cutting our wages, or toying with our benefits will get Michigan working and growing again?  I encourage you to elaborate, please give me concrete details that will explain how.  I am a school teacher.  I make a wage that requires me to think about how I spend my money.  When I was raising my family it was important to budget, and now that my spouse is retired, budgeting is still very much a part of our life.  We do not live elaborately, but we do live comfortably.  I should be okay with not living comfortably when I have done everything the government is telling students today to do; excel in high school, go to college, get a job, continue your education, and work really hard?   I have paid taxes all of my working life, as has my husband.  We have paid a lot of taxes.  The people who run the government have not always made smart decisions with how taxpayers' money should be spent.  I'm sorry Governor Snyder, I am focused on what went wrong, and I am not willing to let you, a very wealthy man, tell me that I should not focus on who is to blame for the mess Michigan is in, and just start looking to the future!  You are determining a very bleak future for me.  Of course reducing health care benefits for public employees is huge in your plan, could you please start with all of those legislators who no longer work for the government but continue to receive free health care even if they only worked for six years?  Do you not recognize that what you are proposing, these reforms that you have said will be painful, will not be painful for you and yours?  These reforms will not be painful for many of our elected officials because they are not dependent on only their government salary and expense account,  yet they will vote to drastically alter my life.  You and your buddies in the house and the senate will not be taking the hit, people like me will.  Now here's what you don't get; cut my pay, reduce my health benefits, and I won't be spending any money!  How exactly is that helping the economy?  It makes me sick just to think about it, but  now I won't be able to afford to go to the doctor in time to save my life, so I will die and then I will be just one more working American that my government didn't  care about at all.
Rosemary

Random Thoughts

Well Happy Birthday to me, and here's a little potpourri of I don't gets;

1.  Sarah Palin went to Haiti on a humanitarian trip and stated "I've really enjoyed meeting this community...They are so full of joy."  What?  The people of Haiti are dirt poor, are in the midst of a cholera epidemic, are still reeling from the earthquake of one year ago, and are immersed in violence due to rioting.  What about this looked like joy to her? 

2.  Prayer vigils by the people of Detroit for Aretha Franklin; people, pray she pays her taxes so you can have the services you deserve.  Just what exactly has Aretha done lately for the city and the people who are rallying around her? 

3.  Mike Bishop said on many days in the Senate he felt his leadership was merely to stop policy proposals initiated by the governor and House.  He then stated that he knows Governor Granholm didn't cause all of Michigan's problems but he doesn't think she ever developed a relationship with the Legislature.  What?  Let's see, I want to try and have a relationship with a group of people who I need to work with, but at every attempt this group's leader says NO!  Relationships take two, two sides working in tandem Mike.  But Mike doesn't get this. 

4.  Dan Akerson wants execs' pay rules eased.  He is worried about losing top talent to other companies.  So just forget about the guidelines that were put in place when the government gave GM the money that saved them, and just go back to doing what you were doing and let it happen all over again.  Apparently he makes $9 million, but walked away from much more because he WANTED to work for GM, and he says "There's more to life than money."  Does anyone else see the contradiction in all of this?  Oh, and I just love when the filthy rich talk about how money is so unimportant!  The reason there is more to their life than money is because they have the money to have a nice life!  Idiots. 

5.  Mattel has created "Barbie Video Girl."  The Barbie doll has an LCD screen on its back and shoots video through a lens hidden in the doll's necklace.  Why? 

So that's it for tonight.  Happy Birthday to me.
Rosemary

Deficit Commission

According to the Our Editorial section in the Detroit News, this is what "attacking the deficit looks like:"
1.  Higher Social Security retirement age.  Now I ask you, who needs social security?  Not the very wealthy, they have managed to squirrel away a large portion of their earnings for their retirement, at any age.  No, social security is needed by those of us who are not wealthy.  Those who have, would like those of us that do not, to work longer to get what we have been paying into all of our working lives. Perhaps we will die first from the stress of worrying about how we will manage when we can no longer work.
2.  Reduce or eliminate the child care tax credit.  Who does this hurt?  Those who need to pay for child care so that they can go to work to pay for their home, their food, their utilities, oh and child care. 
3.  Reduce or eliminate the tax on mortgage interest.  So here is another tax increase that those of us in the middle, and those less fortunate, will feel far more seriously than those in the higher tax brackets.
4.  Hike the gasoline tax by 15%.  Yes we will all pay the same for gas, but those with no financial worries will still gas up for pleasure trips, most of us will gas up to go to work and then park the car in the driveway, if lucky enough to have a driveway.
So let's see, put the burden on the elderly, work longer to be able to reap your rewards; and the young who are trying to make ends meet raising a family and keeping a home.  The editorial states, "America has dug itself into a huge hole with runaway spending.  Getting out will require widespread sacrifice."  So I ask you, who's being asked to sacrifice?  Oh, and I just love this paragraph, "The problem has gone way beyond what can be solved with simple adjustments.  A serious deficit reduction plan will demand deep cuts in entitlement spending, (social security), and quite possibly some tax increase in places least likely to harm economic growth, (our mortgages).
Makes it sound so sane, but it's crazy because look who's paying?  You are crazy if you don't get this. 
Rosemary