Ronald Reagan - Psychic?

Fifty years ago a guy named, Ronald Reagan, recorded a warning for Americans regarding Socialized Medicine.  

Forty-plus years later, we forgot and America elected a Socialist with a dream of 'Affordable Health Care'.
 
Dang.  

P.C. Police Travel Tips!

Hello Citizen Vacation Travelers!!!

Thinking of getting 'away' this summer?!?!

Looking to put some distance between you and the place you spend 94% of your regularly-scheduled year?!?!

Have you been putting off your family's vacation (for years) due to uncertain financial conditions at your business, in your State, or in the Nation in general?  Well put off that vacation NO longer - it's time for you to go somewhere!!!  And face it, in this economy, anywhere's a better place to be (a literary tip of my big ole cow head to Harry Chapin.)

Yes, men, women, boys, and girls it's time for you to do YOUR part in 'lighting up' our anemic economic recovery.  Yes, I know that the normal recovery following a Recession is roughly 12 - 18 months and our economy's been limping along for YEARS now, but come on, get over it, it's Bush's fault - accept it - moove on!!!  Go ahead, bite the bullet, make that decision to get away NOW (while you still can)!!!  

Operators are standing by to take your reservation!!!  (And President Obama requests that you use LIVE Travel Agency Personnel because using a computer to do 'stuff' is only holding the economy back - thanks!)  

But, um, oops, before you go, there are a few things you need to be aware of...  Yes, just a few teensy tiny housekeeping items so that you don't make other people feel uncomfortable while you're traveling.  

Because, when it comes down to it, it's not about YOU, it's all about them.

Whoever THEY are...

This just in from the "Seriously, You're Really NOT Kidding?" Department of Moos Room, courtesy of the TSA:


July 2, 2013, TSA Traveler Information Message...

Ramadan, a holy month for persons of the Muslim faith, begins this year approximately on Tuesday, July 9, 2013 and ends on Thursday, August 8, 2013.   

(Moos Note:  Ramadan begins 'approximately' on July 9th?  Seriously?  Don't you think the TSA would confirm the dates prior to sending out this travel alert?)

TSA understands that this is a significant religious event for the Muslim community. TSA has reminded its security workforce that traveling passengers may be observed at various areas in the airport - including security checkpoints or on aircraft - engaged in religious practices and meditations during Ramadan. 

TSA would also like to inform the traveling public that they may notice passengers who are observing Ramadan engaging in the following activities at the airports:


 

• Passengers observing Ramadan will abstain from any food, water, smoking or vices of any kind.

• Passengers observing Ramadan may be more likely to engage in prayer at airports or on airplanes while traveling than at other times during the year.

• Before prayer, Muslims go through ablution, i.e., a cleansing or washing of certain areas of the body that is usually done in private if possible, but may be observed in airport restrooms.

•  Passengers observing Ramadan may be seen reading, listening to or orally reciting the Holy Qur’an at airports and on airplanes.

•  Passengers observing Ramadan may carry prayer beads and “whisper” prayers constantly.

Thank you for your understanding!  And have a great trip!  

One last thing, don't make the sign of the cross and say a silent prayer as your plane lifts off - this might be considered offensive to someone sitting across the aisle from you.  

While traveling in the United States, consider yourself our nation's Representative Diversity Champion - don't let us down!  We're counting on you to be Religion-Free this Summer Vacation Season!!!



Happy trails America!!!   

The Fifth of July

July 4th, Washington, DC

Yesterday (in case you were in a coma and missed it) was the Fourth of July.  The Fourth came and went as most others before it - no new news here.  Earlier this week I saw / heard folks stocking up on BBQ items, several chronologically-impaired adults wondering why the date can't always fall on either a Friday or Monday, and more than a few teens buying contraband Chinese-made fireworks out of the trunks of cars.

Yes, a Fourth of July like so many others.

Then, of course, the calendar inexorably thuds forward to another day and we wake up to this...

Once again we take a perfectly good American Holiday and we use it to 'trash up the place'.

Yes, today is the Fifth of July.  

Today is the day on which we need to begin to clean up our National Mess.  

The Founders couldn't have foreseen what we've managed to do to their 'bouncing baby Nation' during the past 237 years.  

Well, perhaps one of them did back in 1787...

Philadelphia, 1787:  Outside Independence Hall when the Constitutional Convention of 1787 ended, Mrs. Powel of Philadelphia asked Benjamin Franklin,"Well, Doctor, what have we got, a republic or a monarchy?" 

With no hesitation whatsoever, Franklin responded,"A republic, if you can keep it."

"If you can keep it."

Ah, maybe it's because I'm tired?  Maybe it's because I woke up crabby knowing that I have to work today and my boss does not?  Or, perhaps it's because I didn't sleep much last night due to heat, firework noise, and that little voice yipping at me as I tried in vain to fall asleep?  The voice kept repeating Benjamin Franklin's words spoken outside of Independence Hall all those years ago.

Memory is like that - one day you can't remember what your wife's nephew's name is, and the next, something you heard in Sixth Grade History class pops into your melon when you least expect / want it to.

Yes, today is the Fifth of July.  Do we continue to trash up the United States of America as we have in the past, or do we clean up the Old Girl, steady her on her feet, and nurture her back to health / prosperity?  

It's up to me.  It's up to you.  

It is NOT up to chance or to fate.

It's up to US.

Today is the Fifth of July.  If you blow it up, clean it up.

In reality it doesn't matter who 'blew up' our Country - what matters is that we clean it up and fix the mess we've allowed to be made for ourselves and for future generations.  

We, the People, will get our Houses in order.

Heat, fireworks, lack of sleep or memory-lapses will not prevent us from doing what needs to be done.  Members of Congress will be coming back soon to again stand, speak, lecture, and listen to each other.

It's a good time for them to listen to US.  

Happy Fifth of July, America...  

Godspeed.

  

ObamaCare Magic

Well, if nothing else, the man in the White House is consistent.

Another BIG announcement impacting employers / employees across the U.S. and the announcement is made...  While Congress is gone, Americans are preparing to celebrate the Fourth of July, President Obama is thinking about returning from Africa and...  Egypt is preparing to implode.

Yup, time to make the after-hours, pre-holiday announcement and watch to see if ANYONE gorging on hot dogs, iced tea, and apple pie notices...

Huh?  What's that?  You don't know what I'm talking about?  Oops, sorry, that's because you're NOT supposed to know what's going on in your government.  It's safer for you not to know - if you know what I mean.  Because when something's for the 'Greater Good' you need to know that there are many, many things, greater than yourself. 

Please be aware that if you continue, and keep reading, you'll be doing what this Administration doesn't necessarily want you to do: 

a.  Being Informed,
b.  Getting Informed and finally,
c.  Informing others

Why might they not want you to know what's going on? 

BASIC RULE OF LIFE #73:  When there's going to be spectacular Train Wreck, the best viewing location it is far up on a hill watching from the comfort of a folding chair with an amber-colored beverage in hand.  (This is vastly preferable to being ON one of the aforementioned trains going 60 MPH head long towards a second train - heading straight for you.) 

Unfortunately, for you, me, and MOST other Americans, your seat on the Federally-subsidized "Hell-Bent Express" is reserved!

The personable (and pleasantly dressed) IRS agent manning the ticket window reaches out and deposits your ticket into your open, trembling hand.  In the distance, somewhere on the platform, the conductor in a starched brown uniform shouts, "All aboard!" 

This means you.  Yeah, get on the train. 

No.  Seriously. 

Get on the freaking the train or they'll put you on it. 

It's for your own good.  You'll see.  It's always for YOUR own good.  

Even if it...  Kills you.

  

July 2, 2013, 08:30pm, The Huffington Post:  Obamacare Employer Mandate Delayed For One Year

Employers who don't provide health insurance will be spared penalties of up to $3,000 per worker until 2015, a one-year delay of a major component of President Barack Obama's health care reform law, the Treasury Department announced Tuesday.


Under Obamacare, companies with at least 50 full-time employees are required to provide qualifying health benefits to workers or face financial penalties called "shared responsibility payments." The provision of the law aims to shore up and strengthen the system that provides health benefits to most covered Americans. Under regulatory guidance to be published next week, the Obama administration will free companies from this mandate and from rules that they report information about their health benefits to the federal government next year.

"During this 2014 transition period, we strongly encourage employers to maintain or expand health coverage," Mark Mazur, assistant secretary for tax policy at the Treasury Department, said in a statement. The change does not affect people who will buy health insurance on their own or small businesses that will buy coverage through the law's health insurance exchanges.

More than half of Americans, 170 million people, are covered by employer-sponsored health insurance, according the census data. Of companies with at least 50 workers, 94 percent already offer health benefits, a survey by the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation shows. The one-year delay of the penalties won't have a meaningful effect on jobs being the leading source of health care coverage, said Paul Fronstin, a senior research associate with the Employee Benefit Research Institute.
...

"The fact is, employers have been offering coverage voluntarily for how many years now. They didn't drop it before the law was passed. They offered it for business reasons," Fronstin said. "I don't think you'll see a mass exodus because of this."

Postponing enforcement of the "employer responsibility" mandate also isn't likely to result in significantly fewer people gaining health coverage because of Obamacare next year, said Larry Levitt, senior vice president for special initiatives at the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation.

"The practical effect on how people will get covered is really small," Levitt said. "It might mean ever-so-slightly fewer people gaining insurance, but it'll be a very small number because the vast majority of larger employers already offer coverage." The Congressional Budget Office projected only a modest increase in job-based health benefits because of the law, he said.

...

"This announcement means even the Obama administration knows the 'train wreck' will only get worse," House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said in a statement. "This is a clear acknowledgment that the law is unworkable, and it underscores the need to repeal the law and replace it with effective, patient-centered reforms.'

The administration's move on the employer penalties follows a recent Government Accountability Office report suggesting the law's health insurance exchanges for individuals who don't get coverage at work and for small companies may not be ready for the six-month enrollment period that begins Oct. 1. In April, the administration also delayed part of the law intended to provide small-business workers with more health insurance choices.

These negative developments for the implementation of the health care reform law shouldn't been viewed as major warning signs, however, Levitt said. "I don't think people should read too much into this in terms of how ready the administration is to implement the rest of the law, but I think some people will draw those conclusions. I think it's more of an issue of perception than an issue of reality."

POINT OF CLARIFICATION:  Hey, Mr. Levitt, "Perception" IS "Reality" if you're the guy "Perceiving" it...

Example:

Yeah, the guy in the suit?  His perception rocks - reality, conversely, 'rocks' not so much. 

Okay, so if you follow the Administration's storyline, they're doing this 'delay' of the employer mandate so that 'larger employers' will have time to 'get their stuff together' prior to the full and udder (it's a cow thing, just go with it) roll-out of ObamaCare in 2014. 

The funny thing is that this deferral effectively pushes back OC's (ObamaCare's) deployment until AFTER the 2014 elections.  

Huh, I wonder why that is?

My perception is that this is being done purely for political reasons, as Democrats don't want a leadership 'blood letting' following the full implementation of ObamaCare in 2014. 

My perception is that since no Republicans voted for this legislation, Democrats are hoping a 12-month deferral will give them several more years to oppose Republican reforms (when, and if they every actually happen) and pass bad additional flawed legislation similar to our current Immigration Bill. 

My Perception is that there are no longer two parties in America - there those people who love America's as it WAS, and those who want to bend it to what they want it to BE.

My Reality is that I'd better get to work... 

Lest someone Perceive that I don't care any more and I become another of the takers, vs. the 'giving' kind-of-guy that I am.

Oh, and regarding the 'cut-&-pasted' photo that begins this post, I perceive that this Administration having the 'Ultimate Power' to do a major sleight of hand (as done late yesterday afternoon) is a lot like having many, many, BIG name stars in a major Hollywood motion picture on which you spent a LOT of other-people's money. 

Yeah, the movie gets made, but what happens when no one is interested in paying to see it?

But when you've got the only theater in town, and you can FORCE people to go, yeah, now you're on to something...

Happy Independence Day America! 

You know, it's odd, but I don't feel quite that we're quite as Independent as we used to be...