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  • Should ACORN receive federal funding?

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When major U.S. companies such as Chrysler,General Motors and Lehman Brothers  go under,what safeguards are in place to assure the public that more icons of the American
business system won’t follow.

Bail outs amount to nothing more than taxpayer funded hand outs to most of these companies.
The major banks who held out their hands and asked in a whispered , childlike voice, “More please sir” still have not gotten the message. For the most part,they have paid the TARP fund loans back but are painfully slow in upholding their promise to make more credit available to the small business community that is the back bone of the U.S. economy. Outrageous bonus packages,flat stock prices and boardroom sweetheart deals have eroded public trust in their products and services .
Mortgage foreclosures continue to out pace home sales,even though the mortgage holders pledged to work with those who were in danger of losing their homes.
Partisan politics continue to block any possibility of achieving a meaningful health care reform program.

Yes,America can fail.If the biggest tree in the forest is struck by lightning,nothing can save the trees around it from the ensuing flames.

Jesse James was wanted for robbing and looting.

In the 21st century,the banks rob the public.

And not a shot has to be fired…..

Is Health Care Reform a federal issue? Reform, as it has been discussed, is not a federal issue. Ensuring everyone has medical insurance is not the role of the federal government. However, making sure that those who are providing insurance are not scamming individuals, and those who are developing medication are not harming the citizens of the nation are federal issues.

If it is a federal issue, why do many of the proposals pass the costs down to the state level? Basically, the way the rules have been written in the past is to pool all resources together, meaning that federal and state tax revenues are used to cover the costs. However, it could easily be argued that forcing states to pay for a federal program that exists outside of the scope of the Constitution violates the 10th Amendment.

Shouldn’t all of the expenses be the responsibility of the federal government? If this is a federal program, then yes, the federal government should shoulder 100% of the costs. However, going back to first point, the federal government should not be involved in insuring the public.

Next, “We need A to avoid B” is not a very good argument by Congress. Who is to say that even under a public option that is passed someone will still rack up high medical bills and lose their home? Unless you go 100% pure government-run medical coverage, the risk of severe financial hardship will exist, especially if the person impacted has lived beyond their means and never planned for an emergency (this can happen to rich and poor people alike).

Lastly, all of these bills fail to deal with the real problems behind medical insurance. The lack of competition, oversight, and ever-increasing doctor costs associated with education and legal defense are being glossed over by simply expanding Medicare. Medicare in its current form is insolvent. Do you think expanding it will some how make it cost effective? All of the proposals right now will lead to higher taxes for everyone and/or a decrease in the quality of care provided. Neither Republicans nor Democrats have a practical approach to the issue.

I think the whole problem with the debate is not about “public options” but the legislation that is included with the public option item. The public option already exists, as people who are on welfare or unemployment have access to medical care through their state plans, and no one really objects to that.

The problem occurs in the proposed health care reform packages. As it stands now, the various House versions penalize companies who do not provide health care options for their employees. If the penalty to not provide health care coverage is cheaper than the costs to provide a company plan, the company is obviously going to cut the benefit. This places an unnecessary large number of people onto the government’s public option plan. That burden will now cost the government (and the public) more money than if the company kept their medical benefits. There is the rub.

This could all be avoided, however, if Congress would just pass the Bush/Obama cross-state insurance marketplace plan. That would put a large number of people seeking medical coverage into a single pot where the 100+ insurance companies can compete for the new business. This would mean lower costs due to more participants, and therefore more coverage than current exists. If we keep getting our hose in a wad over “public option,” then we’re going to end up with either incomplete reform, or reform that is more detrimental than beneficial.

Source:  Political Blog Network

It seems like every politician cares about the middle class. It doesn’t matter if the politician is a Republican or Democrat; they “care” about the middle class. “I’ll do this…” and “I’ll do that…” for the middle class seems to be their mantra while they are on the campaign trail and in office, arguing how they are a friend to them while the other party is the enemy. Well, I would like to tell the current and all future politicians that I don’t care about the “middle class.”

Yes, that is what I said. I don’t care. I don’t care about some arbitrary category of individuals. What I do care about all the individuals, regardless of class. This constant game of class warfare has to come to an end. As the Declaration of Independence states, “All men are created equal.” A person making $50,000 is no more important than a person making $1,000,000. A person living on the streets is no less important than a person living in a nice suburb. So why are the politicians wasting our time with this?

I want a politician to get on the stage, look America in the eye, and state, “I don’t care about the middle class. I care about everyone.” I want a politician that will work to ensure the tax burden on all taxpayers is reduced, not just token tax credits being allocated to a particular segment of society. This is done by focusing our resources on items that improve our national security readiness, infrastructure for commerce, investing federal funds into regional markets that are hurting to create business environments that will bring in new companies, and eliminating the special interest group tax deductions for the tax code.

Taking a responsible business approach to the spending of our taxes can lead to a positive return on investment, resulting in future annual surpluses. In return, the government can lower the tax rates on all taxpayers and could even raise the tax-exempt level for many more at the same time. Why our politicians do not advocate this boggles the mind. I’m left with only two possible explanations. The politicians either do not understand how our economy works, or our they do not care about our taxpayers and see no reason to be fiscally responsible. I will let you decide which explanation is correct. In the mean time, I will continue to wait for the politician that does not care about the “middle class.”

Source:  U.S. Common Sense blog

We’ve heard of the issues surrounding ACRON, stemming from accusations of election fraud and advising people how to obtain loans to operate a brothel.  These are obviously black spots on their record and makes people think twice before doing business with them.  However, say for a moment that none of that has happened.  Should ACORN receive federal funding?

ACORN, and all other community organizers for that matter, do a service that can be seen as beneficial on the local level.  People do need to have a voice when it comes to issues that impact their lives.  Such activities cost money, and the sum is something that they probably could not raise on their own.  So, we’ll send them some funds to help them out.  Sounds simple enough.

But one of the activities that ACORN gets involved in is helping people register to vote.  Doesn’t this come across as a conflict of interest?  Federal funds are being used by an organization to register people to vote, and hopefully for the candidate that will send more money to the organization.  Sounds like a conflict of interest to me!

If Congress were to put limitations to what business ACORN can get involved in (such as denying them funds if they participate in voter registration), then the conflict of interest is removed.  The process is legal, since there are already business restrictions on other forms of federal funding by private and public organizations.  Why it hasn’t been enacted in this case is beyond me.

Source:  Political Blog Network

You are now able to register a new account and post your articles.  The information on how to do this can be found on the page labeled “Member Info” above.

I would like to introduce the Political Blog Network.  This site will feature the writings of some of the best independent bloggers around the internet.  The intent is to provide a variety of views from across the political spectrum in order to help explain the complex issues facing our nation and the world today. 

If you are a blogger who would like to have your work shared, or, if you are a writer looking to have your voice heard but never created a blog, please sound off below and your voice will be added to the discussion.  Unlike some of the other syndication sites out there, this Network does not require you to delay the posting of your work AND you are more than welcome to link back to your site at the end of your article. 

Give me the weekend to work on the set-up and we should be ready to go.

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