Newt Gingrich seems to be suffering from a mass ailment among Repubicans, Tea-baggers, and Conservatives. It is called Mass Selective Amnesia, or MSA. Yes, with all their bluster and BS they have concurred a very bad case of MSA. It is usually caused by talking about the problems that have beset our country, including the economy and the huge unemployment numbers, but also occurs when talking about debt and deficits.
The Problem: Unemployment, is just supposed to keep getting worse:
U.S. Initial Jobless Claims Rose More Than Forecast By Shobhana Chandra
Oct. 22, 2009 (Bloomberg) -- More Americans than forecast filed claims for unemployment benefits last week, a reminder that the labor market will be slow to recover.
Initial jobless applications rose by 11,000 to 531,000 in the week ended Oct. 17
[...]
Economists project the unemployment rate will reach 10 percent by the first quarter of 2010, underscoring the risk to consumer spending, the biggest part of the economy. Companies cutting costs remain reluctant to hire, even as they've eased dismissals from levels seen earlier this year.
How to save $1.3 trillion a year, get healthcare reform, and lose weight doing it Michael Lemke, Special Interests Examiner - Sept 3, 2009
Ending the Bush tax cut for the top 1%would save $132 billion next year alone.
While the rich have been getting richer at a staggering rate both under Clinton and under Bush, the lower 80% of US households have been stagnating or getting poorer. We have reach the highest level of income inequality in US history, surpassing even the obscene levels of the late 1920s.
Well, that's one sure fire way to help pay for Health Care --
Repeal the Bush Give-Away to the Top 1%, or just let them sunset, as the legislation requires!
January 1, 2011, is one Sunset, that can't come soon enough!
Left to their own devices, Private Interests will UNDERCUT the Public Interest, most every time!
That's what the Profit Motive is all about -- it cares more about the interests of ME, instead of the well-being of the WE, from which Societies are built.
Since the GOP is fond of saying that "the USA has the Best Health Care System in the World", I decided to do a little Fact Checking. ... And according to the World Health Organization:
Health Performance Rank By Country
United States of America:
Performance: On level of health : 72nd
Performance: Overall health system: 37th
Health expenditure per capita in international $'s
Country Rank: USA: 1st
This year, an estimated 1.5 million Americans will declare bankruptcy. Many people may chalk up that misfortune to overspending or a lavish lifestyle, but a new study suggests that more than 60 percent of people who go bankrupt are actually capsized by medical bills.
Bankruptcies due to medical bills increased by nearly 50 percent in a six-year period, from 46 percent in 2001 to 62 percent in 2007, and most of those who filed for bankruptcy were middle-class, well-educated homeowners, according to a report that will be published in the August issue of The American Journal of Medicine.
1.5 million Americans x 60% = 900,000 Americans
that's about 2500 more people per day
... going bankrupt from medical bills
, which were NOT covered by our broken Health Insurance system
Way back in March of 2009, Rachel explained the "Highway Robbery" which happened on Wall Street, using a few simple word-pictures. (ie. simple Frames). These perhaps deserve a quick review ...
(our crumbling infrastructure... - promoted by poligirl)
America was built on lots of hard work. At the cost of untold blood, sweat and tears. So much so, that we take it for granted. We just assume that all the modern conveniences we enjoy -- will just always be there!
Well a team of super serious, civil engineers, is warning our careless assumptions here, could be in for a very rude awaking.
American Society of Civil Engineers, ASCE, has issued their 2009 Infrastructure Report Card, for America, and well, it's far from encouraging ...
