So simple. Raise the FICA cap.When asked by the National Academy of Social Insurance whether Social Security taxes for better-off Americans should be increased, 71 percent of Republicans and 97 percent of Democrats agreed. In a 2012 Gallup Poll, 62 percent of respondents thought upper-income Americans paid too little in taxes.Note to the pols: Just do it, and stop talking about the other fixes.
Staff levels at LSU’s Earl K. Long Medical Center and its clinics have declined so much that LSU officials have had to reduce both inpatient and outpatient clinic services to the poor and working uninsured in the Baton Rouge area.
The number of employees leaving picked up in late January when LSU officials moved the Earl K. Long facility’s closure date up to April 15 from its original November target and decided to turn over operation of its four free-standing clinics to Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center, locally called the Lake, instead of keeping them under LSU.
The Lake becomes home to LSU’s inpatient hospital care and medical education programs on April 15. The state employees lose their state jobs with the privatization move. Who would ever have expected...? Me, for one. Poor planning and hasty implementation of the transition to privatizing public hospitals and clinics resulted in poor outcomes. But we're talking about the poor and working uninsured, and do they really count here in Louisiana? Are they deserving of any kind of decent health care?
The impact is being felt more dramatically on the outpatient side, where current patients are having difficulty scheduling appointments and new patients are on waiting lists, he said. Surgical clinic activity has also been negatively affected.So. When sick people do not have access to primary care, they get sicker, and some end up in the emergency room to be treated at far greater expense.
Keep in mind that Bobby Jindal refuses to participate in Obamacare's Medicaid expansion plan, which could cover as many as 400,000 of the uninsured, even though adopting the plan would be a winner for Louisiana.
Reed said the reduction in patients also will affect physicians in training and medical student experiences needed for graduate medical education and degree programs during the transition.With Louisiana's sterling history of falling at or near the bottom in educational surveys at every pre-university level, and budget cuts to the bone for public universities, including the flagship university Louisiana State University, why worry that medical education will be affected? Fewer doctors and other medical staff in Louisiana will hit the most vulnerable among us the hardest, but it seems they don't really count.
How can I assign Governor Jindal any grade but F, graduate of an ivy league university and Rhodes Scholar though he may be? How much more of the shenanigans of the governor and the obliging legislators can the state take before the entire house of cards erected by our leaders collapses?
Thanks to Ann.A Glasgow lawyer went duck hunting in rural Aberdeenshire . He shot and dropped a bird, but it fell into a farmer’s field on the other side of a fence.As the lawyer climbed over the fence, the elderly farmer drove up on his tractor and asked him what he was doing.The lawman responded, “I shot a duck and it fell in this field, and now I’m going to retrieve it.”
The old farmer replied, “This is my property, and you are not coming over here.”The indignant lawyer said, “I am one of the best trial lawyers in Scotland and, if you don’t let me get that duck, I’ll sue you and take everything you own.”The old farmer smiled and said, “Apparently, you don’t know how we settle disputes here. We settle disagreements like this with the ‘Three Kick Rule.’”The lawyer asked, “What is the ‘Three Kick Rule’?”The Farmer replied, “Well, because the dispute occurs on my land, I get to go first. I kick you three times and then you kick me three times and so on back and forth until someone gives up.”
The lawyer quickly thought about the proposed contest and decided that he could easily take the old codger. He agreed to abide by the local custom.The old farmer slowly climbed down from the tractor and walked up to the attorney. His first kick planted the toe of his heavy steel-toed work boot into the lawyer’s leg and dropped him to his knees.
His second kick to the midriff sent the lawyer’s last meal gushing from his mouth.The lawyer was on all fours when the farmer’s third kick sent him face-first into a fresh cow pat.
Summoning every bit of his will and remaining strength the lawyer very slowly managed to get to his feet. Wiping his face with the arm of his jacket, he said, “Okay … now it’s my turn.”The old farmer smiled and said, “Nah, I give up. Ye can ha’ the duck.
this is a dress-up box for the future & it's filled withFrom StoryPeople.
stuff like courage & love & play because they're the
only things that are any use at all when you get right
down to it.
The Sistine Chapel, which will be closed to visitors for the duration of the papal conclave, is being readied for occupation by the College of Cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church when they gather to elect a new pope. Along with the mandatory oath of secrecy taken by all the cardinals before official meetings begin, security to prevent leaks through electronic devices will be put in place in the Sistine Chapel.Yet while the world will primarily notice the familiar four rows of tables lining the chapel's sides to the rood screen, the most intense piece of the preparation literally begins at ground level – as in 2005, a whole-room platform will be built to lift the floor and provide for the installation of a warren of signal-jammers underneath to ensure that the voting site is kept free of any attempt at wireless communication.
The jammers likewise surrounded the Domus Sancta Marthae last time to maintain, but given the degree of technological evolution over the last eight years, the de-bugging operation at this Conclave – both to maintain its secrecy and keep the cardinals out of contact with the world – promises to be ever more intense, and is likely to include the confiscation of all devices belonging to the electors before the voting begins.
Charles Pierce at his Esquire blog asks why the intense emphasis on secrecy.
We are told repeatedly that the cardinal-electors fulfill their office at the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. (Even silly American TV reporters repeat this, whether they believe it or not.) That being the case, why is it necessary to cloak the work of the Spirit in secrecy? Scripture tells us that the Spirit is available to us all. It came upon the disciples and the first thing they did was run right out and proclaim it, gobsmacking the daylights out of the people who'd come to Jerusalem just to buy a goat or two.
Acting to protect the identity of the diocese he serves, the Right Reverend Charles G. vonRosenberg filed suit in U.S. District Court today against Bishop Mark Lawrence, asking the court to declare that only vonRosenberg, as the bishop recognized by The Episcopal Church, has the authority to act in the name of the Diocese of South Carolina.Read the rest of the news about the litigation at the link.
Having renounced The Episcopal Church, Bishop Lawrence is no longer authorized to use the diocese’s name and seal. By doing so, he is engaging in false advertising, misleading and confusing worshippers and donors in violation of federal trademark law under the Lanham Act, the complaint says. It asks the court to stop Bishop Lawrence from continuing to falsely claim that he is associated with the Diocese of South Carolina, which is a recognized sub-unit of The Episcopal Church.
Heh, heh. Another of the hastily thrown together educational "reforms" is declared unconstitutional by a District Court judge in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The first "reform" to be declared unconstitutional was the funding of vouchers for private schools with money constitutionally allocated to public schools. Of course, both decisions will be appealed, and who knows what will be decided by the Louisiana Supreme Court. Still, it's another setback for the the governor (who is at 37% approval rating) and his enablers in the legislature.One of Gov. Bobby Jindal’s signature laws that makes it harder for teachers to earn and retain a form of job protection, called tenure, was declared unconstitutional Monday.
State District Judge R. Michael Caldwell, of the 19th Judicial District Court in Baton Rouge, who in December upheld the tenure part of a sweeping education law, reversed himself after hearing new arguments from both sides.
State Rep. John Bel Edwards, D-Amite and an opponent of the tenure law, said Monday that, during House debate on the measure, he and other opponents warned that it was legally flawed but that Jindal and his legislative allies “ramrodded it through.”Thank you, Rep. Edwards. You should know. Good luck to you in your run for governor.
Edwards, a lawyer, is chairman of the House Democratic Caucus and has said he plans to run for governor in 2015.
In his weekly address, President Obama tells the American people that a series of harmful budget cuts—called the sequester—have taken effect because Congress failed to act. Because Republicans in Congress refused to compromise to close tax loopholes for the wealthiest Americans, hundreds of thousands of Americans will lose their jobs or see their paycheck reduced, and middle class families will be hurt. Congress must join the President now to replace these cuts with a balanced approach that reduces our deficit while also making smart investments in areas that help our economy grow.Watch the video here.
