Political Ad wars

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Tuesday August 14, 2012 · 8:59 AM PDT

2012/08/14 · 08:59

I have been watching the HoopLa about two political ads from opposing parties. One add was approved by Mitt Romney and run in swing states. The ad accuses President Obama of gutting the WELFARE TO WORK ACT. Several fact checking organizations have rated the ad as false.
The 2nd ad was developed by Priorities USA and has not been sold to any media market. However, it has been shown on MORNING JOE and other political talk shows.
Go to factcheck.org/2012/08/is-romney-to-blame-for-cancer-death/
According to the MORNING JOE people this add is a "Low Blow".
This ad features a gentleman who lost his job in 2001 when Bain closed the company he had worked for. The loss of his job meant the loss of health insurance. The man goes on to talk about how his wife ignored signs of illness until he took her to the emergancy room where she was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer. She died 22 days later.
The Annenberg Fact Checker points out that there are problems with the add but at issue is statements of opinion rather than the facts of the add.

The MORNING JOE people worked very hard to get David Gibbs to agree that the Priorities USA add was appalling. When Mr. Gibbs pointed out the issues with the Romney approved ad they basically brushed his argument aside.
I see this as evidence of the divide between the upper income class and the rest of us. I see false advertizing as much worse than and ad that uses facts to raise questions.
The Prorities USA as resonates with me. I understand that loss of a job can lead to loss of health care. I understand that it can take more than 5 years for an older person to replace the income and benefits from a job loss. I understand that people who are juggling bills, trying to exist on $15,000 a year instead of $45,000 do not go to the doctor and a cancer can go undetected until it is too late.
The MORNING JOE people appear to be unaware of these issues. Maybe, they have never had to worry about getting a job. Joe is a former Congressman so lack health care will never be an issue for him.
The wealthy in this country do not seem to be aware that our access to health care is through our jobs and many of us are losing that access. For quite some time it has been difficult for a person who worked spent many years in the same job to find a new position quickly. For older people this means a job with benefits and a livable wage can be very hard to replace. As an example, my own daughter in law, a teacher who was let go when the enrollment at her private school decreased, has not been able to get a full time teaching job with benefits for three school years. Since my son is an auto mechanic in a small job shop this means their family has no access to affordable health care.
I personally know the terror of living without health insurance. After a divorce during the 80's I was unable to get a job with health care until I earned a bachelors degree. Even with the BS it took me a couple more years to get a job with health care. During that time I did not see a doctor. I was terrified I might be diagnosed with a pre existing condition that would make me ineligible for health care when I could afford it. I was constantly worried that one of my three boys would be hurt and need expensive health care. Luckily we made it through unscathed.

kamsgram

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Wednesday August 08, 2012 · 2:44 PM PDT

2012/08/08 · 14:44

I heard someone on a talk show mention that even though Ann Romney has MS she is fortunate because she has never had to worry about paying bills. I also remember hearing that Ann Romney had made a comment to the effect that everyone with MS could benefit by horseback riding.
These two ideas made me wonder about all the people with MS who can not afford health insurance, let alone $70,000 a year for a horse.
Mrs. Romney can you imagine what it would be like to have MS without insurance coverage? Can you imagine what it would be like to have MS and be losing your home to forclosure? Can you imagine what it would be like to be raising 5 boys on $400 a week while coping with MS? Please try to imagine because I am sure someone in this nation who has MS is also coping with lack of money, lack of health care and the possibility of loosing their only home.
Please think about how your Husband's policy on health care would effect these people. ACA is a step in the right direction. Do not let it be repealed.

If any of you have MS please share how you are coping?

View from Near the Bottom 5

kamsgram

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Wednesday August 01, 2012 · 9:36 AM PDT

2012/08/01 · 09:36

Today the Post Office is in the news for defaulting on a $5.5 billion dollar payment and getting bad press. I think this is the result of another salvo fired by the 1% in its war against the rest of us.
In 2006 the Post Office had a huge surplus so Congress decided the money should be put in a fund to accomodate future health care costs of Post Office retirees for the next 75 years and that $5.5 billion had to be added to the fund each year.
Was this bill the result of poor thinking by Congress or was it a conservative attempt to undermine the Post Office because Postal efficiency makes a lie out of the conservative claim that anything run by the government turns into a huge inefficient bureaucracy?
What better bang for my buck can I get anywhere? Its amazing that I can send a letter 2000 miles in two days for 37--39--41--44 cents. ( You can tell I have been using this argument for a long time by the progression of stamp prices.)
Conservatives are now arguing that the Post Office is losing money because so many of us use the internet instead of writing letters. However, as one of those internet users I now order more items than ever before and those items are delivered to my door by the Post person. So I do not buy that argument.
According to Frederic Relondo (speaking on today's Diane Rehm show) the Post office has two overfunded funded pension funds as well as the $45 billion dollars in the healthcare fund. Also, the Post Office has never used any tax money. It has always supperted itself by postage fees.
Also on the show, Ted Dehaven from the CATO Institute argued that the Post Office should be privatized. He stated "I don't think Congress is capable of running a lemonade stand."
I am sick and tired of these conservative attacks on our Post Office. Congress has manage to do a great job of running the Postal System for over 200 years. If they are no longer capable of running a lemonade stand its time we get new people in Congress.
In my district I will be voting for newcomer Wanda Rohl. I will also be encouraging her to fignt for term limits for all elected government officials.

View from near the Bottom page 4

kamsgram

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Tuesday July 24, 2012 · 11:18 AM PDT

2012/07/24 · 11:18

A huge majority of Republican legislators along with a small minority of Democratic legislators have signed a pledge to Grover Norquist that they will not raise taxes under any circumstances.
On the surface, to the average voter this sounds appealing. We all prefer to keep our taxes low. However, our taxes are what provides the social safety net that more and more of us are having to rely on for survival as jobs are exported to other countries, foreclosures are increasing and unusual weather conditions are creating crises for farmers, and families who have been hit hard by flooding and hurricanes in the last few years.
Taxes fund mental health clinics, medicaid, defense, the highway system, education, research, and many other things that effect our daily lives.
Currently the taxes on the top 2% are lower than they have ever been and the super rich want to keep it that way. With a majority of legislators reporting the Grover Norquist they will succeed.
Its easy to check whether or not your Congress people, Governor, and even local leaders have signed the Grover Norquist pledge. Just google Grover Norquist or Americans for Prosperity.
If your leaders have signed this pledge you might want to support their opponents in the November election.
In my district, Illinois 16, we have a grass roots candidate who in her own words"Is not for sale." We have been told she has no chance to be elected but we are working to prove the politicians wrong.
Working people have a hard time getting accurate information about candidates because they do not have time to read and research candidates but also because the media is filled with misleading statements made by wealthy candidates attacking each other. Its easy to be swayed by pledges of "No new taxes."

kamsgram

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Sunday July 22, 2012 · 10:50 AM PDT

2012/07/22 · 10:50

I have been in a state of shock since waking on Friday morning to the news of the mass shootings in Aurora, CO. Now the hard questions are being asked. What could have been done to prevent this? Were there any signs that should have been reported to police? What about stricter gun laws? Could someone in the audience with a gun have limited the distruction (Concealed Carry).
I have a Masters in Social Work from the University of Illinois and have worked with disturbed people in inpatient settings and as a School Social Worker.
As a mental health professional I have a responsibility to provide confidentiality for my clients. Without this assurance of confidentiality our ability to serve clients would be very limited. However, we are required to notify authorities if we deem a client is "a danger to self or others." This in not an easy task.
The young man who went on a murdering rampage at Northern Illinois University actually attended classes at the same Social Work School where I recieved my MSW. The Colorado Killer had been in a PHD program. There may have been signs of problems but we cannot force people into treatment. Others with psychiatric problems may not be able to afford treatment. I saw this in my work in schools. We have a community mental health clinic but getting service there can involve long waits for an assessment and then more long waits because the providers are overloaded with clients. Parents give up or cannot get their child to appointments because of other committments or lack of transportation.
Adults who have been diagnosed and are recieving treatment cannot be forced to take the medication. Some stop because they cannot afford the treatment. Others stop because they feel better and can spiral back into crazy quickly.
WE NEED DO DEVELOP BETTER WAYS OF DEALING WITH MENTAL HEALTH IN OUR COUNTRY.

The other issue that keeps coming up is gun control I support the 2nd Amendment but I do believe training, licensing, and reporting are important. In these high tech days why can't an alert be sent to law enforcement agencies when one person buys huge quantities of amunition and other items that can be used to create bombs.

The View from Near the Bottom

kamsgram

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Wednesday July 18, 2012 · 7:08 PM PDT

2012/07/18 · 19:08

Hello, I want to share a bit about myself so you will understand what shapes my perceptions of the world.
I am a baby boomer brought into the world by the oldest daughter of a South Dakota farmer and her husband who had returned from WW11. We lived in a farmhouse and my parents shared farming responsibilites with my Grandparents and Uncles until I was 9 years old. At that time, after 7 years of drought and failed crops, my parents packed up my sister, brother, and I and moved to Illinois where they both got factory jobs. They bought a one room school and spent all the rest of the years until after I graduated high school turning it into a home. The school house was 12 miles from the small town where we attended school and 6 miles from the city where my parents worked.
My parents lived paycheck to paycheck. When I graduated from High School I went to work in a factory and attended the local Jr College part time. I married a young man who also worked in another factory and got pregnant. With my second pregnancy I had twins. It did not make economic sense for me to work and pay for child care for three children so I stayed home until the twins entered school. Then I worked part time selling Tupperware, and doing market research.
I had unwittingly married an alcoholic who never chose sobriety. We divorced when my oldest boy was 13 and the twins were 10. This was in the 1980's when jobs were
scarce just as they are now. I was working 28 hours a week at a department store. The store would not give me more hours because they did not want to provide health care and other benefits. Does that sound familiar to anyone?
I left the department store job to work at a Home for disabled Children where I worked the midnight to 7 am shift. I took a pay cut so I could get a job with health insurance only to find that I couldn't afford the cost of insurance because my full time pay did not cover my cost of living. I also found out I couldn't work all night, attend college classes during the day and get any sleep, especially with three boys and their friends running in and out. I ended up with a serious case of bronchitis and lost my job. My car engine seized up and I had no money to get it running. My ex was not working.
Feeling like total failure, I applied for AFDC. After being turned down twice I was told I would be getting food stamps and a check on a certain date. I was still hunting for a job but had gotten financial educational aid and enrolled in Jr. College with a goal of finishing my AA. My mother loaned me her car. Then I came home on a Friday morning to find a card in my door that said a caseworker had made three visits to my home and left cards and since I had not contacted them I would not recieve AFDC. I spent the whole afternoon trying to contact the agency but noone answered the phone. I had fifty cents left and was three months behind on house payments. I was devastated. After a weekend of financial terror I was finally able to get hold of the social worker and we figured out she had been going to the wrong house on our block and that was why she didn't find us home. My neighbor had left the card in my door. For two years my boys and I existed on $365 a month and food stamps while I finished my associates and then my bachelors degree. Luckliy, I had the use of my mother's car and live in a town that had a Jr. College and a 4 year college.
That is why I am calling this blog the View from Near the Bottom. Because those of us who have been near the bottom often have very different political views than the people whose columns we read or who we see on television. My View is one perspective of what its like to live in the USA.

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