Monday, December 31, 2012

Happy New Year 2013! Vintage New Year Films & Sing-Alongs (1950-1960) AU...

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2013

Life is Political: Fwd: MONICA CROWLEY, MICHELLE MALKIN and more at EPC 24! A Perfect Christmas Gift...

Life is Political: Fwd: MONICA CROWLEY, MICHELLE MALKIN and more at EPC 24! A Perfect Christmas Gift...:


click link

snip


Conference opens at 7 p.m. on Thursday, January 24th and ends at 5 p.m. on Saturday, January 26th.

Full Registration price includes:  Friday lunch, dinner and Saturday lunch:  
  • Early Bird Full Registration (by Jan 5) - $300
  • Special First Time Rate (by Jan 17) - $199
  • Full Registration (after Jan 17) - $350 
  • Michele Malkin Dinner ONLY - $65
  • Michele Malkin Reception/Dinner ONLY - $250
  • Michele Malkin Reception/Dinner & Photo-op - $500  
REGISTRATION OPTIONS:  You may register for EPC 24online  here - password: Code 24, or mail in a completed registration form that you had  received in the mail. Reservations may also be made over the phone by calling us at 636-386-1789 or via email at freedombasics5@sbcglobal.net 
--- ------
note costs on tea party event..  getting ready for midterms it seems.  one wonders if dems or general gop doing the same?

Sunday, December 30, 2012

Predator Bankers Make 'Ghetto Loans' for 'Mud People'

some of this in Missouri as well if reports are true. where is law enforcement?

Obama Ignores Climate, EPA Head Leaves

/the-stars-editorial-missouri-medicare expansion

http://www.kansascity.com/2012/12/28/3985157/the-stars-editorial-missouri-and.html

click link

snip

 
Right now, it is nearly impossible for low-income workers in Missouri and Kansas to obtain health insurance if their employers don’t provide it. Both states have very low Medicaid eligibility limits. People go without care, use free health clinics, or use hospital emergency rooms.

The economic and moral reasons to expand Medicaid are compelling.
The federal government would pay all of the costs of the expansion for three years, and never less than 90 percent. Expansions of health care systems would create thousands of jobs and a huge economic development boost. Some populations who use state aid, such as the mentally ill, would be brought under the Medicaid umbrella, saving states money. People would be healthier and more financially secure.

Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon intends to include the Medicaid expansion in his budget but will face opposition from the legislature. In Kansas, neither Brownback nor legislative leaders have said how they intend to proceed.

Hospitals, citizens and states’ economies will suffer if leaders allow an antipathy toward all things “Obamacare” to deny the benefits of health security.

Missouri senator wants changes in Medicaid - KansasCity.com

Missouri senator wants changes in Medicaid - KansasCity.com

click link

snip

 
While Gov. Jay Nixon and Republican legislative leaders quarrel over whether to expand the public health insurance program for the poor, one GOP state senator is proposing to cut some people off the coverage.

Sen. Rob Schaaf, a St. Joseph Republican, wants to roll back Medicaid eligibility standards for pregnant women and young children.

That savings, Schaaf said, would be used to expand eligibility for elderly, disabled and blind Missourians.
“I’m trying to make sure coverage goes to those who really need it the most,” Schaaf said. “We try to cover too many people, so we do a bad job of taking care of those that really need it

-----
and folks that need the help are the wealthy and businesses in Missouri--my take on those hillbillies in Jefferson city whom serve as fearless leaders

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2012/12/29/3986471/missouri-senator-wants-changes.html#storylink=cpy#storylink=cpy

Judge blocks Missouri insurance law on birth control | Fox News

Judge blocks Missouri insurance law on birth control | Fox News:

click link

 A federal judge on Friday blocked a new Missouri law that requires insurers to exclude birth control coverage for moral objectors, ruling that it conflicts with an insurance mandate under President Barack Obama's health care law.

The temporary restraining order halts the Missouri law just three months after the Republican-led Legislature enacted it by overriding Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon's veto.

The state law requires insurers to issue policies without contraception coverage if it runs contrary to the religious or moral beliefs of an individual or employer. The law appeared to be the first in the nation to directly rebut an Obama administration policy that requires insurers to cover birth control at no additional cost to women.

U.S. District Judge Audry Fleissig wrote in her order that there "appears to be an irreconcilable conflict" between the state and federal laws that puts insurance companies in an awkward position. If they were to comply with Missouri's law, insurers could be subject to federal penalties for not abiding by the contraception mandate. Yet insurers also could face financial penalties from the state insurance department for failing to follow the Missouri law.


Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/12/22/judge-blocks-missouri-insurance-law-on-birth-control/#ixzz2GYessGJM
-------
look for this to go to higher court--my opinion

What to expect if Congress fails to act on "fiscal cliff" - The Telegraph: Local News

What to expect if Congress fails to act on "fiscal cliff" - The Telegraph: Local News

click link

 By KATHIE BASSETT 
ALTON - Whether Congress can reach a compromise to avoid the "fiscal cliff" could have a significant impact on the average taxpayer by triggering tax consequences most have been exempt from paying.
"Taxes will go up for most people, and to an extent, they will go up for everybody," said Mike Fitzgerald, CPA, with Scheffel and Company in Alton. "When the Bush-era tax cuts sunset in the next couple of days, the 10 percent bracket disappears and everybody starts at 15 percent beginning in 2013."
Embedded in the fiscal cliff morass is Congress' failure to pass an annual "patch" of the alternative minimum tax (AMT), which was enacted in the 1960s to make sure the wealthiest could not avoid taxes by accumulating too many deductions and credits.
"In Illinois, people will already be paying more in state income taxes, going from 3 percent in 2010 to 5 percent in 2011," Fitzgerald said. "People keep thinking that they can take an itemized deduction for this, but under AMT they get no deduction for taxes - either income taxes or real estate taxes. This means more and more people will be subject to AMT."
If a deal isn't reached, the average tax increase for affected households would total approximately $3,700 for 2012, according to the Tax Policy Center.
A flat rate of 26 percent would be applied to the first $175,000 under the alternative minimum tax calculation, with income above that level subject to a 28 percent flat rate, Fitzgerald said.
In 2011, only 1.3 percent of households earning between $50,000 and $75,000 paid alternative minimum tax; in 2012, the percentage in this bracket is expected to jump to 12.3 percent, with higher income levels being even more affected.

New year to bring changes | The Columbia Daily Tribune - Columbia, Missouri

New year to bring changes | The Columbia Daily Tribune - Columbia, Missouri:

click link

snip

 JEFFERSON CITY (AP) — The new year is bringing a dime increase for Missouri's minimum wage and the end of an open records exemption that has shielded from disclosure security systems and structural plans for buildings and polices for responding to terrorism.
Starting Wednesday, workers in Missouri will be paid at least $7.35 an hour, an increase above the federal rate of $7.25 because of inflation. A 2006 voter-approved law increased the minimum wage and included an annual cost of living adjustment. The federal minimum wage for the past several years had remained higher, so Missouri followed the federal requirement.
Lara Granich, director of Missouri Jobs with Justice, said many workers have been waiting three years for a raise. "While Missouri's minimum wage remains decades out of date, this modest increase will deliver a valuable stimulus to the state's economy and ensure that low-wage workers do not fall further behind as the cost of living continues to rise," Granich said.
The minimum wage also is increasing in nine other states, the National Employment Law Project said. Advocates estimate Missouri's minimum wage increase could directly affect 72,000 people and indirectly affect 7,000.
Business groups said Missouri needs to rethink automatically increasing the minimum wage based upon inflation because it makes it harder to compete with neighboring states.
Dan Mehan, president and CEO of the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said after the increase was announced this fall that it causes uncertainty.
"At a time when 

Saturday, December 29, 2012

Employee-owners hope to reverse Casino Queen's fortunes : Stltoday

Employee-owners hope to reverse Casino Queen's fortunes : Stltoday

click link

snip


Employees tend to fare better in an ESOP than if a company is sold to a third party, Rodgers said.
“It tends to be a more stable form of ownership,” he said. “ESOP companies know they have something to lose if there is a change in ownership.”
The Casino Queen has a 40,000-square-foot gaming floor with 1,100 slot machines and 27 table games. The casino, in Illinois across from downtown St. Louis, replaced a riverboat in 2007 with a new facility that cost $92 million.
Before Wednesday’s sale, the Casino Queen was owned by a group of private investors, including members of the Koman family in the St. Louis area, which held a 20 percent ownership stake. Other stakeholders included members of the Bidwill, Kenny and Rand families in Chicago and Las Vegas casino operator Michael Gaughan.


Obama Watermelon Statue 'Not Racist,' Says Owner

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Sunday, December 23, 2012

Rod Serling Interviewed by Mike Wallace

------- deals with censorship. interesting because it does mention " Noon on Doomsday",us steelhour presentation. vid was about lynching in south and non only censored, missing from history.

Anonymous Responds To Sandy Hook School Shooting

not really sure whom put this out. could be progun folks interesting, but I do not agree with all the points we do need serious debate on guns

Bowling For Columbine Trailer

currently making it rounds in several circles. not a bad movie

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Healthcare-NOW! - Obamacare architect leaves White House for pharmaceutical industry job

 Obamacare architect leaves White House for pharmaceutical industry job:

click link

snip

Few people embody the corporatist revolving door greasing Washington as purely as Elizabeth Fowler
Former WellPoint VP Elizabeth Fowler sits behind her boss, Sen. Max Baucus
When the legislation that became known as “Obamacare” was first drafted, the key legislator was the Democratic Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, Max Baucus, whose committee took the lead in drafting the legislation. As Baucus himselfrepeatedly boasted, the architect of that legislation was Elizabeth Folwer, his chief health policy counsel; indeed, as Marcy Wheeler discovered, it was Fowler who actually drafted it. As Politico put it at the time: “If you drew an organizational chart of major players in the Senate health care negotiations, Fowler would be the chief operating officer.”
What was most amazing about all of that was that, before joining Baucus’ office as the point person for the health care bill, Fowler was the Vice President for Public Policy and External Affairs (i.e. informallobbying) at WellPoint, the nation’s largest health insurance provider (before going to WellPoint, as well as after, Folwer had worked as Baucus’ top health care aide). And when that health care bill was drafted, the person whom Fowler replaced as chief health counsel in Baucus’ office, Michelle Easton, was lobbying for WellPoint as a principal at Tarplin, Downs, and Young.
Whatever one’s views on Obamacare were and are: the bill’s mandate that everyone purchase the products of the private health insurance industry, unaccompanied by any public alternative, was a huge gift to that industry; as Wheeler wrote at the time: “to the extent that Liz Fowler is the author of this document, we might as well consider WellPoint its author as well.” Watch the five-minute Bill Moyers report from 2009, embedded below, on the key role played in all of this by Liz Fowler and the “revolving door” between the health insurance/lobbying industry and government officials at the time this bill was written and passed.
More amazingly still, when the Obama White House needed someone to oversee implementation of Obamacare after the bill passed, it chose . . . Liz Fowler. That the White House would put a former health insurance industry executive in charge of implementation of its new massive health care law was roundly condemned by good government groups as at least a violation of the “spirit” of governing ethics rules and even “gross”, but those objections were, of course, brushed aside by the White House. She then becameSpecial Assistant to the President for Healthcare and Economic Policy at the National Economic Council.
Now, as Politico’s “Influence” column briefly noted on Tuesday, Fowler is once again passing through the deeply corrupting revolving door as she leaves the Obama administration to return to the loving and lucrative arms of the private health care industry:



Obama Weighs Social Security Benefit Cut In Fiscal Negotiations — Here’s How It Works | TPMDC

Obama Weighs Social Security Benefit Cut In Fiscal Negotiations — Here’s How It Works | TPMDC:

 click link

snip

 The quasi-technical term for the new index is called chained CPI. It’s been kicking around in policy circles for years, and loomed large in budget negotiations between Obama and Boehner in 2011.
Supporters like to describe it as a technical fix to the way the government calculates inflation. But in practical terms, it will effectuate a genuine Social Security benefit cut. If it’s applied across the board, it will also reduce food stamp benefits and veterans benefits, and function as a modest but regressive tax increase, as brackets grow more slowly and taxpayers find themselves pushed across income thresholds more quickly than in the past.
Chained CPI differs from the way the government currently calculates inflation by taking a broader view of the behavioral changes consumers make when prices rise.

-------
note:  if dems cave on ths; watch a serious backlash 
hard to ask folks to vote for perpetual losers and backstabbers

Social Security: Will Obama Cave?

Social Security: Will Obama Cave?

click link

snip

 
AP Photo/Charles Dharapak
President Barack Obama looks toward reporters shouting questions at him regarding the fiscal cliff as he walks to the White House after attending a holiday party for the National Security Council.
Once again, President Obama seems to be on the verge of folding a winning hand.
Widely leaked reports indicate that the president and House Speaker John Boehner are making a fiscal deal that includes hiking tax rates back to the pre-Bush levels with a threshold of $400,000 rather than the original $250,000, and cutting present Social Security benefits.
Obama, the reports say, will now settle for as little as $1.2 trillion in tax increases on the rich rather than the $1.6 trillion that he had originally sought. The difference, in effect, will come out of the pockets of workers, retirees, the young, and the poor.
Especially foolish is the cut in Social Security benefits, disguised as a change in the cost-of-living adjustment formula. Before getting to the arcane details of the formula, here’s the bottom line. The proposed change will save only $122 billion over ten years, but it will significantly cut benefits for the elderly.
Because the cut is in the form of a change in the Consumer Price Index (CPI), the longer you live, the more is the total cut. On average, the cut is about 3 percent a year, but if you live twenty years after you start drawing benefits (the average), that adds up to over ten thousand dollars.

Paul Krugman: That terrible trillion - San Jose Mercury News

Paul Krugman: That terrible trillion - San Jose Mercury News:

click link

snip

 As you might imagine, I find myself in a lot of discussions about U.S. fiscal policy, and the budget deficit in particular. And there's one thing I can count on in these discussions: At some point someone will announce, in dire tones, that we have a $1 trillion deficit.
No, I don't think the people making this pronouncement realize that they sound just like Dr. Evil in the Austin Powers movies.
Anyway, we do indeed have a $1 trillion deficit, or at least we did; in fiscal 2012, which ended in September, the deficit was actually $1.089 trillion. (It will be lower this year.) The question is what lesson we should take from that figure.
What the Dr. Evil types think, and want you to think, is that the big current deficit is a sign that our fiscal position is completely unsustainable. Sometimes they argue that it means that a debt crisis is just around the corner, although they've been predicting that for years and it keeps not happening. (U.S. borrowing costs are near historic lows.) But more often they use the deficit to argue that we can't afford to maintain programs like Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. So it's important to understand that this is completely wrong.

Obama Makes Counteroffer in Fiscal Cliff Talks

Sunday, December 16, 2012

Are You a Psychopath? Take the Test.--throw the fatman off the platform

throw the fat guy on the tracks is very popular philosophy thinking test. philosophy 101

Friday, December 14, 2012

Obamacare, brought to you by Johnson & Johnson

Obamacare, brought to you by Johnson & Johnson

click link

snip

 It’s an old story, the latest chapter of which came to light a few days ago with a small item inPolitico : “Elizabeth Fowler is leaving the White House for a senior-level position leading ‘global health policy’ at Johnson & Johnson’s government affairs and policy group.”
A familiar name. We had talked about Liz Fowler on Bill Moyers Journal in 2009, during the early stages of Obama’s health care reform. She was at the center of the action, sitting behind Montana Senator Max Baucus, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee at committee hearings. Bill noted, “She used to work for WellPoint, the largest health insurer in the country. She was Vice President of Public Policy. And now she’s working for the very committee with the most power to give her old company and the entire industry exactly what they want: higher profits, and no competition from alternative non-profit coverage that could lower costs and premiums.”
After Obamacare passed, Senator Baucus himself, one of the biggest recipients in Congress of campaign cash from the health care industry, boasted that the architect of the legislation was none other than Liz Fowler. “I want to single out one person,” he said. “… Liz Fowler is my chief health counsel. Liz Fowler has put my health care team together… She put together the White Paper last November 2008, [the] 87-page document which became the basis, the foundation, the blueprint from which almost all health care measures in all bills on both sides of the aisle came. She is an amazing person. She is a lawyer; she is a Ph.D. She is just so decent. She is always smiling, she is always working, always available to help any Senator, any staff. I just thank Liz from the bottom of my heart.”

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Friday, December 7, 2012

NRSC quietly backed Akin in the end

NRSC quietly backed Akin in the end

click link

 snip


After insisting that Todd Akin was on his own in his bid for Senate in Missouri, the National Republican Senatorial Committee quietly sent him a life raft in the final days of the campaign.
Politico reports that the NRSC gave the money to the Missouri Republican Party, which spent it on a last-minute ad buy in support of Akin.
After Akin made his infamous “legitimate rape” comments, national Republicans condemned his remarks and urged him to drop out of the primary, saying they would not support him financially. In September, NRSC Chair John Cornyn, R-Texas, told the Kentucky Courier-Journal that the plan hadn’t changed and the NRSC wouldn’t support Akin. “We have no plans to do so,” he said, adding: “I just think that this is not a winnable race.”

Thursday, December 6, 2012

jobs, not cut rally in st louis--dec 10th

Jobs Not Cuts -- Protect Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security Jobs Not Cuts Rally Social Security Office 5669 Delmar Blvd St. Louis, MO 63112 Monday December 10 12:00pm G Join us for a rally at the Social Security office at 5669 Delmar, 63112. Then we'll march a few blocks to Claire McCaskill's office. Senator McCaskill needs to hear from her constituents regarding the "Fiscal Cliff" budget talks. Missouri JwJ has been working with member and partner organizations to call on Senator McCaskill to keep her promises to put valuable federal programs like Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security before tax cuts for the richest 2% of Americans, while protecting and promoting job creation. Through the end of the year we are continuing to work with these partners across the state to take part in some targeted actions during the 2012 Congressional lame duck session. The next set of those actions is happening in St. Louis, Kansas City and Springfield. This rally is at the Social Security office at 5669 Delmar, 63112. Then we'll march to Senator Claire McCaskill's St. Louis office at 5850 Delmar Blvd, St. Louis, MO 63112. For more information, contact Missouri Jobs with Justice staff Ashli Bolden at Ashli@mojwj.org. There are similar actions happening in Kansas City, Columbia and Cape Girardeau, where constituents are targeting several different federal legislators on their stance on Medicare, Mediacaid, Social

RNs to Hold Candlelight Vigils, Protests in 20 U.S. Cities | National Nurses United

RNs to Hold Candlelight Vigils, Protests in 20 U.S. Cities | National Nurses United:

click  link

snip


 On the fiscal cliff showdown, “raising the age for Medicare or Social Security, delays in cost of living increases, or cuts in benefits, three of the approaches proposed by some in Washington, would severely harm the seniors and low and moderate income families who have suffered the most from the economic crisis, which continues in Main Street communities across America,” said Deborah Burger, co-president of the 185,000-member NNU.
“Wall Street’s agenda, of more punishing cuts for working people, and more handouts for the banks, who are the main beneficiaries of policies that put debt payments ahead of protecting seniors and working families, was roundly rejected by voters in November. Let’s not hand Wall Street the victory they lost at the polls. Instead, it is time to hold the bankers and speculators accountable, and levy a small tax on their reckless behavior to help rebuild the economy they did so much to wreck, Burger said.
Actions are planned in California, Florida, Illinois (event held Dec. 6), Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New York, Texas, with events in other states pending. RNs are joining with labor, senior, and scores of community activists in insisting on no increase in the eligibility age or cuts in benefits.
chicago
Photo from Chicago action on Dec.6, 2012.

Rich People Feel Things More Deeply Than The Common Man, According To

Rich People Feel Things More Deeply Than The Common Man, According To


click link for simpson clip

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

60 minutes medicare drug benefit

link to 60 minutes drug benefit: http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=2635796n ----- note: vid was shown at meeting

Robert Greenwald's "Koch Brothers Exposed" (Full)

MO Alliance for Retired Americans National Call-In Day, Wednesday, December 5th NO CUTS TO Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid! Negotiations in Congress are under way right now to reduce the federal deficit. Retirees need to act quickly and in a loud voice to tell Congress not to balance the budget on the backs of retirees who have earned their guaranteed benefits after a lifetime of hard work. Call: 888-659-9401 Tell Congress: 1. No benefit cuts to Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid. 2. No more tax cuts for the richest 2% of Americans. Time is short. Politicians and special interests are demanding deep cuts to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid – all to guarantee more big tax breaks for the wealthy and Wall Street. We need to protect what we’ve earned. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Rep. Jo Ann Emerson leaving Congress to join top campaign donor - latimes.com

Rep. Jo Ann Emerson leaving Congress to join top campaign donor - latimes.com:

click link


 snip



WASHINGTON -- Rep. Jo Ann Emerson (R-Mo.), freshly reelected to her ninth term in Congress, announced Monday that she would resign in February and become the president and chief executive of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Assn., the top donor to her campaigns during her congressional career.

Emerson, who was elected to her late husband Bill Emerson’s seat in a 1996 special election and was the first woman to represent Missouri in the House, handily won reelection earlier this year over Democratic rival Jack Rushin with nearly 72% of the vote. One of the few women to hold Republican leadership positions in Congress, Emerson was chairwoman of the Financial Services and General Government Subcommittee and sat on the House Appropriations Committee.
The electric cooperative, a prominent spender in congressional races nationwide with more than $1.8 million donated during the latest election cycle, and a sizable amount spent on lobbying efforts, voted Monday to appoint Emerson. Over the course of her congressional career, the cooperative donated a total of nearly $80,000 to Emerson’s campaign efforts, making it her top donor.

Sunday, December 2, 2012

Jerry Tucker dies; a legendary troublemaker and a hero of the labor movement : Stltoday

Jerry Tucker dies; a legendary troublemaker and a hero of the labor movement : Stltoday

click link

overdue posting

snip

 Jerry Tucker

2012-10-24T00:05:00Z2012-10-24T08:28:23ZJerry Tucker dies; a legendary troublemaker and a hero of the labor movementBy MiICHAEL D. SORKIN msorkin@post-dispatch.com 314-340-8347stltoday.com
Jerry Tucker, who died last week, was a labor leader who helped defeat the 1978 anti-union “Right-to-Work” campaign in Missouri.

Polls showed it passing 2-1, with even union members favoring it by 51 percent. Industry groups were confident of a victory that they hoped they could repeat in other states.

Mr. Tucker helped put together a coalition of labor, civil rights, women's, religious and farm groups. They defeated the measure by a stunning 3-2 margin.

Mr. Tucker was elected regional director of the United Auto Workers here, an influential position. But his career within the union stalled when he took on the old guard national leaders with his New Directions reform movement.

By then Mr. Tucker was in demand. He traveled the country and the world training workers how to empower themselves. His goal was to spread democracy in unions and the workplace.
Mr. Tucker became a legendary troublemaker. He was a hero to those workers he helped win major contract victories. His foes at the top of the UAW labeled him a communist.

A Look Back • Rev. Martin Luther King appeals for end to racism, starting in church pews : Stltoday

A Look Back • Rev. Martin Luther King appeals for end to racism, starting in church pews : Stltoday

click link

snip

 
ST. LOUIS • The National Council of Churches gathered in Kiel Auditorium on Dec. 1, 1957, two months after the Soviet Union launched Sputnik, the world’s first man-made satellite. Speakers urged jittery Americans to calm down.

“Outward programs of security and defense must be matched with inward signs of justice and charity,” counseled the Rev. Frederick Nolde, a leader of the World Council of Churches.

That sentiment led the assembly of 2,000 Protestant ministers and lay leaders to the thornier social issue of race relations. Among the speakers during its six-day national convention was the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., 28 years old and suddenly prominent as leader of the lengthy boycott that integrated public buses in Montgomery, Ala., in 1956.