Thursday, September 26, 2013

As the Affordable Care Act takes yet another step forward it is appropriate to hear these precious words again.

In realizing the incredible next step for the Affordable Care Act on October 1, 2013; I have to draw attention to this point in time in the House before the law was passed. 

The Right Wing pathetically points to a mis-statement in the throes of the passage of the Affordable Care Act which took a year. When Speaker Pelosi stated "We have to pass it to find out what is in it," it was the fact the law would lead to regulation. The original law states throughout, that the burden of writing the regulation as stated by the law fell to the responsibility of the  Secretary of Health and Human Services. It would be the regulation that would spell out the form the law would take.

Minority Leader Pelosi is a wonderful person and knows how dearly the country needs universal healthcare. At the very moment she stated these words on the house floor in recognition of the Late Senator Edward Kennedy, people were dying by the tens of thousand in the USA every year either with or without health insurance. But, these deaths were special. Those deaths could have been prevented. No, not just by receiving preventive care, but, by preventing victimization by the health insurance industry itself. 

She is a moral person that understands Americans needs protection from cancelled contracts and ridiculous definitions of pre-existing conditions. She helped pass the law under her Speakership and the regulations were written and today we are on the verge of engaging the opportunity of health care for all. She has every reason to be proud of her accomplishment. It is necessary and vital and it raises the moral content of the nation. We have laws now that protect the innocent and that is one of the most important reasons to legislate. 

Well done.


Someone want to remind me why the USA should ever bailout banks again.

49.24 Down 0.30(0.61%) 3:13PM EDT - Nasdaq Real Time Price

By JEFFREY SPARSHOTT And ERIK HOLM

WASHINGTON—The Treasury Department said it would generate $7.6 billion in proceeds from its sale of American International Group AIG -0.63% Inc.shares, as it sells nearly all its remaining holdings in the insurer it helped rescue at the height of the financial crisis.

 The government said Tuesday it would sell about 234 million common shares at $32.50 each, matching the price it got when it sold an even larger slug of shares in September. AIG's stock closed Monday at $33.36, and jumped 1.6% to $33.90 in heavy pre-market trading Tuesday.
 The transaction is expected to close on Friday. By Treasury's calculation, the final round of sales means the government will have a net positive return on its AIG bailout of $22.7 billion... 

The man is a bigot and rasict. I half expect his next musings to say, "Obama just wanted to hang white men." What a disgusting man. Bob here, must have been among friends at the Wall Street Journal to vent his anger so seriously.

Steven Perlberg Sep. 24, 2013, 12:57 PM
In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, (click here) (Bob) Benmosche appeared to say that public anger over the company's decision to dole out $450 million in bonuses after it received $173.3 billion in government aid was "just as bad" as actual historical lynchings in the Deep South....

I am quite sure all these interests in AIG are only concern themselves with their earnings and not the reputation of the institution. I think it is time to divest.

The Fracking Companies over reached their ability to carry out their contracts.

Landowners are being foolish. They don't listen. They believe those in conservation are crackpots. Now they have land that is compromised and losing value without the wealth they were promised.

...CUSICK: That was the total for May. They didn't get a check at all in March. The check comes from Chesapeake Energy Corporation based in Oklahoma City. It is the number one drilling company in Pennsylvania and number two for the whole country.
GEIGER: And I made three phone calls to Oklahoma City before they finally told me: We never sent you a check last month. We hadn't sold the gas - we didn't have the money....

One has to ask how a company is going to 'handle' their investments and whether or not the management sees royalties as an expense they want to control. The landowners should have stipulated the removal of natural gas from their lands was a cash and carry enterprise. As soon as the gas was extracted it was paid for and the futures belonged to Chesapeake. 

North Carolina and the rest of the nation needs to take notice about the fracking legislation the new Governor and legislature was in such a rush to pass. The Pennsylvania experience has been a nightmare on many fronts.

Christopher Helman, Forbes Staff
5/22/2012 @ 2:21PM
...The presentation repackaged (click here) a lot of what we already know about the company. Great assets, massive leverage and high sensitivity to natural gas prices. More than anything else, the company strove to get across the point that the value of its 6.2 million acres of oil and liquids-rich fields more than balances out its mounting liabilities, including $13.2 billion in debt. Of $7 billion in capital spending this year, 85% will be directed towards liquids-rich plays....

I have no doubt Chesapeake has the money to pay landowners for their natural gas, but, they won't if they don't have to because the longer that money sits in the Chesapeake treasury the more interest it accumulates.

Then again, with Chesapeake paying out all these 'up front' monies, the company might be pinched for LIQUIDITY. 

The fracking companies are not interested in a quick turn around of that natural gas either.

...If McClendon really could sell all those assets at $50 billion, Chesapeake would be left with zero liabilities, $30 billion in cash and a collection of gas fields in the Marcellus, Haynesville, Barnett shales that might not be economic now, but would be a valuable option on future gas prices. In that scenario, the company’s current $10 billion equity market cap would have a lot of room to grow. McClendon could slay all his doubters, deleverage his balance sheet and crow about how he was right all along.

It’s this kind of best-case scenario analysis that keeps Chesapeake bulls going....

And what was that about a cleaner, cheaper form of energy? The cheaper sure as heck isn't the consumer.

...In today’s presentation Chesapeake figures that at $2 natural gas it would do full-year ebitda of $2.7 billion. At $3 gas it would make $3.25 billion, still less than it needs to stay within covenants. Gas today is $2.70 for the front end of the strip and $3.20 a year from now....

People have to remember, the petroleum industry seeks profits from oil. The best quality oil is significantly diminished. So, the industry is seeking junk oil and natural gas to fill it's profit margins. This industry is going to want to exceed the profits from the past decades, so the idea this is cheap energy is a hideous thought.

...As a gas trader told me the other day: “Chesapeake is in that horrible stage of corporate crisis where you have your choice of getting your face ripped off by one or more of (i) the asset sale market, (ii) the corporate M&A market, (iii) the debt market. It’s amazing to watch the market punish someone that they don’t like/trust.”...

For all those folks who sold their mineral rights to be the next millionaire, their heirs might see that money, if they haven't lost the farm by then for all the pollution and diminished farm production fracking causes. But, will they be the millionaires they expected to be in their lifetime? Probably not.

Before Americans trust others with their land, they need to understand why the government passed legislation to allow this in the first place. And companies are going to want to refill their political coffers before they pay royalties for Round 2, 3 and 4 as time goes on. So, why not sell off old assets before the obligations of the new ones are paid?

Concerned Residents Mic-Check Rigged Congressional Hearing on Fracking (click here)

STEUBENVILLE, OH - A dozen anti-fracking Ohio and Pennsylvania residents were escorted from today's congressional field hearing on natural gas after interrupting the proceedings and attempting to present members of the committee with a $3 million check representing the money spent by industry just on members of the hearing.

Held by the Congressional Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources, today's event was the latest in a series of field hearings designed to promote hydraulic fracturing (a.k.a. "fracking") as a solution to the economic and energy crises.

Residents pointed out that Chairman Doug Lamborn (R-CO), Glenn Thompson (R-PA), and Bill Johnson (R-OH), have collectively received a total of at least $267,084 in campaign contributions from oil and gas corporations and therefore clearly have a conflict of interest that makes them unfit for reviewing the human health, environmental, and economic impacts of fracking.

Although not invited to testify, residents handed out pamphlets containing testimony regarding fracking's environmental devastation, as well as the Subcommittee's history of taking donations from the oil and gas industry, amounting to a sum of approximately $3 million split between 18 members of the Subcommittee.  This is part of the $747 million spent by the industry for fracking as part of a 10-year lobbying campaign to persuade federal authorities to ignore the dangers of fracking as reported by Common Cause in their report "Deep Drilling, Deep Pockets."...

Just the other day Senator John Cornyn attacked his fellow Senator by stating how can a Red State Democrat vote against funding Obamacare.

No surprise here now that Cornyn made the bed, Americans for Prosperity joins him in it.

This is the billboard in North Carolina inspired by Senator Cornyn. 




Read more here: http://projects.newsobserver.com/under_the_dome/anti_hagan_billboards_going_up_across_nc#storylink=cpy
Americans for Prosperity (click here) said Friday that it is planning a billboard campaign in the Research Triangle and the Piedmont Triad questioning Democratic Sen. Kay Hagan's stance on the issue of carbon emissions tax....

What Senator Cornyn doesn't bother noticing about his fellow Senator from North Carolina is a cause that has needed to be addressed for as long as Cornyn has been in office.

Hagan pushes infant mortality legislation




Sen. Kay Hagan Tuesday (click here) touted two bills designed to reduce infant mortality by improving screening of new borns and the training of those who care for new babies.
"As a mother, I can not imagine the pain of losing a child, especially when that death may have been easily prevented,'' Hagan, chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Children and Families, said in a teleconference call from Washington.
One measure, that Hagan co-sponsored with Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, and Democrat Diane Feinstein of California, reauthorizes a program to provide training for child care providers on CPR, first aid, and other safe practices....

Senator Kay Hagan is Carolina Blue through and through which means chidlren are at the center of her concerns.

In North Carolina in 2011: (click here)

  • 7.2 babies died for every 1,000 born alive
  • 5.5 white babies died for every 1,000 live births
  • 5.4 Latino babies dies for every 1,000 live births
  • 12.9 African American non-Hispanic babies died for every 1,000 live births
  • 866 babies died in North Carolina
  • 2008 - preliminary date for the U.S. shows 6.6 deaths for every 1,000 babies born alive
The infant death rate in North Carolina has decreased 43 percent, from 12.6 deaths per 1,000 live births, since 1988 when the state's rate was among the worst in the country. 

In 2010, North Carolina ranked the 15th highest infant mortality rate in the 50 United States at 7.1 deaths per 1000 infants born, Mississippi was Number 1 in infant mortality at 9.67. 

16.1 % of citizens in North Carolina live in poverty.

Poor Children: 24% (525,983) of children live in poor families (National: 22%), defined as income below 100% of the federal poverty level. 

For 2011, (click here) the federal poverty level is $22,350 for a family of four. Children living in families with incomes below the federal poverty level are referred to as poor. But research suggests that, on average, families need an income of about twice the federal poverty level to meet their basic needs. The United States measures poverty by an outdated standard developed in the 1960s.

She doesn't stop at advocating for children. She seeks to assist our heroes into the benefits they deserve. 

Fayetteville Observer
By Greg Barnes 

U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan (click here) said Tuesday that she has sent letters to the secretaries of defense and veterans affairs demanding that more be done to relieve the backlog of veterans benefits claims.
Hagan, a North Carolina Democrat, acknowledged that progress is being made to relieve the backlog at the VA’s Winston-Salem Regional Claims Office, but she said “we can all agree that there is still work to be done.”

This is the second time this year that Hagan has written to VA Secretary Eric Shinseki urging faster claims processing in Winston-Salem, which serves most veterans in North Carolina.
In a March letter, Hagan called the situation “deplorable” and urged Shinseki to send senior-level staff members to the Winston-Salem office to get results....

And jobs are at the top of Senator Hagan's list:

September 6, 2013
By John Ostendorff

U.S. Sen. Kay Hagan (click here) told workers at research equipment maker Thermo Fisher she was disappointed that Congress allowed automatic spending cuts this year.
The sequester, as the cuts are known, required government researcher National Institutes of Health to cut 5 percent from its budget, hurting companies like Thermo Fisher that make some of the products it uses.

North Carolina lost $50 million in funding for academic research, she said on Friday, meaning a loss of about 1,000 jobs....

A palace without a king or queen.

Published: September 10, 2013 

...Aquila (click here) was the last survivor of triplet polar bears – two males and a female – that were born at the Louisville Zoo in November 1992. The three siblings became the first bears in the N.C. Zoo’s polar bear exhibit when it opened in August 1994.

Aquila and the zoo’s other male polar bear, Wihelm, were sent to other zoos in summer 2011 as the zoo began an $8.5 million renovation and expansion of its polar bear exhibit. Aquila returned from the Detroit Zoo in April when renovations to part of the exhibit were completed, but Wilhelm remains at the Milwaukee Zoo while work on the exhibit continues....

Arctic exhibit on thin ice at zoo (click here)
by 

Updated: 8 hours ago
With a babbling creek, an alpine meadow and arctic flora, the North Carolina Zoological Park’s refurbished polar bear exhibit is only missing one thing: polar bears.

The zoo, located in Asheboro, is planning to unveil the $8.5 million project in spring 2014 — but the lack of polar bears currently at the zoo and a decreasing wild population could pose obstacles for zoo curators.

Ken Reininger, general curator of animal collections at the zoo, said the exhibit may be home to another species for the near future.
“There’s just not a lot of (polar bears) there, either in the wild or in captivity,” Reininger said.

After the unexpected death of Aquila, one of the zoo’s polar bears, earlier this month, the zoo has only one left. But that bear, 29-year-old Wilhelm, is staying at a zoo in Milwaukee and may be too elderly to return to the exhibit....

Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/2013/09/10/3183184/polar-bear-dies-at-nc-zoo.html#storylink=cpy

I can't help but wonder with all the cuts in education, how has that effected student outcomes.

By Maureen Downey
Despite a national effort (click here) to raise high school rigor, the SAT, treated as a key barometer of student progress, refuses to budge.
The average national score on the high-stakes college admissions test has remained virtually unchanged over the last five years.
The U.S. high school graduating class of 2013 scored on average 1498, the same as last year, out of possible 2400. (Critical reading: 496, Math: 514, Writing 488.)...

I think today's learning underestimates the power of book learning vs computer learning. Computers are fine for enhancing ability, but, I don't believe they should be the primary source of any learning. It is too easy to cheat, especially in math, when learning from a computer. Computers can enhance the classroom and reinforce learning, but, there isn't anything like a teacher, a book and plenty of homework.

Thomas C. Frolich and Michael B. Sauter
24/7 Wall St. Staff Writers 
2:55 p.m. EDT September 25, 2013

In some states, per-pupil spending fell more than 20% since recession. (click here)

Since the recession began, K-12 education spending has declined dramatically in some states. In Alabama and Oklahoma, per-pupil spending fell by more than 20%.
While the majority of state school systems have cut spending between fiscal year 2008 and the upcoming fiscal year 2014, the cuts have been much more severe in some places than in others. According to the latest school spending data compiled by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP), seven states have cut per-pupil spending by more than 15% in that time....

I never took the ACT. I was in the Class of '73 where most of my peers and I earned over 500s in all our SAT scores. We did well in high school and college. When I look at most statistics about learning in the USA there is always this negative dip in reading competency about 1995. It was in 1995 when the PC came into majority of American households. In all sincerity, I believe computers have hurt learning.

Mary Beth Marklein
USA TODAY
12:06 a.m. EDT September 26, 2013
...In a report out today, (click here) the non-profit College Board says just 43% of SAT takers in the high school class of 2013 earned a score that indicates they will succeed in the first year of college. That percentage has remained "virtually unchanged" for at least five years, said Cyndie Schmeiser, chief of assessment for the College Board, based in New York.

Last month, an annual report by the Iowa-based non-profit ACT found that just 26% of high school graduates in the class of 2013 met college readiness benchmarks in all four of the subjects its tests cover: English, reading, math and science. That's up from 25% last year and 23% five years ago, but far too low, ACT chief executive officer Jon Whitmore said. "As a nation, we must set ambitious goals and take strong action to address this consistent problem."...

And Congress wants to defund what, exactly?

How Congress Leaks Favors to Fossil Fuels (click here)

The move to eliminate a tax on medical-device manufacturers - heavily concentrated in Pennsylvania - represents a smaller but more attainable goal in the GOP offensive against Obamacare. Even many Democrats who back President Obama's health law have supported repealing the tax.
The 2.3 percent excise tax on medical-device makers affects companies that manufacture a wide range of items, including stents, artificial knees, and pacemakers. It does not affect over-the-counter items such as contact lenses or hearing aids.
Toomey said the GOP realistically cannot repeal the health law while Democrats hold the White House and Senate. "What we can and should do," he said, "is repeal the parts of this bill that we can."

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/news/nation_world/20130926_Toomey_calls_for_repeal_of_a_tax_funding__Obamacare_.html#YdTt9SYUxietAjO8.99
Jonathan Tamari, Inquirer Washington Bureau
Posted: Thursday, September 26, 2013, 2:01 AM
Posted: Thursday, September 26, 2013, 2:01 AM
Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/news/nation_world/20130926_Toomey_calls_for_repeal_of_a_tax_funding__Obamacare_.html#YdTt9SYUxietAjO8.99
The move to eliminate a tax on medical-device manufacturers - heavily concentrated in Pennsylvania - represents a smaller but more attainable goal in the GOP offensive against Obamacare. Even many Democrats who back President Obama's health law have supported repealing the tax.
The 2.3 percent excise tax on medical-device makers affects companies that manufacture a wide range of items, including stents, artificial knees, and pacemakers. It does not affect over-the-counter items such as contact lenses or hearing aids.
Toomey said the GOP realistically cannot repeal the health law while Democrats hold the White House and Senate. "What we can and should do," he said, "is repeal the parts of this bill that we can."

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/news/nation_world/20130926_Toomey_calls_for_repeal_of_a_tax_funding__Obamacare_.html#YdTt9SYUxietAjO8.99
The move to eliminate a tax on medical-device manufacturers - heavily concentrated in Pennsylvania - represents a smaller but more attainable goal in the GOP offensive against Obamacare. Even many Democrats who back President Obama's health law have supported repealing the tax.
The 2.3 percent excise tax on medical-device makers affects companies that manufacture a wide range of items, including stents, artificial knees, and pacemakers. It does not affect over-the-counter items such as contact lenses or hearing aids.
Toomey said the GOP realistically cannot repeal the health law while Democrats hold the White House and Senate. "What we can and should do," he said, "is repeal the parts of this bill that we can."

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/news/nation_world/20130926_Toomey_calls_for_repeal_of_a_tax_funding__Obamacare_.html#YdTt9SYUxietAjO8.99

...The move (click here) to eliminate a tax on medical-device manufacturers - heavily concentrated in Pennsylvania - represents a smaller but more attainable goal in the GOP offensive against Obamacare. Even many Democrats who back President Obama's health law have supported repealing the tax.

The 2.3 percent excise tax on medical-device makers affects companies that manufacture a wide range of items, including stents, artificial knees, and pacemakers. It does not affect over-the-counter items such as contact lenses or hearing aids.
Toomey said the GOP realistically cannot repeal the health law while Democrats hold the White House and Senate. 

"What we can and should do," he said, "is repeal the parts of this bill that we can."...

$2.4 Billion: subsidies to the Big Five producers debated and defeated in the Senate in 2011 and 2012 

$4 Billion: Subsidy cuts President Obama proposed in the 2013 budget.
President Obama has proposed cutting fossil fuel subsidies every year
he’s been in office. The projections for savings have varied slightly each year but always hover around $4 billion annually. Congress has never even proposed voting on all of them.

This was proposed by never passed. The Royalties to the USA are still suspended under 42 USC § 15905. 

(B) DEEP WATER PRODUCTION- Section 345 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (42 U.S.C. 15905) is repealed. (click here)

Mr. ELLISON introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committees on Transportation and Infrastructure, Natural Resources, Science, Space, and Technology, Energy and Commerce, Agriculture, Appropriations, Financial Services, and Foreign Affairs, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned...

This is one of the most egregious laws the American people know very little about. It not only allows the drilling that killed the Gulf Coast fisheries, it provides for 'royalty free' profits by the petroleum industry. Rep. Ellison attempted to end this crony permission for exploiting USA natural resources of future generations to benefit Wall Street profiteers.

42 USC § 15905 - Royalty relief for deep water production (click here)

 (b) Suspension of royalties
The suspension of royalties under subsection (a) shall be established at a volume of not less than— 

(1) 5,000,000 barrels of oil equivalent for each lease in water depths of 400 to 800 meters; 
 

(2) 9,000,000 barrels of oil equivalent for each lease in water depths of 800 to 1,600 meters; 
 

(3) 12,000,000 barrels of oil equivalent for each lease in water depths of 1,600 to 2,000 meters; and 
 

(4) 16,000,000 barrels of oil equivalent for each lease in water depths greater than 2,000 meters.
The move to eliminate a tax on medical-device manufacturers - heavily concentrated in Pennsylvania - represents a smaller but more attainable goal in the GOP offensive against Obamacare. Even many Democrats who back President Obama's health law have supported repealing the tax.
The 2.3 percent excise tax on medical-device makers affects companies that manufacture a wide range of items, including stents, artificial knees, and pacemakers. It does not affect over-the-counter items such as contact lenses or hearing aids.
Toomey said the GOP realistically cannot repeal the health law while Democrats hold the White House and Senate. "What we can and should do," he said, "is repeal the parts of this bill that we can."

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/news/nation_world/20130926_Toomey_calls_for_repeal_of_a_tax_funding__Obamacare_.html#YdTt9SYUxietAjO8.9
The move to eliminate a tax on medical-device manufacturers - heavily concentrated in Pennsylvania - represents a smaller but more attainable goal in the GOP offensive against Obamacare. Even many Democrats who back President Obama's health law have supported repealing the tax.
The 2.3 percent excise tax on medical-device makers affects companies that manufacture a wide range of items, including stents, artificial knees, and pacemakers. It does not affect over-the-counter items such as contact lenses or hearing aids.
Toomey said the GOP realistically cannot repeal the health law while Democrats hold the White House and Senate. "What we can and should do," he said, "is repeal the parts of this bill that we can."

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/news/nation_world/20130926_Toomey_calls_for_repeal_of_a_tax_funding__Obamacare_.html#YdTt9SYUxietAjO8.99