http://www.intheav.com/Commentary on Lifenointheav.comintheav.com RSS-generatorhttp://www.intheav.com/blogs/Palmdalelee/2010/03/19/healthcare-reform-is-nothing-to-fearI've spent my entire career in healthcare and know all too well why we need the reforms to our system that the President has outlined. Healthcare Reform is not something you should fear. Once you know the realities of it and how it will impact you specifically, you will see that there has been so much incorrect information spread with the intent to scare the public about these reforms. I will attempt to break it down into lay terms so you can see what the reform is about and how it will impact you. This issue is coming up for a vote on Sunday and is far too important to all Americans. I felt it was time to explain in lay terms just what it is that some have attempted to mislead the public about in order to scare them to death. Remember, these same arguments were made against FDR when Social Security and Medicare were created. It did not bring about an end to our nation then but brought benefits that I doubt any of you would be willing to give up. If you currently have health insurance you are happy with, there will be no change for you, except protections for you to prevent your insurance company from raising your rates without justification while they are making billions in profits at your expense. You will also be provided protection from your insurance company dropping your coverage when and if you become sick or refusing to pay for your care. So many are afraid of this reform because they do not understand it. This is in no way a Federal take over of our healthcare system. This is in no way the "socialized medicine" you think of as being in England and Canada. The abuses that are in our current system that I could tell you about would leave you shocked. I've seen it all first hand. If there were not huge profits to be made my insurance companies, would you be seeing non-stop TV ads by insurance companies wanting to get their hands on your Medicare dollars? The biggest cost to our government in healthcare costs is due to Medicaid and Medicare. I will share with you how doctors and hospitals manipulate the system to overbill and increase costs paid by the government under our current system. I could tell you about how insurance companies pick an choose who they will pay for and what treatments they will pay for, depending on what impacts their bottom line profits. Like I said, I've spent my entire career in this field, both on the clinical side and the administrative side and I know all the tricks they engage in to drain funds from insurance companies and the government through unjustified reimbursements. Other changes that will benefit you are that if you change jobs, you can take your healthcare insurance you currently have with you to the new job. If you choose not to and opt for the employer provided insurance at your new job, the insurance provider can not refuse coverage to you if you have a pre-existing condition. It also benefits individuals that purchase their own private insurance. The company I worked for has been using the practice that this legislation includes for years and it does benefit the individual purchaser. Instead of having to pay high insurance rates as an individual, you will have the benefit of being grouped with other individual purchasers to obtain the discounted rates that group policies provide, such as is the case with the discount rates companies pay for their employees that are grouped together in one plan. An example of how doctors manipulate the system to drain the government healthcare dollars is as follows: a male patient goes to his primary care physician. That doctor orders blood work to be drawn and tells the patient he is due to have a PSA test to check for prostate cancer screening. That doctor, instead of simply adding the blood test for the PSA screening to the lab orders, he refers that patient to a Urologist to order the blood work. This results in two doctors being paid by insurance or the government for what could have been done by the primary care physician. Many hospitals bill Medicare and Medicaid using a system created during the 1980's called DRG's (Diagnostic Reimbursement Groupings). This defines the maximum that can be billed for a specified treatment. An example of abuse in this existing system is that even though it may cost that hospital less to provide the care, they always bill the maximum allowable under the DRG program. For example, a patient required a rented specialty bed while in the hospital. The hospital has a contract with a vendor to pay $35 per day for that rental bed but the DRG rate permits up to $75 per day. The hospital, even though they are only paying $35 per day, will bill Medicare for the entire $75 per day. Changing these practices do not reduce the quality of care you receive but do generate huge savings in expenditures that are paid out by the government for reimbursements that are not justified. Did you know that currently you are not protected from this type scenario that happens daily in this country. A woman has a job with health insurance. She becomes very ill with a catastrophic and expensive disease. Her insurance company reviews all her past medical records and finds that, even before she was working and covered by their insurance plan, she had a C-Section in her early 20's. The insurance company has currently, the right to terminate her coverage and refuse payment for her care using the justification that she had a "pre-existing" condition. Don't laugh, this happens every day, and for reasons far less than a C-Section. This reform will make this type of practice by insurance companies illegal. Did you know that our current system does not permit payment by Medicaid for early intervention treatment for HIV patients. Medicaid will only pay for treatment once the patient has met the CDC requirements for classification as having full blown AIDS. Research has proven that early intervention is more cost effective and promotes long term health and longevity of life. Waiting to provide treatment until the patient has full blown AIDS will result in that patient experiencing many unnecessary opportunistic infections that could have been prevented with early intervention. Paying for care after these conditions present themselves are far more costly than providing early intervention care. Also, many insurance plans do not include preventative medicine and advanced screening. This also results in higher costs once significant medical conditions establish themselves in patients. Preventative medicine is far less expensive by identifying risks before they become a serious and costly treatment. This reform will assure all the right to preventative screening and care resulting in huge cost savings over the long term. This legislation is far from perfect but is is a major step in the right direction. It will cost initially but will pay for itself and reduce the federal deficit by over a trillion dollars over the next ten years. This reform is many decades past due. If this fails to pass, approximately 245,000 people will die prematurely within the next ten years due to not having health insurance. Can we as a society sleep at night with that on our conscience?Fri, 19 Mar 2010 19:08:40 +0000http://www.intheav.com/blogs/Palmdalelee/2009/02/28/water-conservationYesterday, we heard the Governor declare a state of emergency regarding water conservation in our State. We have heard that there will possibly be mandatory 20% reductions imposed on all residents. If you recall, last summer, there was a conservation requirement that limited homeowners to run their landscape sprinklers to only certain hours (not during the middle of the day when the water evaporates before it hits the ground) and only three days per week. I was the only home in my neighborhood that complied with the three day watering between the specified times of day. I have completely turned off my sprinklers during the fall and winter months. In fact, my monthly water bill has been in the range of $23 per month for a 4 bedroom, two bath home. On the other hand, my neighbors have all continued their practice of running their spinklers seven days per week, during the daylight hours, even when it has been pouring rain. If a mandatory 20% reduction in water utilization is imposed, based on the practices of my neighbors, it will be simple for them to meet this requirement. My question is, will I be penalized for having already made the changes within the past year to comply? Will I be expected to further reduce my consumption by an additional 20% over what I already achieved within the past year? I hope that if this mandatory reduction goes into effect, they will look at reductions that some homeowners already have achieved and not penalize us that played by the rules, while letting abusers that ignored the reductions last summer and this winter, to make minor changes to meet the reduction requirements, while they still maintain a higher usage than I currently have. I have repeatedly called upon State Lawmakers to immediately build desalinization plants throughout the State to convert the abundant supply of ocean water into clean drinking water. Our State will always be burdened by water shortages in the future until we take such measures. It is my understanding that there are currently plans in the State Assembly to construct several of these plants, with the first slated for San Diego. Santa Barbara has employed this technology for years. I do not know what the status of readiness for construction these plants are in. If the plans are "shovel ready" plans, this would be a great area for use of infrastructure funds from the recently passed Economic Stimulus Program. It just disturbs me that I have been complying all along with water conservation measures while all my neighbors, and in fact the City with its public landscaping areas watering systems, have not, and now I may be forced to somehow find a way to cut my utilization further, which would be a hardship for me, yet a very easy accomplishment for my neighbors that have in the past ignored the reductions called for.Sat, 28 Feb 2009 10:00:33 +0000http://www.intheav.com/blogs/Palmdalelee/2009/02/21/needed-system-upgrades-for-this-siteThis is a great resource for dailog for the people of the AV; however, in order to meet the needs of the readers and bloggers, there needs to be some system revisions and upgrades. Apparently when the program for operating this system was written, an obsolete form of HTML language was utilized and has not been revised. Current HTML language does not use symbols such a + signs to prompt underlines of text between two + signs, but that is the case on this site. Also the system needs to be rewritten to assure that user names that begin with a + sign appear on the profiles and on all posted comments, thus eliminating the potential for "shadow user names" of other bloggers. I have high speed internet access but have noticed that during the peak hours of this site, access to various blogs and pages of this site slow to an annoying level. This is directly due to the system not having an up to date server that has the capability of handling the increased traffic on the site during these high volume periods. Again, this site has great value to the people of the AV but it should be maintained to keep up with the needs of those that utilize it.Sat, 21 Feb 2009 10:51:46 +0000http://www.intheav.com/blogs/Palmdalelee/2009/02/19/exchange-of-comments-with-sen-runnerI recently contacted State Senator George Runner to ask that he support the joint resolutions SR7 and AR5. The following is his reply to my contact with his office on this topic. **************************************** Thank you for your recent correspondence urging my support for Senate Resolution 7 (Leno), which states that “the Senate opposes Proposition 8 because it is an improper revision, not an amendment, of the California Constitution and was not enacted according to the procedures required by Article XVIII of the California Constitution.” I am unable to support SR 7 because I believe that legislators are elected to represent the people. In 2000, by a margin of 61%-38% and again last year, by a margin of 52%-48%, the people of California voted for Propositions 22 and 8, which stated, “Only marriage between a man and a woman is valid or recognized in California.” Because the voters decided in both elections that marriage shall remain between a man and a woman, I believe that support of SR 7 would constitute a violation of the will of the people I was elected to represent. Again, thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts with me. Please do not hesitate to contact me in the future regarding legislative issues of concern to you. It is an honor to serve you in the California State Senate. Sincerely, Senator Runner **************************************** My Reply Back to Sen. Runner: What is more important, representing the will of the people that voted for Prop 8 or supporting our State's Constitution and preserving the rights granted by it? Where would our nation be today if the will of a small majority had been allowed to prevail instead of upholding the provisions of our Nation's Constitution, in regard to women's rights,voting rights, civil rights, the right for interracial marriages, etc. Just because a small majority of the people support an issue does not make it Constitutional. I personally will always side with the rights granted by both our State and National Constitutions. Provisions were put in place in these documents to stand on the side of fairness and equality and not to fall victim to the current opinion polls. Incidentally, since the passage of Prop 8, polls in our State have shown a dramatic reversal of support for the measure. In your reply, you stated elected officials are elected to represent the views of the people. If this is the Republican agenda, always supporting the "will" of the people, I have to wonder how far this support actually goes. Does this mindset extend from Sacramento to Washington DC? If this is the approach Republicans want us to believe they support, then several vital issues pop into my mind. National polls show an overwhelming majority of Americans support President Obama and his economic stimulus and housing plans. National polls also show that over 60% of Americans support an investigation by Congress into possible illegal activities conducted by the Administration of George W. Bush. Are we to assume that Republicans will reflect the "will" of the people on these issues? Most likely not. They pick and choose which "will of the people issues" they will back and which ones they will attempt to obstruct. Every time an elected Republican opens his or her mouth in this country, from the local levels all the way to Congress, they contradict themselves. You and your fellow Republican lawmakers can't have it both ways - the Party that always reflects the "will" of the American people and the Party of "NO". Thu, 19 Feb 2009 20:36:24 +0000http://www.intheav.com/blogs/Palmdalelee/2009/02/19/a-refreshing-site-to-see-a-re-birth-of-respect-for-americaAfter 8 years, the American people had become accustomed to seeing their President travel abroad, only to be met with massive protests and American flag burnings. Today, President Obama traveled to Canada in his first trip as President to a location outside the United States. Making the first foreign trip by a President has traditionally been to Canada, with the exception of George W. Bush who made his first foreign trip to Mexico. Although weather conditions in Ottawa were miserable and frigid, I was touched seeing the large crowds outside the Parliament Building, hoping to catch a glimpse of President Obama or his motorcade. They were not only enduring the difficult weather conditions that no one would have expected anyone to voluntarily subject themselves to, they were actually cheering and chanting "YES WE CAN". What a dramatic difference this arrival of this President has produced from the images we had become accustomed to under "W". The visit of President Obama is being hailed by the Canadian people and their media as a major milestone in relations with the US. Coverage of President Obama's trip to Ottawa is receiving non-stop around the clock coverage on all media outlets there.. I am anxious for President Obama to make his first trip to Europe and to see the receptions there. If the 200,000+ crowd he drew in Berlin as "Candidate" Obama is any indication, I think once he does travel to Europe, we will see a newly born respect for the US and our President again. Thu, 19 Feb 2009 20:22:47 +0000http://www.intheav.com/blogs/Palmdalelee/2009/02/10/my-correspondence-with-chili-s-restaurantsI was so outraged at the decision to close the East Palmdale Chili's Restaurant that I felt the need to contact them via their website and express my outrage. The following is the reply I received from Chili's corporate headquarters today. I also sent a reply to their comments, which I have also posted here for you to read. ________________________________________ Thank you for your email and for your interest in Chili's. We are always disappointed when restaurants close due to high operating costs or lack of financial success. The Palmdale Chili's was not meeting our company's financial expectations and the decision was made to close the restaurant. Again, thank you for your interest in Chili's. Sincerely, Lisa Appler Guest Relations Reference Number: 257146 ________________________________________ My Reply to their comments: This is the type of response I anticipated from a corporation. Where is corporate commitment to the local communities in which they are doing business? In these difficult economic times, many other chain restaurants and locally owned restaurants are offering incentives for people to dine in their restaurants, such as with each adult meal paid a child eats free. Restaurants that are doing this in our community are having success. These restaurants have made a commitment to the community to accept a lower profit margin during this economic crisis. With these type of incentives, families that would not otherwise be able to take their entire family out to eat are now able to do so. This has meant more customers and revenue for those restaurants, families being able to treat themselves to a meal out and also tax revenues for the city. The American people are doing everything they can to help in these difficult economic times but corporate America is not. There is no sense of commitment or responsibility to the communities in which they operate. It appears that corporate owned businesses are too quick to close up shop and terminate the employment of so many, thus increasing the numbers of people out of work. It seems that making this type of decision is easy for corporations such as yours. I doubt your company's CEO is loosing any sleep over the many people your company is adding to the unemployed list that seems to grow daily in this country. The businesses that show a commitment to the community, willingness to accept a lower profit margin during these difficult economic times, will survive, be supported by the local community and will reap the rewards for their loyalty to the community once this economic crisis is resolved. I am very disheartened to find that Chili's Restaurants are not in the group of businesses that have some sense of loyalty and commitment to their customers and the community. I can tell you that the people of Palmdale, especially East Palmdale where this closed restaurant is located, are very upset about this closure. Tue, 10 Feb 2009 20:25:48 +0000http://www.intheav.com/blogs/Palmdalelee/2009/02/05/dine-out-to-feed-our-local-economyI have submitted the following idea by email to Palmdale Mayor Jim Ledford. I would love to hear everyone's input on this idea that would benefit our residents, restaurants and our City. I have an idea that could benefit our local economy. I am very disturbed by the plans to close the new Chili's Restaurant in E. Palmdale. This is a puzzle to me, as every time I have eaten there, it has been full and regardless of the time of day or night you drive past the restaurant, the parking lot is always full. (I encourage everyone to go to the Chili's Restaurant website and submit comments in opposition to the planned closure of this new eating establishment on the East side of Palmdale.) What I propose is that the City work with Palmdale restaurants to get them to agree to offer some type of discounts or incentives, such as a percentage off the bill (excluding alcoholic beverage costs), a pay for one adult meal and get a second half price or even pay for one meal and a child eats free. This could be arranged and widely publicized as a "Dine Out to Feed the Local Economy Day". The City and the restaurants could come up with the date to set for this. The City of Lancaster could also join in with this idea and coordinate with the restaurants in Lancaster to do the same. The impact of this would be that with the discounts, many more people would be in a position to dine out on that day or night, bringing in more customers to our local eating establishments which ultimately would also generate tax revenue for the City. In the City of LA, they have something similar each year to benefit AIDS Project Los Angeles and it has always been successful in getting people out to eat in restaurants and it has greatly benefited the charity as well. I can only see an event such as this as a "win - win" for not only local residents, but also the restaurants and the City of Palmdale. I only spend in Palmdale and am fortunate that this economy has not had any negative impact on me personally. I tell people that I have single handedly kept the economy going with my spending for home remodels, redecorating, landscaping, new items for my home and new clothes. I donate all items I replace to charity rather than having a yard sale. I dine out anywhere from 3 - 6 days per week. Thu, 05 Feb 2009 17:15:48 +0000http://www.intheav.com/blogs/Palmdalelee/2009/01/29/rush-limbaugh-the-voice-of-the-gopThe Republican National Committee is currently meeting in Washington DC to elect a new National Chair on Saturday. I have heard Republican leaders, one after another, voicing concern about the decline of their Party. It is interesting to hear these Party leaders state that if their Party does not want to become an even greater "minority", they must abandon their constant focus on divisive social issues, such as Anti-Immigration, Anti- Gay Rights, Anti-Food Stamps, and the list can go on and on. One top Republican leader at the Confernece in DC stated the truth when he said to reporters that the GOP has become viewed by the American People as the "Anti-Party", the Party of "NO". With no clear leader on the horizon of the GOP, conservative talk show host, Rush Limbaugh, has been declared by many of the Party's faithful in DC as "the voice of the Republican Party". If this man is the new face and voice of the Republican Party, they are certainly doomed to become what others have feared, a party of growing insignificance and a greater minority party. Rush Limbaugh must be full of his own self importance. Today, he stated that our President should sit down with him to discuss the Economic Stimulus Package. Who does this man perceive himself as being? He is not an elected official to anything. He is not even a member of the RNC. He is not even an economist. He is nothing more than an overpaid radio talk jock. This man spews forth discord, division and hate on a daily basis on the radio airwaves. I do not intend to insinuate that he does not have a right to say whatever he things, after all, we all have freedom of speech in this country and I may disagree with what he says but I respect his right to say what he believes, but if the GOP does not want to have the American people turn their backs on their party even more in future elections, they need to sit down with him and let him know that he is not benefiting the Party's goals with his comments, but is instead, increasing the negative views of the GOP that the majority of Americans now hold. As a Democrat, I hope he does continue to be the voice of the GOP. It will simply make our Party's job much easier in the future as his rethoric continues to alientate more and more moderate American voters.Thu, 29 Jan 2009 22:49:21 +0000http://www.intheav.com/blogs/Palmdalelee/2009/01/28/the-first-step-forward-to-economic-recoveryI am very happy that the U.S. House of Representatives passed the stimulus plan of President Obama. I know there will be changes made as it goes now to the Senate and then back for a vote on a compromise bill. What does this passage mean? Jobs will be created in the private sector, saving or creating as many as 4 million jobs the first year. Remember the Depression when FDR came into office, the US Government was forced to take this same approach to rescuing the economy. I am not surprised that Republicans oppose this. They do not oppose it because of it's merit, they are just be obstructionist and want more tax cuts for the wealthy and big businesses included. We tried that and it did not work. This plan will create sustained jobs with local businesses to do construction type jobs for repairing and upgrading our nation's collapsing infrastructure. The money will go to projects that are currently "shovel ready". Seniors making less than $50K will be exempt from paying federal income tax. Seniors and the disabled will see an immediate benefit in the form of an increase in the monthly Social Security payment of $450 per month. This gets needed money into the hands of people that are forced to live on a fixed income to help meet the increased cost of living. Middle class tax payers will see a stimulus tax cut of $500 per individual and $1000 per joint filing. Money will go to repair schools in our nation that are falling apart. Small businesses will receive tax cuts, compared to the years under the Republicans when the tax cuts only went to the big corporations. After all, small businesses make up the bulk of our nation's economy. Republicans oppose all of this by party lines, offering no alternative, even though President Obama has repeatedly given them the opportunity to do so. They also opposed FDR during the Great Depression. FDR was so successful with restoring the economy at that time, after the failure of the prior Republican President Herbert Hoover which brought on the Depression. FDR's success resulted in Republicans passing a Constitutional Amendment to place term limits on the Presidency because that was the only way they could hope to get him out of office, although he passed away in his third term and was succeeded by President Truman that continued the FDR recovery programs. Now they are just simply upset that they created this dismal economy again and could not come up with a workable solution to get us out of this critical time in our nation's economic history. They oppose anything that they did not think of first or anything that does not help the wealthy and big business cronies that support them. As long as the GOP continues to be obstructionist and have people like Rush Limbaugh, Bill O'Reilly and Anne Coulter speaking for them, it is apparent that they have not heard the message of the American people in the past two elections. People voted for change, for bi-partisanship - things that simply do not fit into the narrow objectives and policies of the GOP. The GOP leadership instructed all Republican members of Congress to vote against this stimulus plan, even before the meetings yesterday on Capital Hill with President Obama. It did not matter that the President and Democrats made compromises in the bill before it went to the floor of the US House, they were opposed just to be against it. Under the Bush 43 administration, millions of college age citizens lost out on the opportunity for a higher education when "W" basically eliminated "Pell Grants". This stimulus package will restore the Pell Grant Program and increase the funding for making it affordable to obtain a higher education. The stimulus will also provide health insurance coverage for an additional 14 million children currently uninsured in this nation. It will provide additional money to the States for extended unemployment benefits. Many states, which my State of California is one, have already run out of money to pay unemployment benefits due to more and more people being put out of work. The current system pays only for 26 weeks and then they are cut off completely, regardless of the fact that they are still unemployed and jobs are not available. I have been very impressed with our new President in his first week in office. He has been very open to putting out the hand of bi-partisanship, he has been more visible to the American people, even in the White House confines, than any President I can recall. He is running his administration in a very transparent manner, posting everything on the White House website for the American people to be able to go and read bills and summary of meetings for themselves and make up their own minds and has created a system on the site for Americans to easily submit their feedback and ideas directly to President Obama. President Obama has created a new site, recovery.gov, to enable Americans to obtain information about the progress on restoring our nation's economy. We must all put heat on our elected officials in Washington DC to put party politics aside, as our President has done, and work with him to do what is so desperately needed for the American people and American workers. The day of "trickle down economics" is over and this is a new era in our nation's history. I also look forward to President Obama signing the Fair Pay Act tomorrow. It is a long needed law to help equalize the disparity that exists in pay between men and women doing the same jobs. Currently, women make on average, only 74 cents to the dollar of what a man is paid. This is wrong, yet it has been yet another piece of legislation that Republicans have opposed for many years. Wed, 28 Jan 2009 19:35:49 +0000http://www.intheav.com/blogs/Palmdalelee/2008/10/12/no-on-prop-8Hello friends and fellow Californians. I am writing to you about a very important issue on our November 4th ballot. I hope you will take the time to read what I have written here and think long and hard about it. I hope you will also share it with as many people as possible before election day on November 4th. I am writing to encourage all of you to stand up for full equality under the law for all people. Our nation and State have rich histories of always standing on the side of the rights of all and not just a few. These are rights guaranteed not only by our State's Constitution but also have been embedded in our national Constitution. Never before have we come to the point of singling out any specific group to add language to our Constitutions to permit open and legal discrimination. That simply is not the American way nor is it the ideals of the founders of our nation. The proponents of Prop 8 want to instill in you many fears about Equality for All under the law. They are using attack advertising to plant the seeds of hate and fear into California Voters' minds on this issue, with claims that simply are not true. In our State's history and our nation's history, we have found it within our hearts to stand up for full equality for all in many ways. The California State Supreme Court struck down laws that prohibited inter-racial marriage, which at the time, the same arguments were being used against permitting inter-racial marriage by the opponents. They claimed the State Court was over stepping the will of the people, but the courts are not supposed to be a measure of current popularity polling, but instead, a body that rules on the principles of our Constitution. Claims were made then that if inter-racial marriage was legalized, it would be the end of society as they knew it then and it would destroy the sanctity of marriage. Sound familiar? Our nation also found it within it's heart to pass laws such as the Amercians With Disabilities Act, to protect the rights of those with disabilities, whether they were born with them or aquired them later in life. Our nation also found it within their hearts to add amendments to the US Constituton to grant voting rights to women and blacks, something that was strongly opposed by many at the time, but was the right thing to do under the basic principles of our nation's Constitution. There is no place in our State's Constitution or our nation's Constitution for tollerance of language that strips anyone from the rights of full equality under the law. Regardless of how you feel about same sex couples or marriage between same sex couples, are you really prepared to break with the history of our nation and State by stripping rights from a "targeted" group. If one group can be targeted to be classified under the Constitution as not having full equality under the law, then which group will be next to be targeted, once this dangerous precedent is estabilished. The current law in effect in Calfornia does not grant "special rights" to same sex couples, it only grants the same rights that have been enjoyed by all others throughout our history. No one is asking for "special rights", only to be treated equally under the law. Just imagine if you woke up the morning after an election and found that voters had seen fit to remove your right to be equal and your right to marry and they had nullified your existing marriage. How would you feel? Since the ruling of the Califonia State Supreme Court on this issue, there has been absolutely no negative impact on any heterosexual couple's marriage, on our society or anyone else's rights. The impact of the ruling has only been postive with a tremendous increase in revenues to our State due to the huge increase in the money spent on wedding related businesses and tax revenues not only from that but also increased money to counties for wedding permit fees. This is significant, especially during the tough economic times our State and Nation are facing. Proponents of Prop 8 argue that churches will be required to perform same sex marriages or risk loosing their tax exempt status. This is simply not true. Churches have always, under the seperation of church and state provisions, been permitted to pick and choose what marriages they will and will not perform without any repercusions from governent. Some faiths do not perform marriage ceremonies of inter-faith marriages, some do not perform marriages when one person is divorced. The rights of churches to continue to choose which marriage ceremonies they will conduct and recognize will remain in tact, just as it has since the California State Supreme Court made their ruling on the constitutionality of same sex marriages. Since the argument has been that if same sex marriages are allowed, it would destroy the institution of marriage as we know it, I have to ask you, since the rulings by the Courts of the State of Mass., and the State of California, do you know of a single heterosexual married couple that have had their marriage impacted by these rulings? This past week, the State of Connecticut's Supreme Court also ruled that it is unconstitutional to not permit same sex marriages. The following are statements from that State's Court on the issue written into the majority opinon of the Court. These statements apply also to our State of California. "Gay and lesbian couples cannot be denied the freedom to marry under the state constitution, and Connecticut's civil unions law does not provide those couples with the same rights as heterosexual couples." Justices overturned a lower court ruling and found in favor of the plaintiffs, who said the state's marriage law discriminates against them because it applies only to heterosexual couples, therefore denying gay couples the financial, social and emotional benefits of marriage. "Interpreting our state constitutional provisions in accordance with firmly established equal protection principles leads inevitably to the conclusion that gay persons are entitled to marry the otherwise qualified same sex partner of their choice," Justice Richard N. Palmer wrote in the majority opinion that overturned a lower court finding. "To decide otherwise would require us to apply one set of constitutional principles to gay persons and another to all others." Civil Unions and Domestic Partnership simply do not equal the equality of rights that are provided by marriage. I urge you to do what is right on Novemeber 4 and stand to preserve the principles that our nation was founded on, to not write discrimination towards any group into our State or National Constitiutions. Make a statement, regardless of if you agree or disagree with same sex marriage, that all people should be treated equally under the law, regardless of who they are. Send a message that you will not support writing discrimination into our State's Constitution for the first time in history against any "target" group, as that would establish a precident that could lead to more groups being targeted for removing equal protection under the law for them as well. I strongly urge you to VOTE NO on PROP 8 on November 4. A NO on Prop 8 vote is something that is endorsed by most all of our State's elected officials, including our Governor. Prop 8 is opposed by many organizations, including various churches, labor unions and inter-faith councils. I hope you will also forward this to everyone you know that is a registered voter in the State of California. It is time we all stand together united and not divided and support full equality under the law for all of our citizens, regardless of who or what they are. CALIFORNIA - The FULL EQUALITY State Don't Turn Back the Hands of Time and Permit Open and Legal Discrimination to be Written Into Our State's Constitution. VOTE NO on PROP 8 on Nov. 4Sun, 12 Oct 2008 10:20:37 +0000http://www.intheav.com/blogs/Palmdalelee/2008/09/25/mccain-double-talkIt was only two weeks ago that Senator John McCain declared that the fundamental state of our economy was strong. Now he is preaching the same message as George W. Bush, that if Congress does not act on the Paulson Bailout Plan by the weekend, our nation will face gloom and doom. What happened in two weeks to take our economy from "fundamentally strong" to now being a gloom and doom scenario? Could it be the declining poll numbers for Senator McCain in the all important battleground states and also the strong opposition by Republicans on the House and Senate Committees that are conducting hearings on the Bush / Paulson $700 billion bail out plan that has no measures for regulation of how it is used and has a provision that states how the money is spent is up to the sole discretion of the Sec. of Treasury without the ability to challenge his decisions. Remember, Paulson came from Wall Street before moving into the Administration. These are his long time friends that stand to gain from this bail out with more borrowed money and no guarantee that this plan will even work. That's right, more borrowed money, raising our deficit even more and raising our debt more. Paulson has even asked Congress to increase the amount of the spending limit, which defines how much deficit spending can be done within a year, to over $13 trillion. Senator McCain was first opposed to the bail out of Insurance giant, AIG and then he was for it. He was opposed to the $700 billion bail out plan and then the next day admitted he had not even read it. Senator McCain has repeatedly said he will increase the size of our military so that it will be better prepared to respond to crisis situations around the world, but now he is saying he supports a dramatic reduction in Defense Department spending. Senator McCain has an ad running in some states saying that Senator Obama does not know anything about the economy. Wasn't it Senator McCain that admitted publically that he does not know anything about the economy and does not understand how it works? Sen. Obama has put forth detailed plans to confront these difficult times in our nation's economy and yet, Senator McCain can only propose a 9/11 type Presidential Commission to look into how we got into this mess. We know how we got here and we don't need a Presidential Commission to spend more money and waste more time to tell us something we already know. We need real solutions through tough legislation in the Congress to solve this mess that Wall Street and the GOP have plunged our nation into. Now Senator McCain says he is suspending his campaign activities in light of the economic crisis that this nation faces and wants to cancel the first of the three Presidential Debates that will be held tomorrow in Mississippi. He says he will return to Washington. Other than going to the White House today, with Senator Obama and the leaders of both parties in the Congress to meet with President Bush, what is it that he thinks he will be doing in Washington to address this crisis. Neither McCain or Obama are members of any of the Senate Committees or Sub-Committees that must hold hearings and vote on recommendations of a bill to submit out of the committee process for a vote on the floor of the Senate. It is not until that bill reaches the floor of the Senate, in whatever form it ultimately takes, that either Senator will be needed in Washington for a vote. As Sen. Obama said yesterday, both campaigns have large planes that can speed them off at a moment's notice to Washington should they be needed there. I also agree with Sen. Obama's statement that a President frequently is called upon to manage multiple difficult issues all at the same time. A President can not decide to put everything on hold while he deals with that one issue, as is apparently the direction that Senator McCain chooses to make. McCain's appearance in Washington will only distract from the important work that needs to be done by these House and Senate Committees, to draft legislation that will work and will enact some real regulatory requirements and benefit the average person on Main Street and not just reward the greedy on Wall Street for a job poorly done. If you were running a business and making the mistakes that we have seen being made on Wall Street, while a Republican Administration has turned it head for 8 years, not enforcing any of the government regulatory laws on the books that were put in place to prevent something like this from ever happening again after the massive bail out of the Savings and Loan Industry, do you think the government would step in and give you unlimited financial resources to bail your business out of debt and failure due to bad management and risky investments? You all do remember the disaster of the failed S&L's? Dejavou, it is happening again but on a larger scale. Proof that "Trickle down economics" does not work and deregulation only results in massive greed, corruption, fraud and business failures that impact the average person on Main Street, while the big wheels on Wall Street have enjoyed protection and even have been rewarded financially for their failures and greed, robbing the pocketbooks of Average Americans. Let's not kid ourselves. As the $700 billion bail out plan was submitted by Bush and Paulson, it is nothing but a blank check to benefit Wall Street and is not about anyone on Main Street. Polling nationally yesterday showed that 90% of the American People are opposed to the $700 billion bail out plan as it has been presented by Bush and Paulson. The majority of the American People also place the blame for this mess right where it belongs, at the feet of the GOP. On a different topic, why the sexist treatment by the McCain camp towards their VP choice, Sarah Palin. If she is as qualified to serve a heartbeat away from the Presidency and should be taken seriously as a candidate, then why has the McCain Campaign continued to treat her with kid gloves and limit her speaking to scripted speeches and prohibited any member of the media from being able to subject her to the same type of tough questions that are posed to Senators Obama, McCain and Biden? Even her ABC interview was so rehearsed and she over and over avoided answering probing questions using standard "stump speech" wording to redirect the attention from the questions asked of her. It appeared that anything she was not coached on or provided scripted answers for resulted in the same vague "stump speech" comments to avoid the question. If she is so qualified, then let her be heard and let the media treat her as an equal and pose the hard questions to her, just as they do with her male counterparts. If the McCain Campaign wants America to believe she is ready on day 1 to serve, then they need to lift the veil of protection from her and let her prove herself to the American people. This continued veil of protection has resulted in a huge decline in her favorability ratings nationally. ________________________________________ CALIFORNIA - The FULL EQUALITY State Don't Turn Back the Hands of Time and Permit Open and Legal Discrimination to be Written Into Our State's Constitution. VOTE NO on PROP 8 on Nov. 4Thu, 25 Sep 2008 10:11:30 +0000http://www.intheav.com/blogs/Palmdalelee/2008/09/03/we-are-all-economically-illiterate-whinersCurrently, Senator Obama leads in the national polls, now polling above the 50% mark in many polls, yet the only polls that really matter are the individual state polls. We elect a President by Electoral Votes, where the winner of each state wins all of that state's electoral votes. My projections, which are also in line with most that are in the business of making these projections, show Senator Obama winning the electoral vote with 371 votes, while only 270 are needed to elect. We will see for the first time in a long time, many of the traditional "red states" turning blue. My family lives in the deep south State of Alabama. They are all loyal Republicans. My sister, brother-in-law and all of their friends and business associates (also all Republicans) will be voting for Senator Obama. My father does not like either and will not vote for either candidate; however my mother, when I told her that not only was I supporting Senator Obama as was my sister and her husband, she replied, "I will have to ask your sister about that. I just don't believe that she would ever vote for a black man for President." My mother has praised Governor Palin for being on the McCain ticket, yet her comments that she is happy with his choice because she is a woman, is nothing more than a cover to keep from having to admit she would never vote for a person of color. This is a mentality that will be seen in many of the deep south states, but with many of the "baby boomer" generation, such as my sister, her husband and their friends and associates switching parties to vote for Senator Obama, it could make for a long night on November 4 for Republicans in the deep south states. On yet another topic, I guess we are all "Economically Illiterate". This was the declaration by McCain friend and advisor, the same person that called Americans "whiners in a mental recession". There was a Phil Gramm sighting in Minnesota and it looks like he's back at it again, complaining about those pesky "whiners" who lost their only home to foreclosure, or saw their job shipped overseas. "If you're sitting here today, you're not economically illiterate and you're not a whiner, so I'm not worried about who you're going to vote for,'' Gramm told supporters of McCain at a Financial Services Roundtable event in Minneapolis on the sidelines of the Republican National Convention. Gramm, 66, stepped down as a senior adviser to McCain in July after telling the Washington Times that the U.S. is a "nation of whiners'' facing a "mental recession.'' See the Obama campaign response below: "Today, the man who wrote John McCain's economic plan further insulted struggling Americans by suggesting that if they are not attending the Republican Convention, they are not only whiners, but economically illiterate. From the campaign whose candidate has said that we've made 'great progress' economically under George Bush and believes that the fundamentals of our economy are 'strong', that's pretty rich,” said Obama campaign spokesman Tommy Vietor. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CALIFORNIA - The FULL EQUALITY State Don't Turn Back the Hands of Time and Permit Open and Legal Discrimination to be Written Into Our State's Constitution. VOTE NO on PROP 8 on Nov. 4Wed, 03 Sep 2008 07:25:54 +0000http://www.intheav.com/blogs/Palmdalelee/2008/09/02/republicans-on-family-values-morals-and-diversityAs I watched the limited proceedings of the first day of the RNC, I could not help but take note of something that stood out as the cameras scanned the assembly of delegates in the Convention Hall. It appears at this RNC, the definition of diversity is limited to gender diversity only. Yes, there were male and female delegates, but the one thing they all seem to have in common was that they all had the same white skin color. I guess their idea of diversity is different from that of our Democratic Party, which is inclusive of all. I have been a long time, very loyal supporter of Hillary and even threatened to cast a protest vote by writing in Hillary's name on my ballot in November. I came to the realization that I was not angry with the Obama Campaign, I was angry with many decisions that had been made by the DNC leadership and the ways they had handled many issues of the primary season. They eventually sat the full delegations of Florida and Michigan, something that if they had done from the beginning, would have prevented a lot of the hard feelings that resulted. I, even before the DNC Convention, realized that this election is far too important to our nation's future and that of world security and peace. I am now backing Senator Obama and his excellent selection for VP in Joseph Biden. I will be giving my 100% effort to help elect Senator Obama and Senator Biden to the White House. I am disturbed by the selection by Senator McCain of Alaska Governor Palin. She has not been in the Governor's office for even two years and yet she is already under investigation for misuse of power in the firing of the Public Safety Commissioner, who happens to have been involved in a bitter divorce and custody battle with the Governor's sister. She was for two years, member of a political party in Alaska that's sole purpose is to promote that State's endeavor to secede from the union. Yesterday, we heard the McCain campaign announce that her 17 year old unmarried daughter is five months pregnant. While Senator Obama has stated that the campaign views family issues as "off limits", that does not mean that bloggers, individuals and the media can not pursue this issue. This all resulted from reports on internet blogs that the baby Governor Palin had while serving as Governor, is actually the child of her daughter, especially in light of reports that during her supposed pregnancy, she never appeared to be pregnant. Could it be true that this child is actually the child of her daughter and that the Governor and her husband adopted the child in a cover up scheme. That would have resulted in a new birth certificate being issued, showing them to be the birth parents with the adoption records sealed by law. Why the long cover up of the pregnancy of their unmarried 17 year old daughter, five months into her pregnancy? Were they planning to cover this up by suddenly announcing they had adopted a baby, once the baby was born? To me, this is a campaign issue. After all, the Republicans are the party that for decades had promoted themselves as the party that has "full ownership" to "FAMILY VALUES" and the highest moral standards. Governor Palin is opposed to sex education in schools and promotes teaching abstinence only education, something that has proven to not be effective. Alaska not only has a high teen pregnancy rate but also leads the nation on STD's within their younger population. While Mayor of her small town in Alaska, Governor Palin also secured, through earmarks, millions of dollars from the Federal Government for pet projects in her small home town. Yet she claims to be opposed to ear marked spending by the Federal Government and opposed to wasteful spending. Apparently there was no vetting process of Governor Palin by the McCain campaign until the Thursday before he announced her as his choice for running mate, a fact supported not only by officials in Alaska but also by insiders to the McCain campaign. Senator McCain apparently chose Governor Palin in an attempt to win female votes and secure Alaska in the Republican column, since for the first time, the polls in that State show Obama and McCain tied. It is an insult to women voters to think that by selecting a woman that women voters in this nation will support his campaign based solely on the fact that his VP choice is a woman. He is assuming women voters will vote for a woman, any woman, and disregard the many issues that are of importance to them and their families. This is an insult to women voters all over the nation. As this campaign moves forward towards November 4, I can only speculate that more and more will come to surface about Governor Palin. I feel that the selection of her as the VP choice will be a choice that McCain will come to regret, which calls into question his judgment capabilities. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CALIFORNIA - The FULL EQUALITY State Don't Turn Back the Hands of Time and Permit Open and Legal Discrimination to be Written Into Our State's Constitution. VOTE NO on PROP 8 on Nov. 4Tue, 02 Sep 2008 14:37:12 +0000