Holy Buck, Fatman!

The above quote was brought to you by our President of the United States. Uh huh. Yeah. Get sick? Just go to the Emergency room! Can’t pay for it, Well TOUGH SHIT!

The question is, will we be wise about how we pay for health care. I believe the best way to do so is to enable more people to have private insurance. And the reason I emphasize private insurance, the best health care plan — the best health care policy is one that emphasizes private health. In other words, the opposite of that would be government control of health care.

In case you’ve been living under a rock, There is a new Michael Moore film out entitled “SiCKO“. MM decided that instead of focusing on the problem of the uninsured here in America, he was going to focus on the insured folks who are getting screwed. Yes, that’s RIGHT—The INSURED that are members of Privately Owned Corporations that put shareholder profit above the health of the individual by systematically denying claims, playing statistics games (you know, deny all claims based on the theory that only a certain percentage will fight back until the claim is paid) and telling Doctors how to administer care to their patients.

It’s a fact that profit is much more important to people like Chimpy McFlysuit. His quote above doesn’t say that profit maximization is what he really advocates, but we all know that is the case. When it comes to the health insurance industry, well..profit is what the shareholders demand. What does that mean? Lifesaving procedures are often denied, resulting in the untimely death of millions of Americans.

I’ve had personal experience with this. When my father was battling cancer, he was often faced with subsequent claim denials for medication and treatment that was vital to his survival. My Mom was a diligent caregiver and spent hours on the phone to get the decisions reversed while my father waited for some Cubicle Monkey, often reading from a script provided by the insurance corporations, to tell him that he could go ahead with his treatment. Did the Cubicle Monkey know what an Autologous Stem cell Transplant was? Probably not, but it was on the list of “shit that you deny automatically because it contains rather large medical terms that probably cost a lot.”

Never mind that it could have saved my father ’s life. He waited for three months for that approval and in those three months his health declined sharply. When they went to collect his Stem Cells for subsequent transplant, his body had failed to make enough due to prolonged exposure to the cancer that was coursing through his veins. In short, the transplant was done, but since the doctors could not adequately collect enough healthy stem cells from him, the transplant failed. Two years later, My father died.

Could prompt approval allowed Dr.s to harvest more healthy Stem Cells, therefore increasing the odds of the transplant grafting? Sure. Was it solely the fault of the Insurance Company? I’m not sure, but I believe that they played a rather large hand in delaying treatment and possibly contributing to the decrease in odds.

I can probably bet that most Americans have similar stories dealing with health insurance companies.  But, hey—we can all simply Go to the Emergency Room to get that Care!

…Bill Clinton is wallowing in some serious schadenfreude right about now.

You see, David Vitter (R-LA) was one of the loudest Goppers calling for Pres. Bill to step down because of a blow job.

Vitter, a hardline christian conservative always advocated “traditional family values” such as marriage being one man one woman, the outlawing of any type of abortion,and generally crusading to make sure that YOUR LIFE is *just like his*. He was so pure and righteous that it earned him the beloved and most coveted position that allows you to freely persecute anyone who doesn’t follow the same biblically inerrant lifestyle.

Except, of course, when he was caught with his pants down. Vitter was a customer of the notroious DC Madam, Deborah Palfrey.

Hypocrisy, anyone? Well, No. The MSM believes Vitter’s Hypocrisy is not the story. Except, well…that it is the story. Anyone who claims to be “better” then someone else because they follow a strict moral code while paying for sex behind his wife’s back is a hypocrite. What is even more amazing is that this isn’t the first time he has been rumored to shack up with working ladies.

I still can’t quite understand how all these high profile GOP men spout rhetoric about “traditional values” and end up engaging in extra marital affairs. My curiosity always gets the best of me and wonders, “why?”

Do their wives not put out? Do they want to engage in teh anal sex and wifey ain’t having it? Do they marry their wives for procreation only and continue with the glorious work of spreading their sperm to as many women as possible? Do they even talk to their wives? Are their wives sickened by the mere thought of sexual intercourse because their Moms told them that it was a sick, disgusting, sinful act and only needed to be done for the purpose of having kids? What makes these men want to stray? And why is it that all my friends(some are teh gay, too!) in committed marriages/unions who are “liberal and godless” all have healthy committed relationships with their spouses? Why is it that the Pew Research center found that a happy and healthy sexual relationship with your spouse is a key to a good, faithful marriage to a majority of Americans?

Sexual repression never does the human soul any good. Demonizing sex creates a subculture of people seeking to fullfil their desires in unhealthy ways. It leads to secretive behavior that can ultimately endanager the health of an unknowing spouse. You know, like paying a prostitute.

Neocon hypocrisy only stresses this. Neocons need to realize that their god didn’t make sex feel good because he didn’t want people to do it; he made it feel good because it is good to do it!

 Setting: The office

[phone rings]

Me: Good afternoon, Holy Fatman speaking…..

SalesDouche: Hi! I’m calling to extend services to your office! We’re a water purifying company and we offer—

Me: No thank you, we have water service and we’re happy.

SalesDouche: But it’s NOT like ours! Ours is Patented and special. We will decrease your water costs by using our purifying techniques!

me: Uhm…Okay. Well, I’ll take a look at the costs, run an analysis and see if we could benefit. Please send me an e mail with your price list included.

SalesDouche: Oh Great! How many people do you have in your office? I’m sure it will save you hundreds!

Me: We only have 8 people in our office, and some of them are usually not hear all the time.

SalesDouche: Oh…only 8? well… Hmmm…This might not be right for you then.

Me: I thought not. Anyway, have a good day.

[hangs up]

NEXT DAY 

[phone rings]

Me: Good Morning, Holy Fatman speaking

SalesDouche: Hi! It’s me again. Did you get the e mail?

Me: I thought that you determined that it wouldn’t be cost effective to sell to us. Aren’t we finished? I’m not having you or your sales people waste your time.

SalesDouche: Oh, But if we could have a few moments of your time. Did you get the E mail that we sent? we’re just following up on that!

Me: No, actually, I didn’t. Come to think of it, I’m really not interested.

Thus ended the conversation with the SalesDouche. Except SalesDouche didn’t quite see it that way. SalesDouche has proceeded to call me SEVEN TIMES EVERYDAY SINCE LAST FRIDAY.

That would be one week. I simply stopped answering the phone since I have a great thing called “Caller ID”

Wingnuts always invoke that argument when talking about the evil “Clenis” (That’s Bill Clinton’s Penis, Circa 1997/98 for those who don’t know political slang)  They cry about not caring about the act of the Blow Job, but the act of lying under oath.

Fast Forward to  2007 and we are faced with this “Scooter” Libby idiot who was CONVICTED of obstruction of justice and other crimes. He gets handed a sentence befitting of the crime and what does Chimpy McFlysuit do? he Fucking COMMUTES THE FUCKING SENTENCE!

The guy was found guilty of lying, then COVERING IT UP. However, to a wingnut, that is okay. If you are rich and connected, it’s perfectly okay for you to do whatever you want! They can do anything because, as digby so eloquently says, they are so, so special.

From now on, if any fucking wingnut invokes the “Clenis” I will scream. Scream, folks. SCREAM.

Imagine working a crap job at the local fast food joint and some guy, who claims to have some “anger management” issues decided that you were too rude and punched you in the face.

From the general tone of the story, however, it seems that the police chief simply dismissed the man’s actions and  said, “Well, he just had a bad day.”

UNACCEPTABLE. Why is ANYONE making excuses for this guy?

You don’t go hitting 19 year old service workers in the face because the service wasn’t up to your standard. Sure, maybe manners do need to stressed, but I sincerely doubt that it merited a punch in the face.

Child abuse or not?

I wouldn’t characterize it as “child abuse” when a family, struggling to make ends meet, on government assistance and already has children to GO AHEAD AND HAVE MORE—I believe it’s more selfishness, irresponsibilty and plan stupidity. Once again, VA inflamed the Mommyblogosphere with her interesting and rather harsh opinions. I may not always agree with what she has to say, but I certainly can see where she is coming from.

I’ve always maintained that government assistance is there for when you really need it. Sometimes, things don’t always go as planned and you are faced with a time in your life that assistance might be the best short term solution. However, it seems that some believe that it is now a long term solution to their stupid, selfish decisions. Having a fourth child while you can’t afford all three because you *want* one? This is what gives the entire welfare system a bad name. This is why people who really need the help while they recover from a catastrophe that throws them a giant curve ball and hits them below the belt, financially. Those who tell you that they simply “cannot get off assistance because it’s impossible!” are full of shit. And I’m calling bullshit on them right now.

Why? Because I have been there. I made a poor choice in husbands back when Short Round was born. He was an abusive assclown with a major lazy streak. I was his meal ticket and he knew it. Despite my making a shitty decision to marry a poor example of a man, I knew I had to feed my daughter. I did what I needed to do: working 70 plus hours a day, budgeting my money and doing the best I could to improve my job situation any chance I got. Anyone who was willing to give me a job, I was willing to work for them. I was going to learn a little something from anyone I could and apply that to my job search.

The Assclown I was married too was constantly pushing for me to apply for benefits. I refused. I could work, I was capable. There was NO way that I could allow myself to be on assistance when I could work. Why would I do that? Wass I protecting myself against anymore unwanted pregnancies? hell yeah. Did I have cable? No. I could barely afford heat, but I did.

I divorced the Assclown, went back to school on the “ten year ” plan, got myself a good job, landed myself a good second husband, bought a home and finally, after 12 years of struggling through what was some of the worse times in my life–I am in a good financial place. I am not, by any means, rich. Neither myself or mister fatman believe that we could afford a second child as I am here to tell you that kids get WAYY MORE EXPENSIVE as they grow up. Do we want more children? Hell NO. We’re realistic and understand that it would be a financial burden.

There are people who may argue that you can make ends meet any way when you decide to have a child. I’m here to say that I would never willingly put myself into a position that would jeopardize my new found financial stability. Nor would I decide to ruin the chances my daughter has at a decent high school education.

And, contrary to popular belief, it is possible to feed your children healthy food on a limited budget. We do it right now, local produce at the farmers market, cooking everything by hand, etc etc. It can be done. Laziness is the only excuse for those who simply don’t want to cook.

So, In the interest of beating a dead horse, I’ll have to call bullshit on a blogging whiner who says, who is paying for a high speed internet connection instead of budgeting, moving to affordable housing and getting her shit together.

What is this world coming too: This lovely clip illustrates how materialistic we have become. Sure, It’s “LA”, but my guess is that some Mom in Northern Virgina is thinking of doing the exact same thing. The most frightening thing is when the kid says she doesn’t want to do it, but the Mom makes her. File Under: People who shouldn’t be allowed to procreate.

Darth Bush and his Empire Minions have been working overtime on ensuring the safety of the American People(tm) through making sure that the beef industry does NOT, yes, I repeat, DOES NOT VOLUNTARILY test for Mad Cow Disease. It makes one wonder how wingnuts, who advocate small government and little meddling in corporate structure, are going to explain this one….

LiveJournal, in an attempt to “Think of the Children” deletes thousands of what they “thought” were inappropriate themed journals. Indeed, some probably needed to be done away with, but others included Sci-Fi fan fictions, discussion groups on Vladmir Nabokov’s Lolita, journals that belonged to role players fictional characters, and other things that have flourished within the live journal communities. The group “Warriors for Innocence” are  responsible for reporting what they deemed to be pedophilia simply by searching a few keywords and coming up with things they don’t understand. They clearly believe they should be doing *MY* job as a parent. I say to them: BACK OFF. Policing the internet and protecting my child from predators is a job for myself.   This looks like a clear attack on the freaks and geeks of fanfiction, some who have been known to elaborate on such works as “Romeo and Juliet”. I wonder if the overlords at LiveJournal thought about deleting “Pro Ana” communities or kids that cut themselves. I’ve always maintained that censorship will not come from the government, it will come from the corporations that own your soul.

I’ve been squawking about the PNAC for years and yet it has been falling upon deaf ears. This catchy illustration actually brings attention to what has been out there for years, and sheds light on what is literally in plain view for all to see. This war is about money; control of money through oil. The only way for them to do that is to establish a permanent presence in the middle east, and prevent anyone from accepting Euros when purchasing oil.

It’s a shame that people aren’t more vocal about their displeasure. I’m sure if a favorite got voted off “American Idol”, all hell would break loose and the American media would be reporting about it for days. We simply don’t care about other people’s sons dying, or  anything that has happened in a place most people cannot connect to. Any attempts to recycle, ration or simply save for the sake of the troops stationed overseas are limited to a $1.99 magnetic ribbon that is placed on the back of the gas guzzling SUV’s.  There is no limiting excess and there is no thinking about what the families of the troops might be feeling as their husbands, dads, brothers and sisters tours are extended for yet another term.

Maybe we need to think about that a little more, get a little more angry and start really holding our elected officals  accountable.

Love,

President Shit Sandwich

A major thing happened yesterday. REALLY MAJOR.

It wasn’t about VT or American Idol. It certainly wasn’t about Anna Nicole Smith, Madonna or Angliena Jolie.
It was the first step to overturning Roe v. Wade.

There has been a lot of buzz about the recent Supreme Court ruling upholding the ban on what the right calls “Partial Birth Abortions” Of Course, that is not an actual medical term. The proper term for the procedure is “Intact Dilatation and Extraction” and contrary to the  Christian Nationalist rhetoric, the procedure is not performed unless there is a real medical necessity.

The Bush Administration has a plan. Bush and his Christian Base want desperately to outlaw abortion but it will be impossible to simply legislate it out of existence.  I firmly believe there is  a plan to effectively overturn Roe v Wade that is  well thought out by numerous think tanks and political operatives. It will not happen overnight. It will happen slowly while the average American is not looking.

The ultra religious right want to send a message to American women: KNOW YOUR PLACE. Submit to your husband and take care of your children because that is what the bible says. Men are the breadwinners and women are the caregivers. Which means they must take care of the man the way he is supposed to. If a women has the audacity to make a decision about her body without the counsel of her husband and God, then she is a sinner. The religious right will make sure that everyone will come to the flock–even if they have to legislate laws to get people to see the Truth.

It’s about control of the non-believers. It doesn’t matter what you actually think when you are confronted with an unwanted pregnancy or faced with a serious medical issue that could effect your life. The life of the unborn child is more precious. The life of the unborn child is what matters most.

Which brings me to my next grievance. Why is it that adoption for an american couple so difficult and expensive? Why is it that judges have ruled in favor of greedy birth parents and ordered adopted children to return to a mother who is barely able to take care of herself, let alone the child.

I have friend who wants to start having children with his wife. When they went to the Dr. they were told that it would be difficult because she had a condition. I asked him if he was going to consider adoption. He said they wouldn’t be eligible because they simply didn’t have enough money.  They would be deemed unable to economically care for a child because of a bout of debt due to hospitalization without healthcare. In short–they were a middle class couple denied the right to adoption because of red tape and money.

So, why isn’t the religious right working to make adoption a viable option for more people? Why isn’t there any discussion on reforming adoption laws to make it an attractive option to a women in need of assistance?

Because it is about control. Control of unbelievers for whom they believe they have dominion over.