This Really Stinks

George Orwell never imagined the government surveillance that became possible with the development of the computer and the internet.

Check out this news video and see how you can innocently give the government permission to hack into your personal computer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RAOBlqUqUZ8

The Fishy Health-Care Logo

There's been some discussion about the health-care logo. Emails were sent to Congressman Tim Bishop and The White House today that asked what the symbols represent.

Graphic images convey subtle -- some might suggest "subliminal" -- messages that need explanation. The thirteen stars in the Betsy Ross Flag, for instance, represented the thirteen colonies.

One wonders what the three stars in the health-care logo represent. Could it be the Executive, Legislative and Judicial branches of our government? Could it stand for the Father, Son and Holy Ghost? Maybe the Taoist concept of Good Fortune (Fu), Prosperity (Lu), and Longevity! How about Larry, Moe and Curly? Mexico, the US and Canada? How about the military or hotel designations from 0 to five with three being mediocre? There's a purpose for those three stars.

And what's that circle with the three red stripes? The eye is immediately drawn to it. Does the circle stand for Obama or Oprah? Is it merely a container for the stripes that seem to want to wander out of sight? Reminds me of Mexico, the US and Canada or Communist China, Cuba and Venezuela. But, surely, there must be another meaning. Anyone want to offer a guess?

See those faint light rays emanating upward from the circle and stripes that cover the upper globe? Does that signify that the program will eventually cover the earth with the United States as the foundation for the more that 1 trillion dollars needed to kick off the project?

The people seem to be on the US map and also on a distant horizon symbolizing world-wide coverage in the program.

"ORGANIZING" is what the President did in Chicago, right? Who's doing the organizing now -- is it the Legislative or Executive branches or both? Judging from the 1,000 plus pages of the complex bill and people like Congressman Conyers who can't understand it, maybe someone else is working behind the scenes. Who will be revealed if Toto pulls the curtain aside -- another wizard?

Then there's the "HEALTH CARE". Notice the bold type: it seems to signify that the organizing is temporary and the result is permanent -- or "cast in stone". Three words are missing: accountability, affordability and evaluation. Who is responsible for this, how will it be paid for and how will we know if it works?


According to the bill approved by the House of Representatives on July 14, 2009, it looks like whatever funds were asked for, an additional $38,800,000,000 will be required between 2010 and 2019 for Community Health Centers (Subtitle H -Miscellaneous, Division c - Public Health and Workforce Development, Title I - Community Health Centers, Sec. 2101, Increased Funding). Who comes up with figures like these? Neither John Conyers, Nancy Pelosi or most Americans can dream up figures like these. Someone must have had too much Kool Aid when they developed this puzzle.

There's more. Near the end of the Bill in Part 3 -- Advisory Committee on Health Workforce Evaluation and Assessment - reports will be made to Congress by a 15 member Advisory Committee that will serve without pay under the Secretary and Assistant Secretary of Health. Of course, the members will receive travel expenses and a per diem. Will someone please pull the curtain aside and reveal the true costs of this part? Will someone please tell the American public how these 15 people who will volunteer their time will adequately evaluate a plan as complex as this?

Something's fishy with the logo and the plan. It's not too much to expect Congress and the President to explain what all this means.

They're Pushing for Less than a Full Flying Fish

How magnanimous -- Congress is backing off its request for spending over half a billion dollars for jet planes for jet trips for members of congress. Instead, it appears that congress is going to entertain the Pentagon's request for a mere $220 million.

(See The New York Times report at: http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2009/08/10/us/politics/politics-us-usa-congress-jets.html?scp=1&sq=congress%20jets&st=cse .)


Call me naive, but isn't under a quarter of a billion dollars still a lot of money to spend so that our privileged members of congress and their spouses can fact-find and vacation around the world? It seems to me that the $220,000,000 could be put to better use in building shelters for citizens who have lost their homes. The Obama administration and the Congress haven't acted quickly enough save those folks from the toxic mortgage rates that are being imposed through ARM's.

What's wrong with expecting congress to use commercial transportation as Joe Biden did?

Talk About A Fish Story...Everyone's Crabbing About Something!

The choice was between a gambler and a dreamer. The country seemed ready for a change as the founding fathers provided for in the Constitution.

So, I voted for the dreamer. Obama' rhetoric was spell-binding. Most of us were ready for change and we had an abundance of hope.

Here it is, six months into the President's term and I, and much of the country, are unhappy with the programs that we see in the White House and the Congress. These people just don't seem to be on the same wave length as the rest of us. I regret that I voted for Obama. I was fooled and a fool for falling for the hype!

Federal elected officials get a very generous salary, pension, health care and perks and live better than the average American. Few of them have run businesses or practiced medicine and yet they're making business and medical decisions that will tank the economy and affect the lives of Americans for generations to come.

Gongress and the President don't practice frugality but they do come up with wild schemes to spend our money. Bernard Madoff would have fit in very well with our political leaders.

We citizens are reacting to the possibilities of our health care changing, rising taxes and unrestrained spending. As a result of our outspokenness about the fishy stuff in Washington, Speaker Pelosi called us mobs and the White House wants citizens to turn in people who send emails or write blogs that may contain "fishy" information.

History has shown that if the people remain silent, the leadership will use its power to subjegate its citizens.

Pastor Martin Niemöller was imprisoned by Hitler for speaking out against the tyranny of the Nazi power and was sent to Sachsenhausen and Dachau concentration camps. He said:

In Germany they first came for the Communists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist.

Then they came for the Jews,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew.

Then they came for the trade unionists,
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Catholics,
and I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant.

Then they came for me —
and by that time no one was left to speak up.

Now, those in power are not Nazis but recent comments painting citizens as "mobs" and representing organized political groups are unfounded. The only way to maintain the freedom guaranteed in the First Amendment is to express opinions by attending meetings and communicating through whatever legal channels are available while they're free of government control and censorship. Write a letter or send an email expressing your opinions about this mess.

Flying Fish in the House

The House of Representatives wants to spend $500 million to upgrade exclusive jet travel -- this comes after criticism of corporations using their own jets for travel. There's a big difference in the the way the Republic's leaders live and the way that the rest of us live.

Ordinary citizens using commercial airlines suffer the indignities of searches, waiting and delays or cancellations. Members of Congress -- and accompanying spouses -- are flown around the world by the Air Force in comfort in better than first-class conditions. It would probably be more cost-efficient for them to fly on commercial airlines.

Congressional Salaries
Congress members earn $174,000 per year. Speaker Nancy Pelosi is paid $223,500. The Majority and Minority leaders in both the House and Senate are paid $193,400 each. Our Congress members receive an enormous pension based on their highest three years in office. Go to http://usgovinfo.about.com/od/uscongress/a/congresspay.htm. The revelation is as astounding as Houdini's magic.

Reading the Bills

Congressman Conyers moans that it's too hard to read the bills. It ought to be a crime to send someone to congress who can't read the bills and make an independent decision about the worthiness of the bills before voting.

It is expected that these ruling elitists would craft bills after consulting with their constituents AND it is expected that they would read the bills on which they vote.

Contact your elected representatives and ask about the particulars of this $500 million airplane scheme. Ask how they voted and why.

Something's Fishy in Washington

The White House Blog site asks citizens to forward information about emails and blogs that seem "fishy".
Go to the site and see what it says before it's removed for its audacity: http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/Facts-Are-Stubborn-Things/

The First Amendment of the Constitution says:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

It seems that someone in the White House considered criticism of the runaway government spending to be worthy of monitoring. Forget about the First Amendment -- the important thing is that the administration and the Pelosi House stifle honest dissent.

In response to the outrageous White House attempt to gather data about people who disagree with the health-care proposals of the President and Congress I responded with the following including my name and address:

*****

Based on what I've heard on the news and read in the Wall Street Journal and other newspapers across the country, I've come to the conclusion that our elected officials are playing with firecrackers in an attempt to come up with a health care plan. I don't like what I've learned about the plans and I don't like the fact that one congressman said that he wouldn't read the plan before he votes for it.

Plans for raising the funds for the government health plan are unsatisfactory. We don't have enough rich people to tax. Adding taxes to business will result in higher costs for products and services. The "value added tax" that is currently being debated will lead to higher prices for everything.

We need health care reform but the procedure the government is using and the direction it seems to be going in frightens me.

Government runs the VA health care program and has done a disservice to our veterans -- that model cautions citizens like myself to be wary of it.

The whole process is FISHY.

Bailing out the auto companies at the expense of the share holders was a disgraceful departure from traditional business practices.

The cap and trade fiasco is going to mean higher energy costs for our citizens.

Structuring a level of government enforcers (Czars) that have the authority to enact policies without congressional involvement is a dangerous mistake.

The US administration's leftest-leaning position on Honduras (see The Wall Street Journal, 7/27/09, p. A13) and its soft views on Iran lead one to suspect that we seem to be in an appeasement mode similar to Britain's Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain.

The administration's pressure on Israel is a departure of support for one of the Middle East's strongest democracies and a valued ally.

There's so much to be alarmed about with our current government. The President blames the former administration for the deficits and then piles on so much more in an unrealistic attempt to move the economy. I don't know who came up with the stimulus ploy that resulted in my government sending me a check. Those checks were expensive and the realism is that we all will pay for the expenditure through higher taxes.

Now, the White House has the audacity to turn honest dissent into an opportunity for neighbor to turn against neighbor by reporting them for "fishy" emails.

This is from the White House web site:

"There is a lot of disinformation about health insurance reform out there, spanning from control of personal finances to end of life care. These rumors often travel just below the surface via chain emails or through casual conversation. Since we can’t keep track of all of them here at the White House, we’re asking for your help. If you get an email or see something on the web about health insurance reform that seems fishy, send it to flag@whitehouse.gov."

(http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/Facts-Are-Stubborn-Things/)

The Gestapo and the KGB used that same basic tactic to stem criticism of their dictatorships. What does my government intend to do with the data base of people who express their constitutionally-protected right to free speech and assembly?

Consider this a "fishy" email from a concerned citizen.

*****

Consider this a "Fishy" blog.
It's critical that the administration and Congress get the full picture about the values of their constituents.
We expect our elected officials to read the bills on which they vote. We don't need a bunch of toadies making decisions for us. We need intelligent representatives who can read and form opinions and speak independently. We don't need the kind that can't be bothered doing the job that they were elected to do and for which they enjoy benefits and perks that the average citizen will never experience.

Rep. John Conyers Jr., Michigan Democrat, insulted the American public when he said recently:

“I love these members, they get up and say, ‘Read the bill,’” said Rep. John Conyers. “What good is reading the bill if it’s a thousand pages and you don’t have two days and two lawyers to find out what it means after you read the bill?”

(see: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/jul/29/read-the-bill-congressmen/ )

Hey, Rep. Conyers, I downloaded the bill, reformatted it with Word and took it to Staples and had it printed and bound. It cost me $32 and I'm determined to read it and contact my Representative, Tim Bishop, with questions.

It appears that the "transparency" of President Obama's platform has turned into a foggy San Francisco Bay view. The mist is obscuring the view.

No wonder veterans and senior citizens and people from all walks of life are expressing their displeasure with our representatives in congress -- the people that Speaker Pelosi refers to as "mobs". Catch a spirited display on You Tube at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UOLs7Cybnqw
Search for: TIM BISHOP PROTEST, SETAUKET, NY (part one)

I haven't had the opportunity to attend one of the Town Meetings but I'm looking forward to the opportunity.

Meanwhile, I'll compose these "Fishy" thoughts. If the White House takes umbrage, the people in charge know where to find me.

Bob