Don’t simply go with the primary one as a outcome of it’s handy, or if they’re a pal of a good friend. The commonest way to pay for PMI is to have it rolled into your month-to-month fee and put into an escrow account. But this can be a lot...
Medicare
If nothing more than for the brilliant musical score, many of us have watched the biographical movie about the life of Ray Charles more than once. If you are like me, you are familiar with a line uttered by Jamie Foxx, portraying Charles early in the film. When Ray Charles...
It ceases to become patriotism. As a child, I remember reading about post-revolution farmers laying down their plowshares to serve a year or two in government. It was understood that serving one’s government was a patriotic, albeit temporary, duty, not a career. Growing beans, potatoes, and corn made you a...
In the White House Rose Garden yesterday, President Joe Biden read from a twelve-page pamphlet labeled by its author Senator Rick Scott (R-FL) as the “12 Point Plan to Rescue America.” The Republican party’s most fervent dreams are in it, getting rid of Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. Just as...
Democrats have wanted to invest in climate control for twenty years and, at the least, take the issue seriously. After weeks of turning their backs on soldiers exposed to human, chemical, and toxic waste from burn pits, GOP politicians finished their ruthlessness by voting, by a majority, to deny children,...
Arizona’s Democratic Senator Kyrsten Sinema vowed to constituents she would help to lower the cost of prescription drugs. “We need to make health care more affordable, lower prescription drug prices, and fix the problems in the system – not go back to letting insurance companies call all the shots,” she...
In nineteen seventy-four, I reached three milestones in my life. In March of that year, I turned eighteen; ten days later, I registered with selective service—conscription ended in 1973, and naively I registered as an independent voter. I remember the sense of power I felt. I could join the military...
The straight news or punditry often starts with the premise of scaring the American people away with a price tag. From the Biden Build Back Better plan reporting, one would think that its’ only attribute—or detriment, depending on your point of view, is the 3.5 trillion dollar price tag. Even...
For Christmas (and Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa), Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders wants to give working-class West Virginians a child tax credit, child care assistance, free preschool, two free years of community college, lower health insurance premiums, expanded Medicare, home health care assistance for the elderly, an expanded Earned Income Tax Credit...
Republicans have proved to be masters at soundbite manipulation. The GOP has gotten, mainly, poor white people in the Red States to oppose Medicare expansion, happily believing that rich people trickling on them will eventually improve their lot. Truth in schools is being portrayed as a threat to whiteness, and...
Civilized societies dictate that every opinion counts: but is that true? Put another way, yes, everyone is entitled to their opinion but the real question is; should every opinion count? Oh sure, there is value in hearing everyone out, but what happens once that opinion is given is what separates...
Let me start by saying no one—for or against—is in favor of abortion. Subjecting a woman and her partner to outside scrutiny from what is the most anguished-filled decision of their lives, is no business of any of ours to decide for any woman. One of the few tenets left...
From that moment in November of 1969, when former President Richard Nixon asked for a “silent majority” to support his ‘Vietnamization’ effort, utilizing the peace with honor strategy; America’s shotgun wedding to the GOP marriage of silent loyalty and moral obedience was consummated. Between the Nixon and Reagan administrations, Republicans...
When former President Obama introduced the Affordable Care Act, he made the recurring mistake Democrats often commit; negotiating with Republicans in good faith. Mr. Obama took it a step further and negotiated against himself. Although there were varying views within his panel of healthcare experts on how far the legislation...
Among the countless examples of inane “Washington group-think” is the notion that only Democrats have to “pay for” their legislative priorities (i.e., enact corresponding tax increases and/or spending cuts to match the costs of new programs). Republicans do not remotely consider themselves so constrained — in part because they also are...
The raison d'être of the Republican Party for much of the past 100 years has been to slam the brakes on anything that would make the poor and middle class feel more secure and prosperous. Look at the list of popular government programs and initiatives they’ve decried as “socialism”: unemployment insurance, Social Security,...
Anand Giridharadas wrote a piece for The Atlantic asserting that Biden has been moving leftward. This may only be a short term impression only because the GOP is trying to find its way after the previous guy is gone and before he may be indicted. The real problem lies with...
It always seemed absurd to me that hundreds of thousands of U.S. citizens have no effective representation in Congress. And I’m not just talking about Alabamans. But to hear some conservatives tell it, that’s as it should be because, you know, D.C. doesn’t have a car dealership. And they already make their...
These kinds of stories drive me up the wall. There’s nothing heartwarming or cute about this, but it’s the kind of thing people in this country slurp up like syrup. Nothing against the journalist who brought this grotesquerie to light, but my takeaway from this tragic tale is that we...
Democrats look for solutions, and Republicans look for blame. I am not sure where I heard that phrase and I probably rejected it as just political rhetoric. Recent events have given me reasons to examine and not dismiss the statement. Democrats are not perfect as demonstrated by the wavering support...
Here’s some big news on health care: Sen. Michael Bennet is leading the drive for a public health insurance option in the U.S. The Colorado Democrat and Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine first introduced their public option bill, Medicare-X, three years ago and reintroduced it on Wednesday. Under the bill, Medicare-X...
Well, I will send one to old Rubio as well. Senator Scott, You are an embarrassment to the people of Florida and have been for a long time. I must congratulate you however, for being in the presence of likeminded company such as yourself in the Senate with bootlicking...
It’s easy to see why the minimum wage is unacceptable The minimum wage is $7.25 an hour.2 If it had been indexed to the consumer price index since 1968, the minimum wage would now be $10.15. If it had kept pace with executive-level pay increases, it would be $23.3 So...
I live in Virginia, where we have now entered phase 1b for vaccination. On Sunday notices were sent out as to who was eligible. As a teacher in the Pre-K through 12 range, I was included. Our medical care is through Virginia Hospital Center, where my wife’s cancer was largely...
Republicans sure have some odd ideas about who should serve in Congress. They’ve backed alleged pedophiles, QAnon weirdos, and — because there’s simply no limit to the depths of indecency they’ll giddily plumb — an alleged multiple murderer: x KYLE RITTENHOUSE FOR CONGRESS— Rep. Anthony Sabatini (@AnthonySabatini) November 21, 2020 And...