Washington (CNN) – The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office estimates that the Democrats’ revised health care bill will cost $940 billion over the next 10 years, a House Democratic source told CNN Thursday.
The bill cuts the deficit by $130 billion during that period of time, according to the source. ( if you believe this I got a bridge I want to sell you)
So government takeover of Healthcare will now cost a wopping $940 Billion!!! Add the Medicare cuts, tax increases and inevitable rationing and addition to the Medicaid enrollment, and 2409 pages of mandates and ultimate, unrelenting Czar (Health Commissioner) powers…and fines you will all receive if you don’t buy EXACTLY what the government tells you that you must buy…
This is the most un-American, Socialist takeover of our lives that I’ve ever seen. We should move to impeach, fire or otherwise immediately remove from office every Senator/Congressperson voting to ram this through against the will or vote of the citizens who pay the taxes.
State Treasurer Tim Cahill, taking swipes at both Gov. Deval Patrick and President Obama, boosted his bipartisan chops yesterday, telling Herald columnist Howie Carr on WRKO, “I voted for John McCain, believe it or not.”
Cahill, saying he was barred from the 2008 Democratic National Convention because he wouldn’t endorse either Obama or Hillary Clinton, said, “My own party basically voted me out.”
“I was afraid of what we had already been getting in Massachusetts, and at that point in 2008, I was aware that it wasn’t working,” he said. Separately yesterday, Cahill accused Obama of “propping up” the Bay State’s health plan with federal aid in order to help push the Democrats’ plan through Congress.
“The real problem is that this . . . sucking sound of money has been going into this health-care reform,” Cahill said. “And I would argue that it’s being propped up so that the federal government and the Obama administration can drive it through.”
Gov. Deval Patrick argues the state’s universal health care program has added 1 percent to the budget, but Cahill said the real impact is buffered by federal dollars.
Meanwhile, Republican Charles Baker’s campaign said Patrick “has consistently failed to address rising health-care costs in Massachusetts.” Baker, the former Harvard Pilgrim CEO, advocated for years for greater transparency on the part of medical service providers.
Cahill called on congressional Democrats yesterday to go “back to the drawing board,” saying he fears they will “bankrupt” the country.
Patrick’s campaign yesterday used Cahill’s health-care smackdown in its latest fund-raising pitch, e-mailing supporters that Cahill “is advocating policies that could put that access, and their health, in jeopardy.” Patrick, whose administration held a hearing on health-care costs yesterday, said exorbitant premium increases and medical service costs need to be curbed through legislation he has proposed.
Well now St. Patrick’s Day wouldn’t exist if not for the man himself! But how much do we know about him? Did you know that he spent six years of slavery in Ireland until he escaped and undertook religious training abroad?
Beannachtaí na Féile Pádraig is the Gaelic way of expressing a wish that you have all the blessings of St Patrick’s Day and the “luck of the Irish” to go with it. There are many humorous explanations for this expression. One comes from the legend of the ‘Little People’ of the land, know as leprechauns. Finding or catching a leprechaun (who would then give you gold) was a lucky event that could only take place in Ireland ! The Irish are descendants of great Celtic and Viking fighters and invaders. Their natural fighting skills often ensured survival & hence they became known as the ‘lucky’ people .a classic case of making your own luck ! But then “The Luck of the Irish” may all be legend.
Saint Patricks Day Parades Worldwide, Irish Pubs all around the globe, Fun Runs, Irish Associations, Irish Music Festivals, Irish Names, Irish Dancing Schools, Irish Music Irish Roots, Irish Festivals,Scottish Highland Games USA & Canada, as well as, Scottish Pipes & Drum Bands.
St Patricks Day is for thinking about our Saint as well as a time to think of loved ones across the water.
So, why is it celebrated on March 17th? One theory is that that is the day that St. Patrick died. Since the holiday began in Ireland, it is believed that as the Irish spread out around the world, they took with them their history and celebrations. The biggest observance of all is, of course, in Ireland. With the exception of restaurants and pubs, almost all businesses close on March 17th. Being a religious holiday as well, many Irish attend mass, where March 17th is the traditional day for offering prayers for missionaries worldwide before the serious celebrating begins.
— The latest outage number is now at 76,000 statewide, with about 61,000 customers without power in Bergen County. Additional outages have been reported throughout the day and evening due to the continuing stormy weather.
— Since the storm began this weekend, PSE&G has restored service to more than 380,000 customers – making this the worst storm in PSE&G history.
— There are also about 3,700 gas customers in Passaic and Somerset counties without service due to flooding. Gas customers will be restored in coordination with municipal inspections as the flood waters recede.
— Crews will continue to work throughout the day and night to restore service. The utility is also getting assistance from utilities in Ohio and Pennsylvania through an arrangement called mutual aid. About 200 workers from AEP and Duquesne Light are helping restore power in hard-hit Bergen towns.
— Based on the extensive damage – especially in Bergen County, PSE&G is estimating that the majority of customers will be restored by Wednesday with the remainder on Thursday.
— Customers can find information on outages, flooding and restoration at https://www.pseg.com/customer/home/safety/outage.jsp.
— Many of the outages are caused by falling trees and limbs, which bring down power lines. Downed wires should always be considered “live.” STAY AWAY FROM ALL DOWNED LINES. Do not approach or drive over a downed line and do not touch anything that it might be in contact with. To report a downed wire, call 1-800-436-PSEG and tell PSE&G the nearest cross street.
— To report a power outage, call PSE&G’s Customer Service line: 1-800-436-PSEG. Customers who are registered with My Account can also report power outages. To do so, Log In now or register.
— The utility provides electric service to 2.1 million customers and gas service to 1.7 million customers.
>*This article appeared in Detroit News on August 27, 2009.
Michael F. Cannon is director of health policy studies at the Cato Institute and co-author of Healthy Competition: What’s Holding Back Health Care and How to Free It.
If you are curious about how President Barack Obama’s health plan would affect your health care, look no farther than Massachusetts. In 2006, the Bay State enacted a slate of reforms that almost perfectly mirror the plan of Obama and congressional Democrats.
Those reforms reveal that the Obama plan would mean higher health insurance premiums for millions, would reduce choice by eliminating both low-cost and comprehensive health plans, would encourage insurers to avoid the sick and would reduce the quality of care.
Massachusetts reduced its uninsured population by two-thirds — yet the cost would be considered staggering, had state officials not done such a good job of hiding it. Finally, Massachusetts shows where “ObamaCare” would ultimately lead: Officials are already laying the groundwork for government rationing…
The most sweeping provision in the Massachusetts reforms — and the legislation before Congress — is an “individual mandate” that makes health insurance compulsory. Massachusetts shows that such a mandate would oust millions from their low-cost health plans and force them to pay higher premiums.
“The effect,” writes the Boston Globe, “has been to provide more comprehensive insurance than in most other states but also to raise costs.” Premiums are growing 21to 46 percent faster than the national average, in part because Massachusetts’ individual mandate has effectively outlawed affordable health plans.
Over time, as mandates eliminate low-cost options and price controls eliminate comprehensive options, both the Massachusetts and Obama reforms will march consumers into a narrow range of health plans.
As goes choice, so goes quality. Statistics on waiting times for specialist care in Massachusetts read like a dispatch from Canada. In 2004, Boston already had the longest waits among metropolitan areas. By 2009, waits had generally shortened in other metro areas (average wait: less than three weeks) but lengthened in Boston (average wait: seven weeks), according to the Merritt Hawkins survey.
Voters who believe the Massachusetts law reduced the quality of care outnumber those who believe it helped by nearly 3-to-1 (29 percent to 10 percent).
Massachusetts has reduced the share of its population that lacks coverage from an estimated 8.3 percent in 2006 to an estimated 2.6 percent by June 2008. Former Gov. Mitt Romney, a Republican who signed the Massachusetts reforms into law, boasts that “no other state has made as much progress in covering their uninsured.”
Yet that achievement carries an exorbitant price tag: at least $2.1 billion this year, according to the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, a figure that doesn’t even include the cost of the additional coverage discussed above. Since Massachusetts has covered just 432,000 previously uninsured residents, the cost of covering a previously uninsured family of four — at least $20,000 — is well above the average cost of an employer-sponsored family policy (about $13,000).
>Daylight Saving Time always begins on the second Sunday of March and ends on the first Sunday of November.
This means that, on March 14, 2010, at 2:00 a.m. – you set the clocks ahead one hour.
History of Daylight Savings Time
Although not punctual in the modern sense, ancient civilizations adjusted daily schedules to the sun more flexibly than modern DST does, often dividing daylight into twelve equal hours regardless of day length, so that each daylight hour was longer during summer.[12] For example, Roman water clocks had different scales for different months of the year: at Rome’s latitude the third hour from sunrise, hora tertia, started by modern standards at 09:02 solar time and lasted 44 minutes at the winter solstice, but at the summer solstice it started at 06:58 and lasted 75 minutes.[13] After ancient times, equal-length civil hours eventually supplanted unequal, so civil time no longer varies by season. Unequal hours are still used in a few traditional settings, such as some Mount Athos monasteries[14] and some Jewish ceremonies.[15]
Benjamin Franklin suggested firing cannons at sunrise to waken Parisians.During his time as an American envoy to France, Benjamin Franklin, author of the proverb, “Early to bed, and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise”, anonymously published a letter suggesting that Parisians economize on candles by rising earlier to use morning sunlight.[16] This 1784 satire proposed taxing shutters, rationing candles, and waking the public by ringing church bells and firing cannons at sunrise.[17] Franklin did not propose DST; like ancient Rome, 18th-century Europe did not keep precise schedules. However, this soon changed as rail and communication networks came to require a standardization of time unknown in Franklin’s day.[18]
The Ridgewood Board of Education (BOE) announced that layoffs in the village’s schools will be necessary to manage the 2010/2011 budget. At its meeting last night, the BOE outlined the reduction in school administration and salaries. A district-wide meeting was called Monday afternoon to inform teachers and administrators of cuts that seem all but inevitable.
According to the current budget outline, approximately $2.1 million, listed under “proposed initial payroll cuts,” in personnel reductions are anticipated, as well as a $1.4 million cut in purchasing costs, which includes textbooks and school supplies.
School administration may see $221,736 in cuts. For grades one through five, an $81,738 reduction in salaries is listed; for grades six through eight, a $282,813 reduction in salaries may be necessary; and for grades nine through twelve, a salary reduction of $224,944 could be on the horizon.
“I just want to say,” said board member Sheila Brogan, “none of these cuts are good cuts.” School faculty spoke during the public comment portion of the BOE meeting, and expressed outrage that they weren’t informed sooner. Michael Yannone, a teacher at Ridgewood High School, wanted to know why actual numbers were not presented to teachers at the meeting earlier in the day.
“This seems really odd that this information wasn’t made available,” he said. “Here’s the information that we wanted at the meeting and couldn’t get.” Superintendent Daniel Fishbein said the board needed to be informed first of the proposed cuts.
“People should know that there’s a glaring zero for cuts here at the Education Center,” Yannone said, referring to the fact that there are currently no proposed reductions in staff at BOE headquarters.
>NJ TRANSIT ANNOUNCES INTERNAL CUTS, SPENDING FREEZE TO HELP FILL BUDGET GAP
March 2, 2010 NJT-10-019
NEWARK, NJ — NJ TRANSIT today implemented an emergency spending freeze and told employees that it will reduce its workforce by more than 200, rollback spending on retirement accounts, and cut executive salaries.
A total of more than $30 million in reductions have been identified to help solve a combined $300 million budget gap projected for FY 2010 and 2011. The force reduction represents about 2% of the total workforce, and includes both union agreement and non-agreement employees.
“These are extremely painful steps, but unavoidable ones. We must close our serious budget shortfall, and we at NJ TRANSIT must do our part by making this the leanest, most efficient agency possible, without compromising safety,” said Executive Director James Weinstein. Weinstein noted that the workforce reduction will be the deepest one-year reduction in NJ TRANSIT’s 30-year history.
Meanwhile, the corporation’s contributions to employee 401K accounts will be reduced by one-third, and executive salaries will be cut 5%. These reductions follow in the wake of hiring and salary freezes that began last year, as well as unpaid furloughs for administrative (non-agreement) employees.
NJ TRANSIT officials also have identified cost reductions in parts, fuel, utilities, and contracts that will be renegotiated to avoid escalations. The emergency spending freeze allows the agency to halt spending that is not directly tied to operations or that is not critical for safety.
The agency also is continuing to develop fare and service change plans to respond to this financial crisis. Those proposals will be announced next week.
“Unfortunately, fare and service changes will have to be a part of NJ TRANSIT’s overall response to this financial crisis,” Weinstein said. “I know this will be painful for our customers. I welcome their suggestions and ideas as well as those of the public.”
He added: “The decisions we must make will not be easy. But together we can get through this very difficult time, and NJ TRANSIT can emerge a strong, stable agency that will be ready to respond to the transit needs of New Jersey citizens.”
About NJ TRANSIT
NJ TRANSIT is the nation’s largest statewide public transportation system providing more than 895,000 weekday trips on 240 bus routes, three light rail lines and 12 commuter rail lines. It is the third largest transit system in the country with 165 rail stations, 60 light rail stations and more than 18,000 bus stops linking major points in New Jersey, New York and Philadelphia.
>Forty percent (40%) of voters nationwide give President Obama good or excellent marks for leadership. The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey shows that 41% rate the president’s leadership as poor.
The current ratings are the lowest yet recorded for Obama. A month ago, 47% gave him good or excellent marks for leadership. A year ago, 56% were positive about his leadership skills.
>Washington (CNN) – A majority of Americans think the federal government poses a threat to rights of Americans, according to a new national poll.
Fifty-six percent of people questioned in a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey released Friday say they think the federal government’s become so large and powerful that it poses an immediate threat to the rights and freedoms of ordinary citizens
Twenty-five percent of people questioned in the poll say Congress should pass legislation similar to the bills passed by both chambers, with 48 percent saying lawmakers should work on an entirely new bill and a quarter saying Congress should stop all work on health care reform.
>For years, the Village of Ridgewood was offering “free” garbage service to local schools. After getting caught and held accountable, it then solicited bids to collect schools’ garbage and found the town (public sector) losing bid was 2 times more expensive than a private contractor’s winning bid. (town bid $130K vs private bid of $62K)
The town’s operations manager unwittingly explains why his garbage hauling bid lost so badly to the private sector: “I can’t say that we can compete with private industry. We have to account for the equipment, and they can spread it over a whole lot bigger territory.”
No, duh – it’s called efficiency and economies of scale (and in his case, waste, featherbedding and inefficiency). Of course, to fully realize this cost saving, the town gov’t needs to sell equipment and reduce hours (or compensation) for its operations employees, who presumably have less work to do. Let’s hope they do — and pass along that savings on to taxpayers.
> Diana K. Gibson- Oil Painting Workshop Painting Brass and Copper
Sunday, March 14, 2010 10AM to 4PM Snow date, March 21, 2010
Ridgewood Art Institute 12 East Glen Ave. Ridgewood, NJ 07450
The workshop will take place in the north lit west studio of the RAI. The class will start with a brief discussion about how to approach the north lit subjects. How to use a prismatic palette will be discussed in detail. Students will have their choice of several different brass and copper still life setups to paint from. Study of massing, values, edges, atmosphere, mood and prismatic light effects will be strongly emphasized. A brief demonstration will be offered. Bring your lunch. Kitchen facilities are located on site.
More details:
Learn how to make metal luminous! Working from life, students will be taught to simplify and compose a still life painting through the usage of form, composition, color, perspective, planes, and light. How to use a prismatic palette will be discussed in detail. Study of massing, values, relationships, edges, progression, atmosphere, mood and prismatic light effects will be strongly emphasized. Students will have their choice of several different north-lit brass and copper still life setups to paint from. Beginning and advanced students will benefit from individualized attention. This one day workshop is appropriate for painters of all levels of skill. Those new to oil painting are especially welcome. A supply list is available.
For more information visit the artist’s website: https://www.dianakgibson.com/
The next stop in the fight over whether Hackensack University Medical Center should be allowed to reopen Pascack Valley Hospital will be the Appellate Division of Superior Court, after a ruling Monday from state Superior Court Judge Peter E. Doyne.
Doyne declared that the proper jurisdiction for determining if the state’s Permit Extension Act of 2008 applies to the Westwood hospital license is the Appellate Division, not Superior Court.
That appeal could take as long as a year — and it would center solely on whether the deadline for reactivating the license could be extended beyond last Dec. 28, not on whether Hackensack’s application to do so should be approved.
The two hospitals opposed to reopening the Westwood hospital considered Monday’s ruling a victory. The longer the region goes without a hospital in Westwood, the harder it will be to prove that one is needed, they say.
“A new and unnecessary hospital only serves to weaken” the health care system in Bergen County, said Megan Fraser, a spokeswoman for The Valley Hospital in Ridgewood. “Since it opened its doors almost 60 years ago, Valley has welcomed patients from the Pascack Valley area.”
Englewood Hospital and Medical Center said through its spokeswoman that “Our dedicated physicians, nurses and other staff members have been providing uninterrupted, high-quality care to surrounding communities since [Pascack Valley Hospital] closed, and we continue to assist local towns, expand outreach efforts and provide more health care services to these communities.”
In the 28-page decision, Doyne expressed frustration with the “procedural machinations” in the case. But the question before him was narrow, not a substantive one about the public’s health care needs, he wrote.
“One is compelled to wonder whether the interests of Bergen County residents are best served by mandating the licensing process start anew,” he wrote, particularly since the problem “may have been caused by a misunderstanding of various procedural requirements.”
But that, “unfortunately, is beyond the province of this court.”
Hackensack said Monday it was still “100 percent committed” to opening the hospital. “We will take all the necessary steps, including having our case heard in the Appellate Division,” said spokeswoman Anne Marie Campbell.
Without an extension, Hackensack’s current application to reopen the hospital is moot. It still might ask the state Health Department for a new declaration that a hospital is needed in the region, with an accompanying call for applications, according to an attorney representing the department. But that process could take three to four years, Deputy Attorney General Susan J. Dougherty said in court Friday.
