Caterpillar Inc. said the health-care overhaul legislation being considered by the U.S. House of Representatives would increase the company’s health-care costs by more than $100 million in the first year alone.
In a letter Thursday to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and House Republican Leader John Boehner of Ohio, Caterpillar urged lawmakers to vote against the plan “because of the substantial cost burdens it would place on our shareholders, employees and retirees.”
Caterpillar, the world’s largest construction machinery manufacturer by sales, said it’s particularly opposed to provisions in the bill that would expand Medicare taxes and mandate insurance coverage. The legislation would require nearly all companies to provide health insurance for their employees or face large fines.
The Peoria-based company said these provisions would increase its insurance costs by at least 20 percent, or more than $100 million, just in the first year of the health-care overhaul program.
“We can ill-afford cost increases that place us at a disadvantage versus our global competitors,” said the letter signed by Gregory Folley, vice president and chief human resources officer of Caterpillar. “We are disappointed that efforts at reform have not addressed the cost concerns we’ve raised throughout the year.”
Business executives have long complained that the options offered for covering 32 million uninsured Americans would result in higher insurance costs for those employers that already provide coverage. Opponents have stepped up their attacks in recent days as the House moves closer toward a vote on the Senate version of the health-care legislation.
The answer I am afraid, is no. The Democrats have backed themselves into a corner and have overreached. Now they have to deliver. But at what cost? My friends over at the Confederate Yankee have summed it up:
If Obama passes:
Companies that already pay health insurance will have to pay higher rates, meaning less profitability, higher costs, and fewer jobs
Companies that don’t currently pay health insurance will have to pay high health insurance rates, meaning less profitability, higher costs, and fewer jobs.
Companies that cannot withstand the high costs of forced health care will simply shut down.
In all three situations, job loss—or at least the absence of job creation—is a certainty.
The Democrat’s attitude is this; “what do we care? It is not our jobs that will be lost.” Their whole, “For the greater good,” is what is wrong with the whole idea of social engineering and progressive politics. “If a few people lose their jobs, so what? We are doing for those who have not; even if we are stealing it for those who do have.” That I am afraid, is what Progressive Politics and Progressive thought is all about. Take from the rich and giving it to the poor. Economic redistribution; and you know something folks? Every time it is done, somebody, somewhere gets the short end of the stick. Which is what will happen, if this travesty of a bill is passed.
By the way, that whole “For the greater good”, has root in historic Democratic Party politics. As some of you might know, that is the same mentality that the Democrats used to promote the idea of slavery. The idea that, “the Negro man must be contained, for the greater good of society,” was and still is, straight out of the Progressive school of thought. For those who are uninformed, Stephen A. Douglas, who debated President Lincoln in 1858, was, in fact, a Democrat. It was no matter that it was inhuman, morally wrong and quite insane; it was for the greater good and besides, them slaves liked being beaten and forced to work! 🙄 Again, more Progressive insanity. “Let’s kill the job market, so everyone can have healthcare!” 🙄
It is quite sad to see, that since 1858, not much has actually changed in the Democratic Party. Oh, sure, they are not longer persecuting blacks; that is because someone finally figured out, that the Democrats could use their votes. So, they give them a little lip service, make promises of more hand outs and proceed to snicker at them behind their backs. All the while ignoring their concerns. That is what Plantation politics is all about. Herd everyone into groups and make them promises, all for their votes.
I think it is about time that the American people woke up and realized that the idea of “for the greater good” is basically for the greater death of America.
If Congress passes the Senate health-care plan, according to an analysis by the Congressional Budget Office, American families will be required by federal law to buy a federally approved health insurance plan that will cost a minimum of $12,000 per year–and, on average, will cost $15,000 per year — whether their employer or the government helps them with the premium or not.
Beginning in 2014, the Senate plan would require all individuals to buy health insurance. Anyone who does not obtain insurance through an employer would be forced to buy it out of their own pocket. Families of four that make up to 400 percent of poverty level–currently $88,200 per year–would receive a subsidy from the government to help pay for their premiums. That subsidy would attenuate as their income increased and would disappear when their income reached the 400 percent of poverty level.
Families earning more than $88,200 a year (or whatever 400 percent of the poverty level equals in any given year) would be entirely on their own. Under the Senate bill, employers would not be required to purchase health insurance for their workers, and if they decided not to do so, the maximum penalty they would have to pay would be $750 per year for each worker they did not insure who subsequently received a federal subsidy to buy insurance. The $750 penalty on employers who decided not to insure their workers would be far less than they would pay in premiums for the $12,000 minimum required plan.
I highly suggest that you go read the rest of that; because it is very important to read. I do smell a supreme court challenge to the law requiring people to buy insurance. This is one of the reasons why I believe this bill might actually fail; because the idea of the Government forcing the American people to buy insurance goes against the whole idea of freedom and liberty.
I do notice that there will subsidies for those who are in the low-income bracket. I just wonder, what are all the qualifiers for those of us, who are unemployed and cannot afford to get insurance? Are they going to come after me and toss me in jail, if I cannot afford to get insurance? I mean, would I have to put out the money, which I do not have, to get insurance and hope that I get a subsidy at a later day or would I get it up front?
You see, it is all these questions and the Congress’s unwillingness to explain all of this; is what has me a bit upset. But our side is not helping with all of the stupidity. I just want straight answers, and not stupid talking points from robotic partisan parrots.
I want answers and I am not seeing them. This is not good. Not good at all. 😡
OK. That is not exactly what he said; but he basically conveyed the same thought.
President Barack Obama had exhausted most of his health care reform arguments with members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus during a White House meeting last Thursday when he made a more personal pitch that resonated with many skeptics in the room.
One caucus member told POLITICO that Obama won him over by “essentially [saying] that the fate of his presidency” hinged on this week’s health reform vote in the House. The member, who requested anonymity, likened Obama’s remarks to an earlier meeting with progressives when the president said a victory was necessary to keep him “strong” for the next three years of his term.
Another caucus member, Rep. Jose Serrano (D-N.Y.), said, “We went in there already knowing his presidency would be weakened if this thing went down, but the president clearly reinforced the impression the presidency would be damaged by a loss.”
Added Serrano: “He was subtle, but that was the underlying theme of the meeting — the importance of passing this for the health of the presidency.
I tend to believe that President Obama is going to screwed no matter what he does. Because if the bill passes; there are going to be those who are going to be angry that it did pass; especially those on the right. If it passes, and there is no public option; there are going to be those on the left that are going to be mad about that. Either way, I think the President and his Presidency are screwed.
But, honestly? It is his own fault, The President, when he was running, made all sorts of outlandish promises and now he is having to make those promises happen. Sometimes, when trying to do that, one runs up against reality and right now for the President; reality bites.
Sometimes, painting one’s self into a corner, can be a bad thing, and this time; it is a bad thing, for everyone involved.
The video that is at this story location says the home owner is in the hospital; but is expected to make a full recovery. If it were left to the liberals, this man would have been robbed or dead; or even maybe both.
Thank the Lord God in Heaven for that wonderful second amendment. 😀
You can go read the entire transcript of this interview by going here and reading it.
I have to give President Obama credit, after bashing Fox News and calling it “nothing more than a propaganda outlet”; he did show some guts by going into the lion’s den and going head to head with Bret Baier. That took some serious guts. It could help his image too; not with those on the hard right, but the independents, who voted for the guy with the “spine of steel”, as Vice President Joe Biden called it. Truthfully, the President has not been showing that so-called “Spine of Steel” here as of late. Maybe the White House is trying to improve the President’s image a bit, seeing that his poll numbers are down. Hence the interview.
I saw the interview on T.V. myself; I would not call it “combative” as I have seen it called on other blogs. I would call it politely testy, at times. I mean, there was no swearing and no calling the President an out liar, when he was obviously lying. I mean, If I would been running that interview, and he would have started in on the talking points; I would have stopped him and told him he was flat out lying and full of shit and would have demanded short and straight answers out of him. I would have also demanded that he answered the question of just who the hell does he think he is, to just swagger into the White House and start changing the established Heathcare system in this Country. I would have said, “You can do this, why? because you are black and entitled to it?” Which is probably why the interview was not giving by me. It would have lasted all of about five minutes. The next thing I would have asked him, was why he will not produce his original birth certificate and I would have brought up the fact that EVERY last damned President since the United States started keeping birth records has produced a birth certificate; and I would have asked him why the hell he feels exempted from this practice. Again, I would have asked him if he felt it was because he was black that he could bypass such things. I would have also brought up the fact that the so-called document that his campaign produced was, in fact, a forgery, which was pointed out by several well-known bloggers and was proven to be by three different forensic experts. None of whom would publicly identify themselves, for fear of reprisal from Obama’s campaign and from the Government itself.
So, in closing, it was a decent interview, not nearly as tough as it should have been. But it was and still is worth watching.
This is why we are losing folks; we are turning into the evil alternative to socialism. We are also being seen by those who are not politically inclined, as the heartless ones. I will not be a part of that, at all. This is not sarcasm or a joke, I am very serious. 😡
I am not a fan of Government-run healthcare at all; but I will not engage in the sort of nonsense that some of the Bloggers on the right are partaking in. I was just raised better than that.
Like I said before, we lost the battle; because of our own damned stupidity.
How far will the IRS go to extract the peoples blood?
What the heck is Chris Dodd thinking about the FED’s monetary power? Gary answers those questions and
welcomes SpyChips co-author and RFID expert Katherine Albrecht to the show to discuss the latest in
RFID and implantable human tracking technology.
Let’s start at the beginning. February 2006. How did you meet him?
I met him on a street corner. [laughs] A lot has been written that I met him inside the
Rielle Hunter - Now tell me you wouldn't tap that! I would!
Regency [hotel in New York City], that I walked over to his table. That is all 100 percent fiction. I saw him in the Regency, in the Library, which is the restaurant-slash-lounge. And he saw me. And it was a mutual unusual staring going on. There was an instant and odd connection that we both felt. Like, “I know you, you know me, who are you?” Anyway, he then got up and left.
So you didn’t approach him in the Regency?
No. One thing I’ve learned about relationships and men is that you can never walk across the room for a man. If a man is attracted to you, he needs to take the first step.
Did you know who he was?
I did not know who he was.
Really?
I did not. The John Edwards I saw in 2004 on TV I believed to be a disconnected, two-dimensional-geek kind of guy. And the man sitting across the room was not that at all.
Then what happened?
He got up and left, and Josh Brumberger [one of his aides] left with him. But the other person they were with—a donor, a lawyer named Tony—stayed. And when they left, my friend went over and asked Tony if that was John Edwards, and he said yes. And my friend turned to me and said, “See, I told you it was John Edwards.” And then I came over to the table, and I said, “I can’t believe that was John Edwards; he’s so hot. He’s really got it going on. He’s got something unusual about him, and I never would have recognized him.” And Tony said, “Oh, my God, you should have come over and told him that. He would have loved to have heard that.” Anyway, my friend and I stayed there, and we had another friend come join us. And then Josh came back. And when I went to the restroom, I stopped at Josh’s table and gave him a card and got Josh’s card. I did that because my friend really wanted to work for John Edwards. So I gave Josh a card. And my card, by the way, never said truth seeker on it.
What did your card say?
It said rielle hunter. being is free.
And that was because—
It was the Web site that I had. Which is a whole other topic. Anyway, when my other friend came—she was about to get married, so it was all about that. There was no more talk of John Edwards.
The fact the she is even speaking out, is pretty brave in my opinion and the stuff she goes on to say in the interview about Elisabeth about confirms what I and many others have suspected about the woman. Although, I will be honest with you. Rielle Hunter does tend to seem to be “In the tank” for Edwards, she sees him as a victim in all of this, which is, in this writers opinion; laughable.
All in all though, if you can get past the stupid liberal bullshit of, “Oh I was spiritually attracted to him!” which sounds like some idiotic giggling schoolgirl nonsense; it is not actually a half bad read.
There’s more:
And that president thing, whatever.
Yeah. So I said, “I can help you.” And he said, “I want your help. I need your help.” And he told me how to contact him [at the Regency]. He said, “Please call me.” I said, “How long are you staying?” He said, “Until tomorrow morning. Please, call me. Call me.”
What did you mean by “I can help you?”
That I could help him see who he is instead of what he’s not. The person standing in front of me was not the person they were selling, or his public persona. He was completely opposite from his public persona.
So it’s not like you were thinking, I can help you by videotaping the campaign?
No.
You were thinking—
That I could help him become more integrated so that people could see that he had it going on.
And you knew that in the first few seconds?
Upon sight. So I called him about a half hour later. And I got a voice mail in the room, so I hung up. Did not leave a message. Because I did not know what was appropriate. I knew he was married, and I didn’t know if his wife was with him, you know; I didn’t know what was appropriate. And this was not—there was no sexual intention here at all.
Really? C’mon.
None. I really just thought I could help him. So I hung up. And about ten minutes later, my cell phone rang. And I looked down, and I said to my friends, “What is this number?” One of my friends said, “That’s the Regency.” And I said, “He’s calling me back? I didn’t even leave a message. How is he calling me back?” And he, you know, star-69’ed or whatever the caller ID was. And he left me this message, “Hi. Call me. I really want to hear what you have to say.”
So…
Rielle Hunter - Who obviously did not swallow
So I called him back. And he said that he really wanted to hear what I had to say. Would I mind, um, meeting him in his room? And I said, “No, I wouldn’t mind at all.” And the reason I wouldn’t is because he’s a celebrity. I have a lot of celebrity friends, and I know their rules are different. Also, it felt completely familiar, like I’d known him all my life. Anyway, so I said, “Let me eat my Caesar salad, and I’ll see you in fifteen minutes.” And I said to my friends, “I’m going over there.” And it was funny, because they were like, “You cannot sleep with him! You cannot sleep with him, because you can help him!” And I said, “I am not going to sleep with him.” I gave them my word: “I won’t sleep with him.” [laughs] And so I went over to his room, and I walked in, and I. Was. Terrified.
Why terrified?
Because I had never experienced anything like what was flowing between us. I sat on the other side of the room. I wouldn’t go near him. And he kept saying [she mimics his southern drawl], “What are you doin’ over there? Come over here. I can’t even see you. Come closer. I won’t bite you.” I was just—there was sooo much attraction and sooo much… I want to say love, but it wasn’t love at that point. You know, it was just this, this magnetic force field like I had never experienced. It terrified me. Absolutely terrified me. And, um, I eventually walked over to his side of the room. [laughs] He was pretty relentless. And that’s all I’m gonna say on that! Now fade to black!
Oh, don’t fade to black now.
I used to make a joke that I could have helped save the world, but I had to sleep with him. You know? It was kind of like that.
So there you have it. The crux of what this woman is about. Fell in love with him, had his kid and now is the “Third Woman.” It is good work, if you can get it. I bet Edwards is thinking, “If only she had swallowed…” 😯
I must confess, I’d hit it; hell yes, But I would wear about 5 condoms, and she would be on the pill.
Also, there is a great deal of talk about “Poor Elisabeth” and such. I must confess, I have zero sympathy for her at all. Because it is quite obvious that Elisabeth was not keeping her man happy. That relationship had broken down, somewhere along the line, and John was looking for some tail, because he was not getting it from his wife. That is quite clear. So, While I do pity her, that she is dying at all. But this whole thing could have and would have been avoided, if Elisabeth had been treating John right. Just that simple. I make zero apologies for feeling that way.
It is a fact of human nature, if a woman is getting her due share of sex from her husband, she will see it elsewhere. Same goes for women, they will do the same thing; and please, do not try and hand me that crap about Christians not doing much things, or Conservatives either. Because I happen to know, that is a bunch of bull as well. In fact, the man who was my youth Pastor back in the 1980’s, when I was growing up in Southwest Detroit; did the same thing. She was not getting it from her husband and she sought out another man. Ended up marrying him too. So, that line is out with me. As far as Conservatives go, Newt Gingrich is perfect example.
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