ARTICLES and ANSWERS 2020

By Patricia L Johnson

Standing for long periods of time isn’t something that I’m able to do on a regular basis which makes things like cooking difficult. You can do a lot of things sitting down, but sooner or later you’re going to have to wander over to the stove and stand up for varying lengths of time depending upon what you’re cooking.

My husband decided he would help out by buying me something called a Ninja 3-in-1 Slow Cooking System. It looks like a huge slow cooker, but actually does considerably more as you can roast, sear, bake, slow cook with it and use it like a regular burner on a stove.

Normally, I don’t like to mess around with the new-fangled toys my husband buys for the kitchen and generally wrap them up and toss into storage, but after I read the cook book I decided I’d at least give it a go as it had a few recipes I wanted to try. It has something called triple fusion heat which cuts down on cooking time so that was certainly an added benefit.

Once I began using the Ninja I really liked it and have used it several times during the past couple weeks. A few days ago I made soup with a tomato base and when my son stopped by I filled up a container for him to take home to his family. I apparently didn’t realize it at the time, but when I was dipping out the soup I must have spilled some onto the Ninja dial and the way the soup spilled it basically made a fairly straight red line on the dial.

An hour or so later when I decided to put the rest of the soup in containers and clean up the unit (cleaning is a breeze by the way), I kept turning the dial to turn the machine off and the dial would only turn so far. I kept at it for a while and couldn’t get it to work so I finally went in and asked my husband where he bought the machine so I could request a replacement due to the fact it was broken.

Mike thinks the sole purpose of receipts/ packing slips is to line the trash so he didn’t have the receipt and couldn’t remember where he purchased, other than he bought online.

As it turned out there were a limited number of places that sold this unit online so I contacted the one he uses most often and explained my tale of woe. I figured the fact I had no receipt, no date of purchase or any other identifying information the chances of a positive outcome were between zero and none. Imagine my surprise when they contacted me in less than an hour providing instructions on how to return the unit for replacement and/or a refund.

The next day I go in to package up my Ninja (in the light of day) and was totally shocked to see the red soup line spill on the dial. I immediately cleaned it up, plugged in the Ninja, turned the dial and voila’ I was back in business.

My next step was to figure out how to tell the online merchant the item they sold wasn’t as defective as the owner. My first thought was to tell them I was planning a trip to China and would have the unit replaced there, but decided my entire family would turn over in their graves with a lie that huge. My next thought was to send the unit back and have them ship a new one because that would certainly save me the embarrassment of having to explain how this ‘defective’ machine managed to miraculously fix itself overnight.

In the end the truth always prevails so that’s what I ended up doing, no matter how embarrassing it was to tell these people how a relatively intelligent person couldn’t figure out the difference between spilled soup and a mark on the dial. Their response definitely made me feel 100% better (still dumb, but a 100% better). Following is part of the response from Adam, in their Customer Service Department “Thank you so much for taking the time to send us such a friendly note.”

We’ve all had our bad experiences with customer service people in different operations and often complain about the poor service provided. My most recent experience is certainly an example of how a company should run their Customer Service Department if they want to keep their existing customers happy and gain new ones along the way.

© 2014 Patricia L Johnson

Al-Qaeda’s Resurgence in Iraq: A Threat to U.S. Interests.

https://www.uspsoig.gov/sites/default/files/document-library-files/2014/rarc-wp-14-007.pdf.

www.cbo.gov/sites/default/files/cbofiles/attachments/45010-Outlook2014.pdf.

BREAKING: Here are the Republican Principles for #Immigration Reform–to be formally announced by @SpeakerBoehner at 4:30 pm ET | @DavidLeopold.

Sears Holdings To Hire 6,500 Veterans And Military Spouses In 2014 — HOFFMAN ESTATES, Ill., Jan. 22, 2014 /PRNewswire/ —.

Mcdonnell Indictment.

Statement by Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel on President Obama’s Speech Friday, January 17, 2014.

www.intelligence.senate.gov/benghazi2014/benghazi.pdf.

By Patricia L Johnson

Going to the movie theater to see the latest release has been an ongoing event in our household during winter months. It certainly is enjoyable to make a night of it and go see a movie, then go out to dinner, or vice versa. It was only a week or so ago we planned on taking in a movie but ended up being held prisoners in our home by an unexpected 18 plus inches of snow that fell non-stop.

Curtis Reeve (71), a former police officer who resigned in 1993 with the rank of Captain, from the Tampa Police Department, took his wife Vivian to the Cobb Grove 16 Theater, located in Wesley Chapel, Florida on January 13, 2014 to see the movie Lone Survivor. After retiring from the police department, Reeves went to work for Busch Gardens and eventually was promoted to Director of Security.

During the previews leading up to the movie, the gentleman in the seat in front of Reeves, Chad Oulson (43), was using his cell phone, apparently to text his young daughter. Reeve asked Oulson to stop using his cell phone and when Oulson did not comply, Reeve apparently went to find a member of management. Upon returning alone, more words took place between Reeve and Oulson with the end result being Oulson was shot dead by Reeve and Reeve was charged with Murder, 2nd degree.

Detective Allen Proctor, with the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office investigated the shooting and wrote the following complaint:

"The victim was in the theater with the defendant sitting behind him. The witnesses advised the defendant confronted the victim about texting during the movie previews and went to advise management. When the defendant returned additional words were exchanged between the victim and the defendant and the victim turned and threw a bag of popcorn at the defendant. Witnesses advised they did not observe any punches being thrown. The defendant removed a handgun and shot the suspect in the chest. During a post Miranda interview the defendant advised that he got into a verbal argument with the victim over phone usage. The defendant advised that the victim turned and stood up striking him in the face with an unknown object. The defendant advised that he removed the 380 semi auto handgun from his pants pocket firing one round striking the victim and that he was in fear of being attacked. The victim was transported to Florida Hospital were he died".

Pasco County Complaint affidavit for Wesley Chapel, Fla., shooting

Anyone that has sat in a movie theater with the person in front of them texting knows how annoying the light and sound from the cell phone can be. Movie tickets do not cost what they used to and by the time you buy a box of popcorn and a drink, you’re looking a pretty hefty investment. We all know we shouldn’t use cell phones in certain locations, yet some of us fail to follow simple rules. In this instance a fairly young man is dead and a person that spent his entire career in service to his fellow man is being charged with his murder.

Reeve claims he shot Oulson because he was “in fear of being attacked.” Yet, there were no witnesses that saw Oulson do anything other than throw popcorn. Was Reeve really in fear of being attacked by popcorn? Since when is popcorn considered a deadly weapon?

Carson Helms, a retired Police Officer with the Tampa force who worked with Reeve, was interviewed and made the following statement about this former Officer of the Law. “In my opinion, he was the best of the best,” Helms, 59, said.

Curtis Reeve was probably an excellent officer in his time, but times change as Reeve was no longer in a position of authority when he gunned down Chad Oulson for throwing a bag of popcorn at him. Reeve was probably angry when Oulson did not immediately stop texting when Reeve approached him about it, but more than likely Reeve’s anger intensified when he went to find a member of management and came back empty handed. The popcorn incident appears to have been the last straw and Curtis Reeve pulled out his weapon, probably not in fear, but in anger and his anger has resulted in the loss of a fairly young husband and father.

Since when are officers of the law taught to shoot to kill, rather than simply stop the aggressor by wounding?

No matter what information is brought forward in subsequent investigations and the trial, the fact remains no one would be dead if Reeve didn’t have a firearm on his person.

Men that are incapable of controlling their temper do not need to have guns readily available to them.

© 2014 Patricia L Johnson

Missouri Firm Recalls Mechanically Separated Chicken Products Due To Possible Salmonella Heidelberg Contamination.

Governor Tomblin Declares State of Emergency In 9 Counties.

How to Safely Store, Thaw, and Roast a Turkey.

An Opinion by Patricia L Johnson

H. RES.413 which provides for consideration of H.R. 3350 passed the U.S. House of Representatives this afternoon by a vote of 228-189 (Roll No. 584). H.R. 3350 is a bill called “Keep Your Health Plan Act of 2013”, which was introduced by Republican Representative Fred Upton [MI-6].

Before you go jumping up and down with joy remember the Republican Party is the Party of “no”, it’s the same party that shut down the government, it’s the same Party that has been trying to defund the Affordable Care Act since the day it was passed and it is the same party that would rather see children, veterans, the disabled and the elderly go without rather than give up tax loopholes for the wealthy and big business.

So why are they interested in passing anything? It’s easy to see, just read the text of the bill:

“PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF THE BILL (H.R. 3350) TO AUTHORIZE HEALTH INSURANCE ISSUERS TO CONTINUE TO OFFER FOR SALE CURRENT INDIVIDUAL HEALTH INSURANCE COVERAGE IN SATISFACTION OF THE MINIMUM ESSENTIAL HEALTH INSURANCE COVERAGE REQUIREMENT, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES”

Some folks are going to be ecstatic believing the health insurance policy that was cancelled is going to be reinstated. These same people should be infuriated with any representatives that voted for this bill to be passed because all it does is take away from the people and give to big business.

The policies that were cancelled were cancelled because they simply do not meet the minimum requirements of the Affordable Care Act, in other words you are paying for coverage that you may or may not have and you won’t know you don’t have it until such time as you go to use it and the insurance company sends you a denial letter for your claim saying “sorry Charlie”.

One headline on this subject reads “House approves bill to allow people to keep insurance”. What it should say is “House approves bill allowing insurance companies to continue screwing the public on healthcare”.

There is one thing you can put in the bank when it comes to taking care of big business, in this case the insurance companies, the Republican Party is going to fall all over itself trying to pass legislation that benefits them. There were also Democrats that voted for this legislation to pass, knowing it would be vetoed.

President Obama has stated he will veto this bill if passed and the reason he’ll veto is simple, the insurance companies are selling garbage policies in order to make a buck and while they’re making a buck on the bottom line, you, the consumer are losing out big time!

© 2013 Patricia L Johnson

Baby is in the foreground on the right-hand side of the photo. Have just been advised that
I don’t know the difference between right and left, but here’s my argument. The baby is
on the left side of the screen, but on the right side of the PHOTO. 🙂 That’s my story
and I’m sticking to it.

Have a good day!

Veterans Day Is November 11.

By Patricia L Johnson

The naysayers can spin the words 24/7, but it’s tough to spin the bottom line, especially one looking as good as ours for the end of FY2013.

The U.S. had Receipts totaling $2.774 trillion dollars and Outlays totaling $3.454 trillion, resulting in a deficit of only $680 billion dollars, or 4.1 percent of GDP. The deficit for FY2012 was well over a trillion dollars at $1.089, so the $409 billion dollar decrease in deficit from 2012 to 2013 is a definite improvement. The actual deficit has continued to drop now for a full three years in a row as follows:

• $1.300 – 2011 – Percentage of GDP 8.4
• $1.089 – 2012 – Percentage of GDP 6.8
• $ 680 – 2013 – Percentage of GDP 4.1

Major contributing factors to the increased revenues are individual income taxes rose by $184 billion, social insurance (payroll) taxes, increased by $103 billion, Social Security and Medicare taxes increased by $112 billion and corporate income taxes rose by $31 billion.

Further good news for the country is the October jobs report with total nonfarm payroll employment rising by 204,000. The 204,000 new jobs for October brought the average job growth over the past 12 months up to 190,000 per month.

Revisions to previously reported data came into play. Total nonfarm payroll employment for August was increased from 193,000 to 238,000 and September was increased from 148,000 to 163,000. Revisions are a common occurrence on the jobs report due to late reporting.

The largest job gains were in the following sectors: Leisure and hospitality, retail trade, professional and technical services, manufacturing and health care.

The BEA released their personal income report for the month of September recently which also contains positive news. Personal income increased by 0.5 percent in September 2013.

Little by little this county is clawing its way out of the hole we landed in after the Great Recession with recent excellent economic indicators. We’re not there yet, but we’re definitely well on our way!

© 2013 Patricia L Johnson

By Patricia L Johnson

Republican Senator Rand Paul, Kentucky, has recently been accused of plagiarism from at least two separate sources.

The original allegation involves an October 31, 2013 speech the Senator gave with material apparently taken directly from Wikipedia without attribution.

The second allegation involves an article Senator Rand wrote for the Washington Times in September of 2013 on mandatory prison sentences. According to a New York Times article ^[1] written by Jonathan Martin and published November 4, 2013, Senator Rand’s article has at least two separate statements that appear to be copied almost word from word from the original article, posted on September 14, 2013, by Dan Stewart, Editor for The Week.

What is the difference between plagiarism and paraphrasing? A person that plagiarizes basically steals another’s ideas, written word or material without providing credit to the owner, or the source. Paraphrasing is reviewing someone else’s material and/or ideas and rewriting in your own words, it’s similar to writing a summary.

I’m certainly not qualified to rule on whether or not Senator Paul is guilty of the alleged charges, but I do feel the man has a definite lack of integrity.

According to an October 17, 2013 article ^[2] Senator Paul was at the University of Louisville in the middle of October 2013 when one of the medical students asked the following question: ““The majority of med students here today have a comprehensive exam tomorrow. I’m just wondering if you have any last-minute advice.” Senator Rand Paul replied:

“Actually, I do,” “I never, ever cheated. I don’t condone cheating. But I would sometimes spread misinformation. This is a great tactic. Misinformation can be very important.” …”So, that’s my advice,” he concluded. “Misinformation works.”

That must be why he uses it so often, it’s effective. How many people now believe that the number of new health codes have been increased to 140,000 from 18,000 through ‘Obamacare’ as stated by Rand Paul?
“There were 18,000 of these [codes],” Sen. Paul told his Iowa audience. “But under Obamacare, they’re going to keep you healthier because now there’s going to be 140,000 codes”.

The truth is the ICD-9 coding system, which was 27 years old, was approved under the George W. Bush administration to the new ICD-10 coding system, which is in effect in other countries in the world.

Senator Rand Pau’s name was on a mailing sent out by the National Association for Gun Rights where the following quote is printed on the outside of the envelope in size 18 font:

“IN THE COMING WEEKS, I WILL USE WHATEVER POWER THIS OFFICE HOLDS [TO BAN GUNS].” ~PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA

The words “TO BAN GUNS’ were intentionally and erroneously inserted in this quote, when the words were never spoken by the President. President Obama’s actual quote follows:

“In the coming weeks, I will use whatever power this office holds to engage my fellow citizens — from law enforcement to mental health professionals to parents and educators — in an effort aimed at preventing more tragedies like this.  Because what choice do we have?  We can’t accept events like this as routine.  Are we really prepared to say that we’re powerless in the face of such carnage, that the politics are too hard?  Are we prepared to say that such violence visited on our children year after year after year is somehow the price of our freedom?”

“We the people” have lost faith in our government over the past few years and one of the major reasons for that loss of faith is due to the continuous flow of misinformation that has been fed to us on a daily basis.

Being a member of the opposing party does not give a member of Congress the right to lie, steal, cheat or misinform the voting public on the issues. We have the right to know the truth!

© 2013 Patricia L Johnson

^[1] http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/05/us/politics/senator-rand-paul-faces-new-charges-of-plagiarism.html

^[2]
http://www.nationaljournal.com/magazine/the-truthiness-of-rand-paul-20131017

Kansas Firm Recalls Chicken, Ham and Beef Products Due To Potential Listeria Monocytogenes Contamination.

Shari Vaudo, a Soul of Wit author, recently published an excellent article called “Where is Our Security” on the Soul of Wit website. Before her question can be answered we must all define what the word “security” means to each of us.

What does it mean to you? When I think of the word security what comes to mind is the feeling of being safe and protected, having enough money in the bank to take care of our obligations, and still have a little left over each month so that every once in a while we can do something we find enjoyable. Whether it’s go out for dinner, see the latest release at the movies, or just go to the local apple orchard and eat donuts and drink cider.

Whatever it is that a person chooses to do either for enjoyment, or just survive, it generally involves money of some sort and the big “M” appears to be missing piece in the majority of our lives these days. The lack of financial stability in this country is what has created the financial insecurity many of us feel in our lives.

So what happened? How did we go from where we were to where we are? How did we go from being the most financially stable country in the world to basically teetering on the verge of bankruptcy?

Republican politicians would have you believe our financial woes are due to uncontrolled spending, Democratic politicians would have you believe we’re in the position we’re in due to tax cuts.

Let’s put what the politicians think totally out of the equation and take a walk down memory lane.

IMHO our financial security was misappropriated by the Republican Party during the Presidency of George W. Bush. Was the downfall of the United States of America an intentional ploy by the Republican Party? I couldn’t even begin to answer that question because I don’t know, but what I do know is when President George W. Bush entered the White House on January 20, 2001 the budget for FY 2001 had already been put in place by his predecessor, President William J. Clinton at $1.86 trillion dollars.

By the time our current President, President Barack Obama entered office on January 20, 2009, eight years later, the budget for FY 2009 had already been put in place by his predecessor, President George W. Bush at a whopping $3.51 trillion dollars, or an increase over the 2001 budget of $1.65 trillion dollars.

In other words, the budget of the United States of America was almost doubled under Republican leadership with a budget increase of 89 percent. I mean think about it for a minute. If your monthly expenses were increased by 89 percent what would your bottom line look like?

As the majority of us know, increasing expenses is not a major problem as long as we have sufficient revenues to cover the increase in expenses. That didn’t happen. Under Republican leadership, in the form of major tax legislation known as EGTRRA, made retroactive to taxable years after December 31, 2000, revenues were drastically decreased due to huge tax cuts and major loopholes.

By the end of FY2009, the very first year President Obama was in office, this country had a budget deficit of $1.4 trillion dollars and immediately the Republicans were loudly ringing the warning bells claiming the deficit spending liberals were going to bankrupt the country.

That might be true if it wasn’t for the fact that all but $458 billion of the $1.4 trillion dollar deficit was totally and completely due to tax legislation put in place during the Bush years. No one bothered to tell us that because it was much easier to blame the financial crisis, then and now, on our new President.

Republicans have continued to feed taxpayers false and misleading information about the economics of this country ever since President Obama has been in office. But, why wouldn’t they? Hand feeding the American public misleading information is a political ploy that has worked exceptionally well for the Republican Party for the past decade and may never change due to the fact it has been so successful.

In days gone by, we as a people could get the true story of what was happening in our country from Journalists. Journalism is not dead, but it certainly appears to have taken a long-term leave of absence.

Where we can get an accurate picture of what has actually happened to this country is from the resources that are available to us as taxpayers; the CBO, Congressional Budget Office, CRS, Congressional Research Service and JCT, the Joint Committee on Taxation.

As far as I’m concerned the CRS Report of April 2011 tells the entire story in one paragraph:

“For the decade as a whole, it can be estimated that legislative changes have increased deficits, relative to the 2001 baseline projections, by $6.9 trillion. Laws enacted in 2001 and 2003, notably the “Bush tax cuts”, generated the largest 10-year increases in budget deficits”.

The decade they were referencing is the 10-year period beginning in 2001.

In addition to doubling the budget and reducing the revenues, legislation passed during the Bush years created additional expenses as follows:

Two separate wars were begun with no provision being put in place for paying for the wars. Both wars were deficit financed. Not providing additional taxes to pay for war expenses is a very unusual move as all previous wars have been paid for by either increasing taxes and/or adding a war surcharge.

Another unpaid expense was Medicare Part D which was passed with absolutely no provision for the Department of Health and Human Services to negotiate the price of drugs with the pharmaceutical companies. Why does that make a difference? By law, Veterans Affairs is allowed to negotiate the cost of their drugs with the various drug manufacturers, resulting in lower costs. Example: Medicare pays $1,485.00 for a year’s supply of the cholesterol drug Zocor, while Veterans Affairs pays $127.00 for the same quantity.

Does it make a difference? You bet your booties, just look at the profits made by the pharmaceutical companies since the implementation of the Medicare Part D benefit. If the Medicare Part D legislation had not included a waiver that pharmaceutical costs could not be negotiated, Medicare Part D expenses would not be so high, we would not be talking about Medicare ‘running out of money’ and the pharmaceutical companies would have lower profit margins, but that didn’t happen.

The list goes on and on. A person can listen to the information supplied to them by various sources on how this country is faring, or they can take the time and energy necessary to find out the facts on their own which basically becomes a relatively easy task if you remember one simple fact:

U.S. Politicians lie, numbers don’t!

© 2013 Patricia L Johnson

By Patricia L Johnson

SOCIAL SECURITY COLA [cost-of-living] increase for 2014 will be 1.5 percent for Social Security [SS] and Supplemental Security Income [SSI] beneficiaries.

Earnings subject to Social Security Tax will increase from $113,700 to $117,000. Although the estimated number of workers that will pay into Social Security for 2014 is 165 million, the increased tax only applies to about 10 million workers.

MEDICARE

Following are the changes for 2014

Detailed Medicare cost information for 2013 & 2014

· Part A (Hospital Insurance)

· Part B (Medical Insurance)

· Part C (Medicare Advantage)

· Part D (Medicare prescription drug coverage)

Data sources Social Security and Medicare websites

Some of you are aware that Mike and I just returned from a three-week trip down South. I stayed in Missouri with my brother, while Mike went on to Arkansas to visit his brother Joe. Joe was just recently diagnosed with terminal cancer and Mike’s trip was threefold; to drive Joe to his radiation treatments, to drive Joe to Oklahoma to participate in a family reunion and to just spend some time with his younger brother, Joe was 54 in February of 2013. The following photo was taken in September of 2013 at the hospital after Joe’s hair was cut for the chemo treatments. Photo by Joe’s sister, Pati Rhea.

Joe invited Mike into the doctor’s office with him and his prognosis is not good at all. He has cancer in four places in his head (not the brain, but behind his eye and he is currently wearing an eye patch to help the bulging); cancer in his liver, cancer in his lungs, cancer in his lymph nodes and bone cancer in his right shoulder.

Although he has undergone both radiation and continues with chemotherapy treatments, his prognosis is not good.

Joe is a musician and normally plays with a band called the G STRINGS. The G STRINGS and five other bands; ALIX MAFIA, BANNISTER BROS, RAT SASS, PEARSON BOTHERS AND JAMIE JONES will be performing on Sunday, November 10^th, 2013 beginning at 2:00 p.m. at TOMMY DEANS in Altus, Arkansas (close to Ft. Smith) to benefit Joe Johnson.

Food will be served at $6.00 per plate and there will be a raffle. All musicians are welcome to attend and the more the merrier.

Joe went last weekend for a practice session for this benefit as he will be allowed to sit in with each group that plays, but he wasn’t able to play long as the skin peels on his hands from the chemo treatments, and after a while began bleeding. Hopefully he will be able to play in at least one session with each band on the 10^th.

Joe lives in a very rural area of Arkansas and the treatments he takes require a 106-mile round trip, which is extremely costly.

So many of us have received flyers in our e-mail boxes telling the sad tale of woe for someone that needs help and all too often these requests are fraudulent and there either is no such person, or the person is not ill.

This is the real deal and anything you can do to help this man would be very much appreciated. Although the benefit is being handled by Michael Wright (479) 518-0058, there have not been any provisions set up for mail donations. I called Mike this afternoon and he said what they are going to do is collect the funds at the benefit and simply give directly to Joe so there is no third-party involvement, and when I asked where we could mail donations, he suggested mailing directly to Joe.

If you have a few bucks you can spare and would like to donate to a good, honest, cause, please send a donation directly to Joe at the following address:

    Joe Don Johnson

    5857 Cox Valley Road

    Magazine AR 72943-8893

If you don’t have a couple bucks to spare, but have a piece of paper, envelope and stamp, please take a few minutes to send Joe a note wishing him well and saying a prayer for his full and speedy recovery.

Please feel free to forward this request to anyone on your mailing list. Joe has lost a source of income by not being able to play, is being burdened by extraordinary travel expenses for medical treatment and needs all the help he can get from all sources.

GOD BLESS and THANK YOU!

Mike and Pat Johnson

By Patricia L Johnson

Thursday afternoon during the Congressional hearings on computer glitches in the ACA, Representative Frank Pallone [D-NJ] told Representative Joe Barton [R-TX] the hearing was a “monkey court” after Representative Barton made the totally absurd statement the ACA website was not HIPPA compliant due to hidden language in the source code.

I’m truly impressed that Representative Barton is able to read computer code which does not show up on a web page; but it sure would be nice if he was actually able to read the English language too! The purpose of source code is to tell a browser how to display a website. If the information is ‘hidden’ within a source code, it’s pretty meaningless, but more importantly it is not legally enforceable. So Barton’s claim is just another in the never-ending series of lies and fear mongering coming out of the Republican Party to discourage folks from signing up for ACA.

What is legally enforceable is the following statement located on the ACA Application for Health Coverage & Help Paying Costs:

“We ask about income and other information to let you know what coverage you qualify for and if you can get any help paying for it. We’ll keep all the information you provide private and secure, as required by law. To view the Privacy Act Statement, go to HealthCare.gov or see instructions.”

If you have experienced problems completing an online application for Health Coverage you may print a paper application at the following URL’s:

Short form – for single individuals without dependents who cannot be claimed as a dependent on someone else’s return and if employed, are not offered healthcare coverage from their employer.

http://marketplace.cms.gov/getofficialresources/publications-and-articles/individual-short-form.pdf

Long form – training materials and quick-start guide

http://marketplace.cms.gov/getofficialresources/training-materials/quick-start-guide-to-the-marketplace-application.pdf

Once you have completed your application please mail to the following address (ensuring sufficient postage):

HEALTH INSURANCE MARKETPLACE

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

465 INDUSTRIAL BLVD.

LONDON, KY 40750-0001

The application for Health Coverage is actually two-fold because it is also the means of determining whether or not you qualify for a free or low-cost program. A family of four can earn as much as $94,000 and still qualify for lower cost or free coverage.

Please note that completing an application does not lock you into any type of health coverage, it is merely the first step in determining what coverage you qualify for.

When you are filling out the income portion of your application, please take into consideration the fact that if you are self-employed you may deduct the following expenses in order to come up with net self-employment income:

• Car and truck expenses (for travel during the workday, not commuting)

• Employee wages and fringe benefits

• Interest (including mortgage interest paid to banks, etc.)

• Rent or lease of business property and utilities

• Advertising

• Repairs and maintenance

• Deductible self-employment taxes

• Contributions to a self-employed SEP, SIMPLE, or qualified retirement plan

• Property, liability, or business interruption insurance

• Depreciation

• Legal and professional services

• Commissions, taxes, licenses, and fees

• Contract labor

• Certain business travel and meals

• Cost of self-employed health insurance

Good luck with your application!

© 2013 Patricia L Johnson

By Patricia L Johnson

Last night I went to bed listening to Dr. Sanjay Gupta grill Secretary of Health and Human Services, Kathleen Sebelius on the Affordable Care Act computer glitches. This morning I woke up to Republican calls for her resignation and can truly do nothing other than shake my head in disbelief at the total ignorance of the uneducated.

First of all let’s take a step back in time. From the day the Affordable Care Act went into effect, Republicans have done everything humanly possible to have the program fail. The ACA was patterned after the healthcare program put in place by then Republican Governor Mitt Romney and polls indicate it is viewed favorably by 85 percent of Massachusetts residents. So why is the ACA viewed so unfavorably by the Republicans? It’s basically the same program they wanted to pass years ago.

The difference between what was put in place in Massachusetts and what we have now is simply the difference between plans being put in place by a Republican vs. a plan being put in place by a Democrat that the Republicans have tried to toss out of office ever since the November 2008 election. They want President Obama out of the Oval Office and will do anything and everything in an effort to achieve that goal, including sabotaging the Affordable Care Act and anything associated with it.

That said, let’s look at this situation realistically. The Department of Health and Human Services is the agency of the U.S. Government whose primary function is to protect the health of all Americans and provide basic human services. It isn’t in the ‘website creating’ business. If you’ll recall correctly the original intent was for all states in the Union to create their own health insurance exchanges, but the majority of Republican Governors chose to opt out of their responsibility to assist their citizens.

Instead they dumped their primary responsibility on the federal government at the same time Republican members of Congress were busy reducing funding for setting up these insurance exchanges. In addition, HHS was not able to hire the ‘best’ of the ‘best’ due to conflict of interest restrictions placed upon them.

Microsoft is in the software business. Based on software revenues it is considered the top software company in the world [Global Software Top 100 – Edition 2011]. I have two desktop computers that I use at home and both have Microsoft operating systems. I just returned from a three-week trip and the computer I left on was up and running as soon as I moved the mouse. The computer that I shut down completely while I was gone is still “updating”. I have already installed 27 updates, which equates to an update a day for every day
I was gone.

If the ‘best of the best’ requires an update a day shouldn’t we give the Affordable Care Act website a little bit of a break?

There are four separate ways a person can sign up for the new health insurance plans through the insurance Marketplace. You may fill out a paper application, you may sign up online (if not now certainly within the near future), you may sign up by phone and/or you may sign using in-person assistance personnel.

Secretary Sebelius is also in charge of the Medicare website and as far as I’m concerned that website is as good as it gets. Due to the fact I am considered “disabled” by federal standards I have had Medicare coverage for the past twenty-plus years so I’m pretty close to an ‘expert’ when it comes to claims processing.

We went from having a Medicare system that was extremely slow in processing claims, was error prone and totally disorganized to a system that is simply incredible. Under the Obama Administration claims are processed in less than 30 days, there are zero errors and the Medicare Blue Button system allows each Medicare recipient to review his/her claims and download to your computer, a CD, a flash drive or a mobile app as often as you wish.

You will hear the word ‘failure’ often associated with the ACA website, but that’s far from a correct assessment of the current situation. The website has some glitches, but why wouldn’t it? Just think of where we might be if there was any cooperation from Republicans at all. The fact is there have been 19 million unique visitors to the website during the past three weeks is an extraordinary amount of traffic by anyone’s standards.

The fact that anyone at all is able to access the site is nothing short of a miracle. So kudos to Secretary Sebelius and her staff!

© 2013 Patricia L Johnson

TRANSCRIPT: Sen. Ted Cruz’s filibuster against Obamacare | The Washington Post.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 24, 2013

Governor Quinn Announces Health Plan Rates are 25 Percent Below HHS Estimates
95 Percent of Illinois Residents will have Access to at Least 34 Plans Rates Will Be as Low as $120 Per Month for a 25-year-old in Chicago

Jackson County Mississippi Sheriff, James Michael Byrd, A/K/A Mike Byrd, was indicted Thursday, August 29, 2013 on Multi-Count Indictment 2013-10,516 (3) of 31 counts of wrongdoing as follows:

Sheriff Byrd was in his fourth consecutive, four-year, term as Sheriff of Jackson County. Jackson County Sheriff’s Department with 200 employees is the largest law enforcement organization in the county and completely under the supervision and management of Sheriff Byrd.

Jackson County has an estimated 2012 population of 140,000 with top three estimates of 73.5% white, 22.1% Black or African American and 4.9 percent Hispanic or Latino. The population split in this one county is considerably different than the population in the State of Mississippi as a whole, which is estimated to be 59.9% white, 37.4% Black or African American and 2.9% Hispanic or Latino. The residents in Jackson County have a median household income for the period of 2007-2011 of $49,620 compared to the entire State of Mississippi with a median income of $38,718.

Is there anything in the statistics that provides a clue as to why this particular sheriff went from enforcing the law to breaking the law? Probably nothing other than the fact he had been in a position of power for so very long and considered himself ‘above the law’.

We are supposedly all innocent until proven guilty, but the fact of the matter is the only time a person can be found innocent is if they have the funds available to hire a top notch lawyer. If they don’t, then they are going to plea bargain and they may not be found guilty of the original charge, but they will be found guilty of a lesser charge.

Apparently, according to Byrd’s attorney, Joe Sam Owen, Sheriff Byrd will not be resigning from the office of Sheriff of Jackson County and I find that turn of events totally disgusting. If this sheriff had only been charged with one or two minor crimes I suppose his reluctance to leave office would be acceptable, but he wasn’t. He was charged with 31 major counts and certainly shouldn’t be in charge of law enforcement in Jackson County MS.

Jackson County judges recused themselves from this case and the Mississippi Supreme Court appointment a retired Hinds County Circuit Judge, Judge William F. Coleman, to preside.

More than likely this is going to turn into another circus event similar to former San Diego Mayor Bob Filner who refused to resign and held out for an agreement where the city of San Diego would pay his legal fees, as well as pay any settlement charges assessed against him (with the exception of punitive damages).

What kind of a country have we become that an elected official not only feels they have the right to break the law, but also feel the people that elected him/her to office should foot the bill for legal costs associated with their illegal behavior?

© 2013 Patricia L Johnson

Opinion by Patricia L Johnson

The following thirteen Attorneys General sent an 8-page letter on August 14, 2013 to Department of Health and Human Services, Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.

Personally, I love the last paragraph of the letter “We appreciate your prompt attention to these critical questions and request a response by August 28, 2013.”

“Critical questions”? If the answers to these questions are so critical why is it they waited almost three and a half years to ask, but more importantly why are they asking at all? The questions these thirteen Republican Attorneys General are asking pertain to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Public Law 111-148 and the Health Care and Education and Reconciliation Act of 2010, Public Law 111-152, both signed into law in March of 2010.

On June 13, 2013 nine Republican U.S. Senators sent a similar letter to Secretary Sebelius asking what they considered to be “critical questions”.

Not to be outdone, various Republican members of the U.S. House of Representatives have also sent letters to Secretary Sebelius asking their ‘critical questions’.

Republicans have tried every way humanely possible to repeal and/or defund “Obamacare” and it hasn’t worked and the ratings at the polls are indicating the seriousness of their actions, so they have now passed the buck so the questions are being asked outside the Walls of Congress, but the answers remain the same.

Gary Cohen J.D., Deputy Administrator and Director, Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Department of Health and Human Services testified before the U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on May 21, 2013. The subject of the Mr. Cohen’s testimony was “The Navigators and Assisters Program”.

Rules governing privacy issues on the Navigators and Assistance Programs are outlined in the Code of Federal Regulations listed below which may be found at the following link.

The Exchange regulations, at 45 CFR 155.260(a), establish privacy and security standards for Exchanges, and § 155.260(b) provides that  Exchanges must require Navigators and  other non- Exchange entities to abide by the same or more  stringent privacy and  security standards as a condition of contract or agreement with such entities.

Pasted from <http://www.hhs.gov/asl/testify/2013/05/t20130521a.html>

Members of the Republican Party are doing the exact same thing they have done since they lost the White House in 2009. They are attempting to sway the public with allegations of wrongdoing on the part of the Obama Administration and/or threatening a government shutdown over “Obamacare”. There is nothing wrong with asking a legitimate question, but the questions they are asking are not legitimate. They are questions intended to force the average American to shy away from “Obamacare” in fear.

The only way the United States will be able to maintain a health care system that covers all will be for people to sign up. Young, healthy individuals need to sign up to offset the costs of the older, sicker adults. The more, young, healthy individuals that sign up for “Obamacare”, the cheaper the insurance costs will be for all of us.

“Medical Bankruptcy in the United States, 2007: Results of a National Study” is a clinical research study completed in 2009, by the Department of Medicine, Cambridge Hospital/Harvard Medical School, the Department of Sociology, Ohio University and Harvard Law School and published in the American Journal of Medicine.

Two thousand, three hundred and fourteen, 2007 bankruptcy filers were surveyed for this study by reviewing their court records and or direct interviews. It was determined that of the 2,314 filers, 62.1 percent were designated as ‘medical’ bankruptcies, due to either having medical debt of more than $5,000 or 10% of pretax family income, losing significant income due to illness and/or mortgaging their home to pay for medical costs.

It’s almost impossible to believe that most of the medical debtors in this study were middle class, well educated, owned homes and more than ¾ had medical insurance. It’s a pretty sad state of affairs when you have medical insurance, but still have to file bankruptcy due to medical debts.

A prior study completed in 2001 and using the same criteria for both 2001 and 2007, indicates medical bankruptcies in the United States rose 49.6 percent between 2001 and 2007. What’s the next study going to show?

H.R 2009, a Republican sponsored bill “To prohibit the Secretary of the Treasury from enforcing the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010”, dated May 16, 2013, was the 40^th attempt by Republican Members of the U.S. House of Representatives to repeal a portion of “Obamacare”.

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor [R-VA] stated, when asked about this particular bill “We care about the health and well-being of the American people, which is why this bill is coming to the floor”.

Back in 2012 the Congressional Budget Office and the Joint Committee on Taxation prepared an estimate of the spending and revenue effects of repealing “Obamacare”. Bottom line, repealing “Obamacare” would create an increase in budget deficits of $109 billion dollars over the 2013-2022 periods. The repeal would create an increase in direct spending of $890 billion, while also reducing revenues by $1 trillion dollars; hence the deficit.

Republicans, in general, don’t give a rat’s buht about the American people. If they did, they would do what they are paid to do instead of wasting everyone’s time, money and energy trying to repeal, or defund a law that has not only been in place for three and a half-years, but has also been confirmed by the U.S. Supreme Court.

The U.S. Oath of Office taken by all Members of Congress on the first day of Congress states they will support and defend the Constitution of the United States.

U.S. SENATE OATH OF OFFICE 

I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter: So help me God. 

Pasted from <http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/briefing/Oath_Office.htm> 

U.S. HOUSE OATH OF OFFICE 

“I, (name of Member), do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God” (5 U.S.C. §3331).

Pasted from <http://clerk.house.gov/member_info/memberfaq.aspx>

Article VI, Section 2 of the United States Constitution states the Constitution, and the LAWS of the United States are the supreme Law of the Land, as follows:

This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States which shall be made in Pursuance thereof; and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the Authority of the United States, shall be the supreme Law of the Land;   

Pasted from <http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/constitution_transcript.html>

In simple English – “Obamacare” is the Law of the Land and if the Republican Party does not want to support this law, then all members of that Party, along with any Democrats that don’t support the law need to immediately resign because they are in violation of their Oath of Office.

What can you do? Contact your elected officials and demand they put your healthcare above partisan politics.

• U.S. Senators
  
• U.S. Representatives
  

© 2013 Patricia L Johnson

Please click on the following NHTSA Campaign ID links to view the recall information.