Say No

I know that I urge people to say no, a lot. I'm ok with that, but with breast cancer awareness month upon us I ask that you just say no to the Susan G Komen Foundation. Pick your jaws up off the floor, I know that was a pretty big statement to make. Did you know that Komen provides money to Planned Parenthood? Did you also know that Planned Parenthood by law is not able to perform any sort of cancer screenings -- which includes mammograms? They can recommend a doctor if you suspect you have cancer, but as a whole, Planned Parenthood is not a cancer screening center. I didn't know that until recently because it's very vague about the role they actually do play in women's health aside from providing contraception and abortions. If Planned Parenthood cannot perform cancer screenings, then why is Komen donating money to them? It doesn't make sense to me honestly. Shouldn't that money go to an actual foundation that does promote cancer research, screening, programs? I believe so, I also believe that if Komen wanted to donated money to clinics for screenings then they should visit legitimate clinics with legitimate cancer screening approvals and programs. But that's just me. So this October when you see fundraisers for breast cancer, think twice and research who you would prefer to give your money to, or not, it's up to you.

Busy Busy Busy

It was quite the weekend on the facebook page, lots of commentary and eye rolling on my part. If you need your weekend fix, go and like the page. Now onto the usual Monday morning catch up...

To all the people out there getting overly excited that a bill was passed by the House to protect military pay, don't go and spend that check already. Remember though, it still needs to go through the Senate and signed by the President. It will be very telling who will and will not vote for it so pay attention. The bill, which was passed unanimously by the House, is a good move and a huge relief for military families -- provided that that it continues through the proper channels without challenge.

Oh a shutdown, it's become a huge blame game all over the place. Everyone is getting in on it and I have been too. You can tell me all you want that it's the GOP and grandstanding Ted Cruz's fault if it happens and I will seriously just sit here, shaking my head and convulse with laughter. Please explain to me how you think it is justifiable to delay or completely exempt groups and companies from the onslaught of Obamacare, but not the masses? Since the Senate did not defund Obamacare, the House came back with a reasonable solution since they've been listening to what the public has to say (sidenote: Young Conservatives did a quick write up over the weekend and taking poll numbers figured that Obamacare is more unpopular than the war in Iraq, telling is it not?) and at least are trying to delay the start for everyone in order to work out all the details and get a better idea of how everyone will be affected and weed through and get rid of any provisions that will hurt the workforce, to include outsource jobs to avoid hefty taxes and fines. With Harry and Barry saying "Hell no, it's our way or the highway" and basically flipping the bird to the American people, how do you not blame those two for a potential government shut down? Clearly, conservatives have stated that their goal is not to shut down the government but they do want to fully defund the ridiculous piece of legislation that is Ocrapcare, er I mean Obamacare but they have tried to come up with reasonable solutions. End of story: this can only end badly for the American people, and the American people need to think carefully about who they are willing to put into office from here on out -- and hold them accountable.

Finally one last piece of the supposed for the people eye rolling news, the Texas abortion law is back in the limelight. Apparently forcing abortion clinics to have the same sanitary standards as a hospital or a free standing clinic (i.e. an urgent care office) and you know requiring a licensed professional doctor with admitting privileges to a local hospital to perform a surgical procedure clearly does more harm than good to women seeking abortions. How dare the state of Texas do everything possible to make sure that these women will be treated with dignity and respect and given a clean, safe place to obtain what I think is something absolutely heinous. And because we live in such a litigious society, what better thing to do than sue the state of Texas? That is exactly what Planned Parenthood, ACLU and several other groups are planning to do to block this portion of the bill. I'm sort of shocked they're not challenging the 20 week limit, but after the last hoopla and it came out and an overwhelming majority of Americans, including Texans, opposed anything beyond 20 weeks, they were right to leave that out of the suit. So instead, they're saying that having standards is not important and basically the bottom line is the money, by adhering to the standards set forth, these shady abortion clinics stand to lose a lot of money. It has nothing to do with proper patient care, if these people gave just a small damn about the situation they would understand that the Republicans who lead the charge on this do give a big damn about the people. I have said it before and I'll say it again, the Texas bill is one of the most fair compromise pieces of legislation that we have witnessed concerning abortion. I just hope that the judge who receives this case will just laugh and throw it out the window.

Keep up with the facebook page for ongoing snark concerning a potential shut down and other craziness and have a great week everyone!

Cookies For Breakfast

Usually I'm the momma who makes cinnamon rolls from scratch for my family for breakfast (and biscuits, and pancakes, and breads, and a whole lot more, I went on a weird kick during hubby's last deployment to try to get rid of as much processed food as possible) but today all B wanted was some cookies. They have oatmeal and peanutbutter so they can't be all that bad can they? (In case you're wondering, they're no bake fudgy cookies and they're freaking awesome). The point is, it's Friday and today is the day where if we can't defund Obamacare now, we're stuck with it and then no one gets cookies -- just a piece of fried mozzarella (which I'm sure is some vegan substitute fried in some non-peanut, non-transfat oil and breaded with some gluten-free bread crumbs), a couple of carrots and a few pieces of broccoli (thanks Rambling Mom for letting me know that's what your kindergartener gets for lunch from the school). And we like cookies in our house, if you post on the facebook how often does Meg bake I'm sure my pals will tell you I've always got something cooking, and as much as I would love to open my own bakery one day it probably won't happen between nanny state laws (you must provide calorie & fat content for your foodstuffs -- which isn't cheap to get analyzed), health department laws (I want to convert an old barn into my bakery, that alone would cost a lot, but then would it pass muster with the health department, or do I need to budget in some money to bribe the inspector?), and there's so much I worry about. But let's face it, with an active duty soldier opening up my own bakery right now is crazy but it's nice to dream -- assuming these crazy "lawmakers" don't entirely ruin it.

I'm definitely worried about the vote today. I'm worried that Harry Reid will get his way and we'll be stuck with Obamacare, even though the people have spoken and said that they don't want it. I wish that midterm elections were this year, maybe the threat of losing their seats in a month would spark more of these guys to pay attention to what the people want and not there own selfish agendas. Ha, I just had a funny thought run through my head. Why is it that the left likes to vilify the right as "old, rich white guys" when a vast majority of both sides are old, rich white guys? The lone black Senator is *gasp* a Republican (Sen. Tim Scott, SC) -- and he's already said that he's going to vote no on cloture, and that he wants to defund Obamacare, hopefully he stays true to this. It's definitely time for a shake up in both parties as there are far too many career legislators in both houses. Wouldn't it be lovely if the people demanded that they have term limits? Of course, I don't ever see that happening because they all like their positions too much. But how great would that be that you could only serve let's say no more than five terms in the House (ten years) and two terms in the senate (twelve years), and no more than sixteen years total in either house?

But for this morning, we'll eat cookies... And maybe go to the playground since it's finally nice out. Keep an eye out on the facebook page for reaction to a vote later. Enjoy your weekend!!

I'm Back. I Think...

Good morning! So I thought that I'd be able to get a post up yesterday but honestly, I was suffering from a political hangover and never got a nap in, I tried but it never happened. I would like to say though, thank you to anyone who shared my Open Letter, I really just wanted a way to vent and that it actually resonated with at least one person amazed me. And thank you to all my regular readers, you guys are the ones that keep me going (three in particular, and you three know who you are) and to any new readers, welcome!

Where do I begin? Oh yes, email, call, facebook, tweet, whatever your senators and urge them to vote no to cloture and to defund ACA (Obamacare, Ocrapcare, whatever you want to call it). Now that that is out of the way let's focus on an interesting little tidbit I ran across from the Heritage Foundation: If you're married, you will be penalized. Ok, the information being gathered is for married vs cohabitating couples with no dependent children. Table 5 shows the increase in personal medical expenditures for married couples and it's quite interesting. Am I shocked that married people are being penalized in this bill? Of course not given the legislatures who drafted this. Sometimes I know that I sidestep around what I really want to say and just let people come up with their own conclusions. Today? Today, no I'm going to tell you exactly what I think is the logic behind this. This is punishment because of the gay marriage debate. And because it's still, rightfully, a state's issue the federal government cannot mandate that all states must recognize and perform same sex weddings. However they can make it hard on the overwhelmingly majority of married couples who are different sexes. Crafty guys, real crafty. And we won't even get into why we're just now finding out about this given the fact that there's over 20,000 pages to the senate healthcare bill. There is no transparency with these shady senators. So if you're married, you're basically better off getting divorced and cohabitating. Except if you're military because then you'll lose benefits and stuff and it's just a headache. Way to go big gov!

Transparency, I know that every candidate goes all nuts and says "I will be the most transparent (fill in position) ever!" Obama said it, and unless denouncing everything as a phony scandal, dang he's doing a bang up job. No transparency, no give and take, just my way or the highway and don't you dare question me. Don't even question why his baby, Obamacare, is not good enough for him and his family. They have health insurance that they are keeping thank you very much, screw the people that won't be able to keep their plan and/or doctor that they like because it's being dropped by Obamacare. And now there's word that weapons and sensitive items were stolen from Americans training Libyan troops and may or may not have fallen into the hands of al Qaeda affiliates, just like the rebels in Syria that he wants to aid may or may not be our enemies. Oh and fast & furious, what? Noooo. And don't you worry that the IRS is handling who is and isn't enrolled in Obamacare, if you're deemed a wackobird by Jack and Harry and Nancy it's ok, you won't be taxed if you already have healthcare, or be audited.

Is it time for midterms? Hell is it 2016 yet? Time to stop drinking the Kool-Aid and realize that a lot of these career pols, a lot of these progressives (both sides) just need to go because they're not in it for the people, they're in it for themselves and their ego.

Quick Thought

We are fortunate the Tricare isn't really affected by Obamacare, with the exception that child dependents can be covered through the age of 26. It was until 18 unless your child could provide proof of attending college then it was 23. I think that's more than reasonable and think that overall covering kids well into the start of their adulthood is absurd. I went for two years without health insurance because I couldn't afford it and I was healthy so no biggie. Hubby bounced around the idea of getting out because he's just fed up with the politics and budget cuts and everything, I don't blame him but I went into full panic mode. The main reason he's reenlisting? We cannot afford civilian healthcare. My cousin and I, her husband is Army as well, have had this conversation several times. How do you justify giving up healthcare, despite it's sometimes crappy care, is affordable and not being affected by Obamacare the way the rest of the nation is. Did we get a waiver or exemption? I don't think so because our coverage really hasn't changed -- granted I know that some referral programs have been cut due to budgetary reasons and people are having to pay out of pocket, however not having to pay those expenses on top of let's say $400/month for family coverage that might not cover everything (i.e. maternity) isn't too shabby. I do know that retirees who are covered by Tricare will see their premiums go up because the government is trying to drive them to flee Tricare (where I think, and correct me if I'm wrong, they were paying give or take $500/year for themselves and their families to be cover) to go to the exchanges. You know, the exchanges that the President has exempted for himself, Congress, Supreme Court Justices, and Cabinet members.

But with the budget cuts to the military, some people who were expecting to stay and keep their Tricare are being given the boot so what are they to do? There's a definite hold your breath and see what happens with everything. It'll be interesting to see who comes through for the military and who comes through to help defund Obamacare.

PS - We're over 19 hours in, no catheters, no pink sneakers, and just speeches standing for the people and what the people want.

Make DC Listen... 17 Hours & Counting

If you've been keeping up with me on facebook or twitter (@morning_snark), you know that I've basically been following the great speech from the beginning. I hope that all Obamites take note, this is how a great speech is made, no um's, no uh's, no teleprompters.  I've been a Cruz supporter since he helped Rand filibuster the Brennan nomination, and I've made no secrets of desiring a Paul-Cruz ticket but ohmygosh, Ted Cruz is freakin' amazing. I slept about 3.5-4 hours early this morning but I can't seem to turn it off -- even my husband who isn't very political (I guess as a good soldier really should be honestly given the regs) became political last night. I will say that I do apologize if this post seems a bit off as I'm a bit sleepy still and that I'm trying to tune out Disney Jr while listening to C-SPAN on the laptop as I type.

Ted Cruz's critics have said that he's too extreme, he's lost his marbles, he's a wackobird, that he's out of touch. Just stop right there, if anything has shown in the last 17 hours it is that Ted Cruz is not out of touch with the American people. When more than 50% oppose Obamacare, when people are begging for exemptions, when people are realizing that their health insurance will go up if not completely dropped, when people realize that their hours will be cut because of Obamacare and there have only been a handful of Senators who have spoken out in the last 17 hours, two of whom are democrats who definitely do not support Cruz's mission. One of the big points he's made is that if Obamacare is so great, then why has its namesake given himself and other federal bigwigs exemptions? I love this because it's true, if it's not good enough for them then it's not good enough for the American people. Another point that has been repeatedly made is that Obamacare is not going to help job creations as employers cut back hours, stop opening new businesses -- he even cited White Castle.

Sorry, I'm hitting the wall. We know this is bad legislation. We know that Sens Cruz, Lee, Rubio, Sessions, Roberts, Vitter, Enzi, Paul, and if I forgot any I do apologize aren't off their rockers for wanting to defund Obamacare. They've even said that the Senate should just pass the House resolution and then go through and reform or completely scrap Obamacare in order to avoid a government shut down. And yeah I'm gonna be a blame shifter here because I feel that it's blame that is justly placed: If the government shuts down, it is the fault of the President and the Senate democrats and those Republicans who try to outcast those above named Senators for not coming to a better agreement and compromise and not listening to what the people want.

An Open Letter

To Whom It May Concern:

I'm over you. I'm over your petty fighting, whether it be fighting amongst yourselves or with those on the other side. I'm over you using our troops for political gain, for your social experiments, for all your dumbassery -- especially if you have never served, have never been married to a service member, or grew up as a military kid. I'm over you thinking that the military has it made, we don't. Many of us live paycheck to paycheck, not because we're horrible with money but because of the peanuts we get paid. While you sit up there in your cushy DC office, lunching on take out from The Palm or some hot new place in the District, not worrying about your personal health care because you can afford a private concierge doctor if you or your family gets ill, or worrying that the price of half soy-half coconut organic fair trade quart of milk in a recyclable box from Whole Foods went up a whole twenty-five cents, you have many families that are worried about if they're going to have enough money in their budget to cover the essentials from the grocery store, let alone being able to grab take out from Chik-fil-a or pizza on a Friday night. I'm sitting here trying to re-work our own household budget and thinking that I may have to give up my smartphone because if we could save that extra $30 in data fees, that could go towards something else, or how we're going to pay our car insurance which is going up almost $3 every month, which for an E4 with 3 years in, that $3 can go a long way. If we didn't have issues with our car I might not be as stressed out, but when you have an unexpected problem come up with your car that you're pretty sure you got ripped off on but you needed something at the time, it's stressful. But you don't have to worry about that do you? I'm sure it must be hell trying to find a private car company in the District though with the latest overseas import. I'm just thankful that we live on post because then we don't really have to worry about a landlord giving us the boot -- can you imagine though if our crappy privatized housing tried to boot everyone on post for non-payment? I mean, I'm sure you worry about your multi-million dollar Georgetown townhome being foreclosed on every night that you're losing sleep over it -- must be what's prompting you to vote the way you do and not fund the military.

I'm completely bias and selfish with this next bit. You can go ahead and not fund the rest of the government. I don't give a damn if you never fund another school lunch (seriously, from what my friends with school aged children have been telling me about public school lunches, you'd probably be doing these kids a favor) or put another satellite into space, just pay your first line of homeland security. In fact, you can go ahead and privatize the TSA and just get rid of the Department of Homeland Security all together, that might save you some money. Seriously, how in the world do you expect our troops to muster the morale to continue to fight for a country which won't even pay them? Do you really think that the guys down range are going to be focused on their missions when they're worrying about their families back home, making sure they're getting food, clothes & shelter? Hell no, so don't be surprised if there are more accidents and what not down range if you don't pay these guys. So let's go even further about our talk of defunding... I'm good with defunding Obamacare, it's crap legislation and had you all read it before lemming off the cliff like Nancy suggested and not read it, you would have never funded it. The government has no place in health care, the regulations now are fine, and it's not broke therefore don't fix it. We can also take away the salaries for one year of the White House if they make over $100,000, all Congress members' salaries (oh and those bonuses that they thought they so justly deserved) and any aide who makes an excessive amount of money, the Supreme Court justices and any clerks for them that make an excessive amount of money, the AG can get his salary cut too since he's worthless and lets guns run amok, John Kerry doesn't need his salary either. If we cut those salaries, just even for one whole year, think of how much money could be saved? Actually here's what it is broken down for just the three main branches of the government:

President: $400,000/year + $50,000 expense account/year

Vice President: $231,9000/year

Congressional Leaders: $803,700/year

Rank & File Senate Members: $8,352,000/year

Rank & File House Members:$7,516,800/year 

Supreme Court Chief Justice: $217,400/year

Associate Supreme Court Justices: $1,664,8000/year

Total: $19,236,600/year

 

I know that may not seem like much but it's something. Kind of like that $3 I wish I had that's going to my insurance company now every month. But when you add in all the other salaries and department cuts that I've thrown out there, it adds up to bigger numbers.

 

If we as citizens can manage a budget, do our job (if we're lucky enough to have one) and what not, but you guys still get paid even if you cannot even do your job -- unless it's to blame someone else for all the crap that has happened. It's ridiculous that you all act like freakin' second graders on the playground rather than adults. When I was younger and acting like a fool, I didn't get paid an allowance or have extra privileges. When I got a little bit older, if I didn't show up to work and/or do my job, I didn't get paid and risked getting fired. If my soldier husband doesn't do his job not only is he risking not getting paid, and his job, but he could end up hurting one of his battle buddies in the process. Quit being selfish and learn that this isn't about you and your wants -- especially when the American people tell you that they don't want crap like Obamacare or having to worry about being audited by the IRS because of a political affiliation. Shut up and actually listen to your constituents, all of them, not just the ones that support you. I'm so fed up with the government, and although there are a few shining lights within the vast system, they're few and far between and you idiots marginalize them even though they're actually doing what the people are asking of them.

 

Bottom line is, knock off using the military pay as a scare tactic, it's not cute, it's not funny -- it's dirty and it's wrong. I pray that if you keep doing it, someone in top brass will say to hell with you, we're not going to work until you pay these Joes, and if we get attacked it's on you, not us. And if you think I'm being ridiculous by saying that, stop and remember that military doesn't have these hot shot, big bucks wage negotiators or these silly unions to watch out for them -- ultimately that's the job of top brass, Congress and the President. So if you claim you support the troops, ante up because if you let the military be affected by the government shut down then it makes me wonder how much you truly care about the troops and their families.

 

In Regards,

Meg

Founder, The Morning Snark Report

One Overly Annoyed Army Wife