Govt Bureaucracy vs Private Sector

I recently lost my job.

So now I am applying for Unemployment Insurance, and have been thinking, as I always am, about politics.

A million questions to verify who you are, what your current job situation is, make sure you are looking for new work, how and if you qualify and the terms in which you can lose your benefits.  First call this number, then that number, lots of steps for verification and compliance.  And you have to call every week to ask for the past week's benefits, and keep documents showing that you have been looking for work.

Unemployment insurance is something everyone who works pays into, and it is for those who have lost their jobs, not for those who quit or don't look actively for work.  Steps are taken to prevent waste fraud and abuse, and the maximum benefit you are allowed isnt even that much to live on.  But yes it's always better than nothing.


The GOP always complains that government bureaucracy is too burdensome and that any cure for any ailment whether its the economy or any other aspect of society is always to deregulate and cut taxes.  But in always attacking the long procedures of navigating through government processes, they of course fail to mention that the private sector has the same procedures, plus a profit motive as the bottom line, which does nothing to make the experience of dealing with it any easier, and it costs more and is as equal or more prone to corruption, waste, fraud, abuse etc.

Think of the Obamacare website, which is a marketplace for private insurance companies.  The website itself has problems because of government procurement procedures, technical glitches and policy changes right before the launch---initially the website would let you browse plans and then register later, but then the Administration said that people must sign up first, and then look around.

The change in policy caused glitches that lasted 2 months.

Now think of airline travel, hotels, credit cards, store return policies, insurance companies, etc etc.

Does anyone have pleasant experiences dealing with these private companies when something goes wrong?? Lost bags, canceled services, wrong transactions show up and you have to clear them, long lists of procedures to go through before a transaction can be done, and lists of reasons why they can't help you. And of course refunds always take several weeks, but new charges show up immediately.

Private sector companies are no better than the Government when it comes to laws that don't make sense, long lists of bureaucratic red tape to cut and steps to take before you get anything done.  GOP just likes corporate America.

Tweets

Darrell Issa replaces Obamacare with Obamacare https://twitter.com/libdemwasjailed/status/389384232285388803


Obama and the GOP--first Stimulus meeting---Obama offers 1/3 tax cuts so GOP would vote for it---GOP walked into meeting already deciding to vote no---no matter what Obama offered
https://twitter.com/libdemwasjailed/status/347840098504687617

the Obama ""is a socialist"" claim---    Don't you think a Socialist WOULD HAVE nationalized a bank???!!!!
https://twitter.com/libdemwasjailed/status/347843683653132288


 Chelsea Manning (formerly Bradley Manning) leaked audio from Providence Inquiry Statement
http://t.co/m46SmlLMnv



SYRIA-----Rand Paul's version http://t.co/ynSdUzmOha
SYRIA-----My version http://t.co/tq5vHF5Sck

GOP versus the Government

Government IS NOT THE PROBLEM-----EVERYTHING is Government!!! 

The GOP Shutdown, “”Govt is the problem”” and the Declaration of Independence and Constitution

We in America have a government OF BY AND FOR the people to protect our rights and protect our liberty---

That is what the Declaration of Independence and Constitution set up---an accountable government that follows the will of the people (majority rules), a Congress of Representatives and Senators by state to ensure equal representation in Congress, with a Bill of Rights of individual liberty that Government ENFORCES and lives by---

We have the First Amendment rights to freedom of speech, press, assembly and petition the government in order to make sure Congress listens to the people they represent

Why we have government

The Declaration of Independence

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.

The Constitution

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

The Constitution sets up a Congress of a House and Senate, Role of President and the Courts, sets guidelines for laws and prohibitions----there aren’t many actual laws in the Constitution, but mostly a guideline for Congress who is the Legislative branch that will be writing laws (you can do this but not this when writing laws, etc)

GOP on Govt “”being the problem, hindering the economy,”” BLAH BLAH BLAH

Our Government as set up by the Constitution

PRINTS MONEY and loans it out to banks

establishes Patents to protect inventions and protect the profits of inventors

created roads and post offices for trade and mail, regulate banks

gives licenses to businesses, entrepreneurs, inventors and workers,

regulates labor and safety laws.

THE PRIVATE SECTOR GOES THROUGH THE GOVERNMENT!!!

Without Government services THERE IS NO PRIVATE SECTOR!!!!

GOP ShutDown and Obamacare

The ShutDown is ABSOLUTELY a #GOPShutDown

My Previous reports on GOP and economy 

GOP and food stamps

GOP ""small govt"" see War On Drugs

GOP--debt reduction NOT THEIR GOAL---its GOVT reduction

Romney and BAIN versus Obama and Solyndra

Congress is the one on Welfare and Food Stamps

Norquist's REAL goal

Filibuster Reform

the TEA Party

GOP on the economy

REMEMBER THE RECESSION

GOP on taxes 

THE TRUTH ABOUT TAXES (NOT MINE, just a great source that shows differences between tax rates and revenues)

Our ""immoral debt""


Martin Gross on Government Waste
Top 10

I've got This Version from 1992
The Govt Racket--Waste from A to Z

Govt Racket--Waste from A to Z, from 2000 and beyond

Article on Gross' works

Book review  larger version

Obituary Martin Gross

CSPAN video interview Clip

CSPAN FULL INTERVIEW


The GOP and Tea Party have been for small government as their ideology forever-----that is their party goal----small government, less taxes to pay for government, give more to the states, take away power from the federal government, etc.

So now the Tea Party and GOP shut down the government, with Ted Cruz's FAUXlibuster, Boehner and the House refusing to appoint members to a conference committee on the Senate Budget since April, screaming against Obamacare and Obama since he was the nominee in 2008!!! and now they try to blame the DEMOCRATS for the #GOPShutDown??!!! I'd laugh if it was funny----but it's outrageous.


2010---Tea Party runs on shutting down government link here
The federal shutdown this week represents the culmination of a sustained attack by a group of conservative Republicans on the size and scope of government that has been years in the making.

A core group of House Republicans elected in the tea party wave of 2010 has largely succeeded in its aim of scaling back federal spending, despite fervent opposition from President Obama and the Democratic controlled Senate.


House Blocked Senate Budget Bill Since April, called for Conference at last minute link here
July 1st, Just a few months ago, Republicans were eager to go to conference, but once they got what they wished for, Republican leadership ran as fast as they could in the other direction. Over the past 100 days, Republican leadership has followed a Tea Party-backed strategy of obstruction, and has offered up excuse after excuse for blocking conference and ignoring regular order.

link here
As of midnight, the federal government shut down after Congress was unable to come to an agreement and pass a continuing resolution to keep it funded. After the House passed a slew of funding bills with amendments attached to delay and defund Obamacare, the lawmakers switched gears right before recessing for the evening and formally requested a budget conference with the Senate. A conference would mean convening a group of bipartisan lawmakers from both houses, or a conference committee, to work out a compromise between their competing visions for what a government budget should look like.

But House Republicans have had an opportunity to conference with the Senate since April. That’s when lawmakers in the Senate, led by Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA), passed a budget and opened the door to create a committee to hash out the differences between that bill and the House budget, which it passed in March. Republicans had made the lack of a Democratic Senate budget a talking point for three years, arguing that Congress should return to “regular order” by passing budgets in both chambers and conferencing to work out the differences. Yet after the Senate passed a bill and the opportunity to do so became real, Senate Republicans blocked Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) from creating a conference committee.

 
September 20 The House votes to eliminate financing for the Affordable Care Act--the back and forth that led to ShutDown---STARTING with GOP House and vote to defund Obamacare link here

80 Tea Party members write letter to Boehner to defund Obamacare and include in spending bill
 letter here article here
Meadows was not pleased with how Boehner and his fellow Republican leaders in the House were approaching the September fight over spending. The annual appropriations to fund the government were scheduled to run out on October 1st, and much of it would stop operating unless Congress passed a new law. Meadows wanted Boehner to use the threat of a government shutdown to defund Obamacare, a course Boehner had publicly ruled out.

By the Way---""Other organizations"" targeted by IRS means LIBERAL ones GOP letter link here link here

House is in GOP control, but not because Americans voted that way link here

Republicans Stand their ground on Obamacare link here

GOP on ShutDown---we're happy, we got what we wanted link here (and PLEASE ignore all the Nuclear Energy ads in between the article----Ugh, Wow)


MORE PROOF this is the #GOPShutDown
link here

Rand Paul and Mitch McConnelll Open Mic 
During the brief exchange, Paul suggested that Republicans would sound more reasonable if they struck a conciliatory tone on government funding than Democrats, who maintain that they won’t alter Obamacare as a condition of reopening the government.

“I think if we keep saying, ‘We wanted to defund it, we fought for that, but now we’re willing to compromise on this,’ Paul said. “I know we don’t want to be here, but we’re going to win this I think.”





Congressional HealthCare Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP)
CRS report

There are 230 different health plans available in FEHBP for the 2013 plan year.
Out of the 230 plans available through FEHBP, an enrollee’s choice is typically limited to 10 to
15 different plans, depending on where the individual resides

All FEHBP plans cover a range of benefits, including hospital, surgical, physician, mental health,
prescription drug, catastrophic, and emergency care. There are variations in the amount the plans
pay for each benefit, the coverage of specific services, and the extent to which they protect
enrollees from the risk of catastrophic medical bills.

The federal government and enrollees share the cost of the premiums for FEHBP plans. The 

government’s contribution to premiums is set at 72% of the weighted average premium of all 

plans in the program, not to exceed 75% of any given plan’s premium.

The percentage of premiums paid by the government is calculated separately for individual and family coverage, but each uses the same formula. Annuitants and active employees pay the same premium amounts, although active employees have the option of paying premiums on a pre-tax basis. 

             Govt Pays         Employee Pays        Total Premium

Self         $184.06               $80.74                     $264.80

Family    $410.92               $178.24                    $589.16

As FEHBP is the largest employer-sponsored health insurance program in the United States, it is 

difficult to compare FEHBP to health benefits offered by other employers. Any comparison must 

be limited to large employers in the private sector and state and local governments.

large firms with more than 200 employees, 55% offered one plan, 37% offered two plans, and 8% offered three or more plans. For firms with more than 5,000 employees, a subset of the aforementioned group of large firms, 26% offered one plan, 49% offered two plans, and 25% offered three or more plans.

large firms, on average employers paid 82% of the premium for single plans and 75% of the premium for family plans for current employees

state and local government employers of all sizes, on average employers paid 88% of the
premium for single coverage and 76% of the premium for family coverage for current
employees.

Dental and vision benefits are available to active federal employees and annuitants through the
Federal Employees Dental and Vision Insurance Program.  Enrollees are responsible for 100% of the premiums. To continue or obtain FEDVIP coverage in retirement, an employee does not have to participate in FEDVIP prior to retirement.

The [Affordable Care Act, Obamacare] exchanges will not be insurers, but will provide a marketplace for eligible individuals and small businesses to purchase private health insurance plans. For more information on the exchanges, see CRS Report R42663, Health Insurance Exchanges Under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), by Bernadette Fernandez and Annie L. Mach.

Darrel Issa pushes Obamacare----secretly
So Darrel Issa has been tweeting ""Replace Obamacare with FEHBP"" BUT in fact Obamacare will be replacing FEHBP---so why is he pushing a program that's ending???
My Blog Post

Sunday sept 22

Tylenol (Acetaminophen) overdose is DEADLY AND EASY (This American Life and ProPobulica Reports) link here


The Last Tweets From An American Jihadist In Somalia   link here

Omar Hammami grew up in a [Muslim-Christian family link]  in the small of town of Daphne, Ala., but ended up in southern Somalia on the FBI's Most Wanted Terrorist list. Last week, Hammami was reportedly killed by members of al-Shabab, the al-Qaida-linked militant group, after a falling out with its leadership.
He also went by the name of Abu Mansoor Al-Amriki, or "the American."

The story of how a young, charismatic kid from Alabama became a self-described terrorist has fascinated many people, including counterterrorism expert J.M. Berger, author of Jihad Joe: Americans Who Go to War in the Name of Islam.

Omar and Me My strange, frustrating relationship with an American terrorist   link here

On March 16, 2012, Hammami got a lot more interesting when he uploaded a video to YouTube, a virtual message in a bottle. Speaking directly to the camera in Arabic and then repeating the message in English, a grim-faced Omar made a shaky plea for help.

"To whomever it may reach from the Muslims … I record this message today because I fear my life may be endangered by [al-Shabab] because of some differences that occurred regarding matters of the sharia and of strategy."

KENYA Update from @911Buff 9:30am 

KENYA'S WESTGATE MALL SHOOTING: -

59 DEAD -

160 WOUNDED -

MORE THAN 30 HOURS -TERRORISTS STILL IN MALL -STILL HOLDING HOSTAGES 

3 BRITISH DEAD

DC NAVY YARD 'Stand Down' Controversy Continues to Reverberate on Capitol Hill    link here
The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, had no knowledge until late Tuesday of allegations first reported by the BBC that a heavily armed Capitol Police team was told to stand down when it arrived at the scene.

Issa debunks Issa on Benghazi 

BENGHAZI MORE documents disprove GOP claims link here

Earlier this week, House Oversight Committee chairman Darrell Issa released a scathing critique of the State Department's investigation into the Benghazi incident. Hours later, the committee quietly released documents that run against a number of claims in Issa's report, including the idea that then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was to blame for security failures in Benghazi.

Issa's report said ""the ARB was not comprehensive; it did not conduct thorough interviews, it was plagued by conflicts of interest; and the board failed to hold senior State Department officials accountable, such as Clinton."" BUT The retired admiral [Mullen] added that it was impossible to peg Clinton to the security failures because she was too far removed from those decisions. "[W]e found no evidence whatsoever that [Secretary Clinton] was involved in security decisions [in Libya]," he said.

Part of the animosity stems from the fact that Issa fought tooth and nail to get Pickering to testify in a private deposition. When Pickering finally agreed to talk, Issa kept it under wraps for months and ignored the substance of Pickering's testimony.
This, of course, is what Pickering feared all along, which is why he resisted Issa's deposition invitation in May and offered instead to testify in public before the committee. But Issa balked at the idea and used the threat of subpoena to bring him into a closed door deposition. It was only until Thursday that Pickering and Mullen finally testified in public, much to the relief of the Oversight Committee's ranking member, Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD).

GOP Healthcare Plan 

OBAMACARE after 3 years, 1 presidential election, and 42 votes in Congress to defund or repeal, GOP finally released THEIR replacement Health care law----they have been chanting ""repeal and replace obamacare"" for 3 years now, and now they have replace option    GOP Plan

http://rsc.scalise.house.gov/solutions/rsc-betterway.htm

Article on GOP Healthcare plan link here

Senator Coburn predicts latest defunding tactic won't be successful link here
cites CBO report and lack of GOP votes in passing bill


BUSINESS GROUPS HATE GOVT GRIDLOCK ""do something, anything, to help economy""  link here
Groups representing all sizes of the private sector are ramping up calls for Washington to do something – anything – to help the economy, rather than hurt it. 
“It’s exasperating because there are real consequences,” said David French, top lobbyist for the National Retail Federation. “The business community sometimes feels like it’s a hostage situation, and they prefer not to have a front row seat.“

They urged Congress to promptly raise the debt ceiling, but refused to call one party out over another.


IMMIGRATION
House "Gang of 7" loses 2 more GOP members  (was gang of 8, is now gang of 5)   link here
Texas GOP Reps. Sam Johnson and John Carter said in a joint statement that they decided to leave the “gang of seven” because of “a lack of faith in President [Barack] Obama to enforce the current and new laws necessary to solve the immigration problem.”
The first Republican to leave the one-time “gang of eight” earlier this year was Rep. Raúl R. Labrador of Idaho, citing irreconcilable differences with the other members.
That now leaves a “gang of five” with one lone Republican: Mario Diaz-Balart of Florida. The Democrats are Caucus Chairman Xavier Becerra and his fellow Californian Zoe Lofgren, Luis V. Gutierrez of Illinois and John Yarmuth of Kentucky.



House Dems outraise GOP in August, have more cash overall as well link here
Dems raised $800,000 more than the National Republican Congressional Committee
House Democrats also have more cash on hand--they reported $4.6 million raised last month and $16.1 million in the bank, while House Republicans raised $3.8 million and ended the month with $12.7 million in cash on hand.
Both committees previously eliminated their outstanding debt from the 2012 cycle.

Glenn Greenwald article -----The War on Whistleblowers and Journalists link here

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff has scrapped a scheduled state visit to the White House amid Brazilian outrage over news that the U.S. spied on her and a Brazilian oil company.  link here

Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2013/09/17/202443/brazil-to-obama-were-not-coming.html#.UjrVjsaPMnI#storylink=cpy

FOIA NSA story   link here

FOIA MuckRock link here

a website that helps with Government Freedom of Information Act requests

My Detainment Story by Sarah Abdurrahman   link here

Border detainments of Sarah and her family (all American Citizens, practicing Muslims) returning from a wedding in Canada, information from Border Patrol and other stories of detention and deportation.  

Barrett Brown Story  link here

the story of Journalist and Activist Barrett Brown, and how his trial and prosecution can affect journalism in the future 

DRBG Validation List Last Update: 9/20/2013

I dont understand this----but here it is anyway link here

NIST link here

NIST ITL link here