Shocking reports from the House of Representatives thundered through the media today.
New Jersey's own Representative Chris Smith addressed Congress concerning funding of Planned Parenthood. His presentation was laced with descriptions of abortion procedures so lurid that a Congresswoman took the floor to protest.
Representative Jackie Speier of California admitted that she had experienced an abortion in the '90's, when her fetus was not going to survive anyway, but she strongly objected to Smith's intent.
The San Jose News reported today that the experience was one that she "endured". She said,"I lost the baby. But for you(Congressman Chris Smith)to stand on this floor and to suggest as you have, that somehow this is a procedure that is either welcomed or done cavalierly or done without any thought, is preposterous."
Her spokesperson, Tim Schlittner, said she did not regret the remarks and support was pouring in.
This occured during the debate over funding Planned Parenthood's activities. The Republicans stopped all funding of this extremely valuable service because the likes of Chris Smith channeled the testimony from the benefits of the program to a discussion of abortion.
Planned Parenthood funds totaled $317 million last year and served over 5 million low income people. It provided breast cancer and cervical cancer screening, hypertension and blood pressure checks, vasectomies, STD testing, prenatal care, contraceptive counseling and supplies and many kinds of reproductive outreach.
Roman Catholic Congressman Smith, a Right to Life activist since college days, intended to take full advantage of this chance to expand his anti-feminist views and cut off Planned Parenthood funding at the same time.
So far he seems to be successful.
Well, Congressman Chris Smith, no man is going to tell me, or any of my women friends, what we have to do with our bodies.
I have been furious for years that the men who seem to be yelling the loudest about abortion have an agenda. Both Congressman Chris Smith and Governor Chris Christie are Roman Catholic. Maybe this is the time to re-examine the separation of church and state.
A woman's right to her own body is as valid as a man's.
Interfering with that right, either by force or law, is so wrong.
If Congressman Chris Smith or Governor Chris Christie would like to salvage a fetus that was conceived by rape or incest, how about implanting the fertilized egg into their own abdomens and letting them carry it for nine months, possibly most of that time lying on one's back in bed, legs elevated, peeing and pooping in a bedpan.
The possibility of Mr. Mom carrying a fetus is closer to reality than ever before. Just don't tell me or my daughters or grandaughters that you are taking away their rights to make these horribly personal decisions.
Chromosome screening and DNA is so advanced now that patterns of incest are being picked up in routine screenings. If laws were the only measure of mercy, there will be more of these revelations and broken genetic codes. Abortions do have a place.
Congressman Smith's decisions are not ethical...they arise out of politics and convenience. Some traditions hold a fetus becomes a person only after it is born. The wrestling with the ethics of stem cell research and medical thresholds is not for the faint of heart,for sure, but this invasion of a woman's privacy and right to ownership of her person is just not negotiable.
Friday, February 18, 2011
Monday, February 14, 2011
Revisited: Could Life Insurance Policies Lead to Murder?
I have been reading about an online virtual hedge fund started by Keith McCullough in 2008. Moise Silver Hedgeye, in his Valentine's Day blog for Fortune Finance entitled the "Big Ugly Business of Death", tackles the subject of third party insurance policies from an investor's point of view.
When a person takes out a large dollar value life policy, the policy holder profits when the insured dies. The only way the insured would benefit is by selling it, while alive, to an investor for a discounted amount to live on, like an annuity. When he expires, the purchaser can then cash in for the balance left in the policy.
Sometimes the reason a policy was started no longer exists so the payments stop. A third party can come in and pick up payments so it will stay in effect. However the purchaser will not make money if the insured out-lives the equity.
In 2008 there were over $12 billion worth of these policies sold. Therefore it is a branch of banking that should be regulated,legislated, or even prohibited. I wrote about this in May 2010 and want to bring it up again.
Here is my article from last spring:
Monday, May 3, 2010
Could Wall Street Derivatives Lead to Murder?
AARP is running a cute TV ad asking us to support Congress' efforts to regulate Wall Street but this is no laughing matter. Bills, in both the Senate and House, concern transparency for derivatives trading by insurance companies. The Senate bill would impose the same transaction rules for derivative trading as the rest of the market and they would have to be listed. Banks, who have bundled these "custom" derivatives without previous scrutiny, have successfully lobbied the House Bill and continue to operate without transparency or controls.
Derivatives, up to now, were "futures" intended to lock in the price of fuel or raw materials for agriculture. These futures were bought and sold with definite dates for holders to take delivery. This is vastly different from insurance industry "exotic derivatives", where maturity dates are determined by the death of the named insured.
Derivatives are not like stocks either; they are a form of trading without anything substantial to back them up, a gambler's way of continuing to play the game without something solid behind the bet. Here are some examples:
When someone takes out a large life insurance policy, say a million dollars worth, and then changes his mind and doesn't make payments, one could expect that it would be cancelled. Not necessarily.
Aunt Millie has a million dollar policy but becomes ill. She goes to her broker to cash out four hundred to spend on her bucket list. One could expect six hundred dollars left in the policy. Is the policy over?
Or, Uncle Ed's children do not survive him and he decides, "What the heck". and decides not to make payments....you would expect that the policy is dead.
Since a life insurance policy can now be owned by someone other then the named (in order for a business to carry insurance on an executive who might be hurt in a business associated risk), a climate now exists where ownership of a life policy is possible by a totally impersonal and unrelated entity whose only goal is making a profit.
In each of these above examples, you might think there is no longer a liability for the insurance company as the policies revert to the company which will no longer need to keep reserves for these million dollar accounts. Wrong. Speculators (Banks) bundle these policies together and sell them to investors. Of course, the investors will not get a payout until the person in the policy dies, but they do have to pick up and continue the premium payments. Obviously the longer the person lives, the more payments the investor has to come up with, and the more diluted the value in the bundle.
You might ask why banks do this, but the answer is simple. Banks carry these bundles (derivatives), and make their money by charging fees to move them through the market. Congress is investigating the millions Goldman Sachs made from creating these bundles, reselling them and then trading without full disclosure. Their business practices were like a huge Ponzi scheme, with success being dependent on bringing in fresh clients, fresh money, fresh suckers at the bottom of the pyramid to support the payout to the top. If the bottom does not continue to bring in new accounts, the entire structure crumbles.
My concern is for the morality of these life insurance derivatives. The longer a person lives, the less the policy and his portion of the bundle is worth. For millions of dollars seeping away as the bundle ages, and the ongoing cost of payments to keep it viable, this could be motive for hoping for an early demise.
If I knew that someone had a life insurance policy on me, and I was about to undergo a life threatening medical procedure, I would be horrified if a decision were made to let me die just so a policy holder could cash in. It would make a terrific plot for "Castle" but it really isn't too far fetched in this "insurance derivatives market".
In my perfect world, private insurance companies would not be in the medical business anyway and definitely would not be trading life policies like North Sea Crude.
Have a good day.
Seniors Rock!
When a person takes out a large dollar value life policy, the policy holder profits when the insured dies. The only way the insured would benefit is by selling it, while alive, to an investor for a discounted amount to live on, like an annuity. When he expires, the purchaser can then cash in for the balance left in the policy.
Sometimes the reason a policy was started no longer exists so the payments stop. A third party can come in and pick up payments so it will stay in effect. However the purchaser will not make money if the insured out-lives the equity.
In 2008 there were over $12 billion worth of these policies sold. Therefore it is a branch of banking that should be regulated,legislated, or even prohibited. I wrote about this in May 2010 and want to bring it up again.
Here is my article from last spring:
Monday, May 3, 2010
Could Wall Street Derivatives Lead to Murder?
AARP is running a cute TV ad asking us to support Congress' efforts to regulate Wall Street but this is no laughing matter. Bills, in both the Senate and House, concern transparency for derivatives trading by insurance companies. The Senate bill would impose the same transaction rules for derivative trading as the rest of the market and they would have to be listed. Banks, who have bundled these "custom" derivatives without previous scrutiny, have successfully lobbied the House Bill and continue to operate without transparency or controls.
Derivatives, up to now, were "futures" intended to lock in the price of fuel or raw materials for agriculture. These futures were bought and sold with definite dates for holders to take delivery. This is vastly different from insurance industry "exotic derivatives", where maturity dates are determined by the death of the named insured.
Derivatives are not like stocks either; they are a form of trading without anything substantial to back them up, a gambler's way of continuing to play the game without something solid behind the bet. Here are some examples:
When someone takes out a large life insurance policy, say a million dollars worth, and then changes his mind and doesn't make payments, one could expect that it would be cancelled. Not necessarily.
Aunt Millie has a million dollar policy but becomes ill. She goes to her broker to cash out four hundred to spend on her bucket list. One could expect six hundred dollars left in the policy. Is the policy over?
Or, Uncle Ed's children do not survive him and he decides, "What the heck". and decides not to make payments....you would expect that the policy is dead.
Since a life insurance policy can now be owned by someone other then the named (in order for a business to carry insurance on an executive who might be hurt in a business associated risk), a climate now exists where ownership of a life policy is possible by a totally impersonal and unrelated entity whose only goal is making a profit.
In each of these above examples, you might think there is no longer a liability for the insurance company as the policies revert to the company which will no longer need to keep reserves for these million dollar accounts. Wrong. Speculators (Banks) bundle these policies together and sell them to investors. Of course, the investors will not get a payout until the person in the policy dies, but they do have to pick up and continue the premium payments. Obviously the longer the person lives, the more payments the investor has to come up with, and the more diluted the value in the bundle.
You might ask why banks do this, but the answer is simple. Banks carry these bundles (derivatives), and make their money by charging fees to move them through the market. Congress is investigating the millions Goldman Sachs made from creating these bundles, reselling them and then trading without full disclosure. Their business practices were like a huge Ponzi scheme, with success being dependent on bringing in fresh clients, fresh money, fresh suckers at the bottom of the pyramid to support the payout to the top. If the bottom does not continue to bring in new accounts, the entire structure crumbles.
My concern is for the morality of these life insurance derivatives. The longer a person lives, the less the policy and his portion of the bundle is worth. For millions of dollars seeping away as the bundle ages, and the ongoing cost of payments to keep it viable, this could be motive for hoping for an early demise.
If I knew that someone had a life insurance policy on me, and I was about to undergo a life threatening medical procedure, I would be horrified if a decision were made to let me die just so a policy holder could cash in. It would make a terrific plot for "Castle" but it really isn't too far fetched in this "insurance derivatives market".
In my perfect world, private insurance companies would not be in the medical business anyway and definitely would not be trading life policies like North Sea Crude.
Have a good day.
Seniors Rock!
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Name a Cockroach For Your Valentine
Remember when we found out that Romania was going to make witches pay income taxes? Well, here is another highlight to keep seniors up to date with important stuff.
For the tiny sum of ten dollars, the Bronx Zoo will let you name one of their Madagascar hissing cockroaches. They are described on the website as brown and iridescent.
Their website is http://www.bronxzoo.com/name-a-roach. Pick the name of your sweetheart, a friend, teacher or even your legislator. The money goes to help with the wildlife preservation efforts of the Bronx Zoo.
I checked. These buggers, bugs, are huge. They grow up to three inches and live for five years. The males have horns and both sexes hiss. They hiss when they are happy, they hiss when they are mad... and they even hiss while courting. In fact, whole colonies hiss in unison although my reading did not come up with a reason for that. Imagine a whole seething colony hissing at the same time.
The Bronx Zoo has about 58,000 of these creatures. They sell for about eight to twelve dollars each but you can name one for only ten dollars.
A couple of years ago, New York jewelers sold several live bugs for holiday gift giving, complete with genuine stones affixed to each bug's carapace. One model wore it as a brooch. The prices were in the thousands.
If you have a secret Valentine and want to do something really different, how about doing something for wildlife at the same time? The zoo will email the recipient your Valentine greeting and certification of your donation and best wishes.
I think it sounds screwy but why not? As their website points out, flowers wilt and chocolate will melt, but those roaches live five years.
I am not going to post "roaches rock". Even I have scruples....but I have to admit I was tempted to name one after the Gov.
Happy Valentine's Day!
Seniors Rock.
For the tiny sum of ten dollars, the Bronx Zoo will let you name one of their Madagascar hissing cockroaches. They are described on the website as brown and iridescent.
Their website is http://www.bronxzoo.com/name-a-roach. Pick the name of your sweetheart, a friend, teacher or even your legislator. The money goes to help with the wildlife preservation efforts of the Bronx Zoo.
I checked. These buggers, bugs, are huge. They grow up to three inches and live for five years. The males have horns and both sexes hiss. They hiss when they are happy, they hiss when they are mad... and they even hiss while courting. In fact, whole colonies hiss in unison although my reading did not come up with a reason for that. Imagine a whole seething colony hissing at the same time.
The Bronx Zoo has about 58,000 of these creatures. They sell for about eight to twelve dollars each but you can name one for only ten dollars.
A couple of years ago, New York jewelers sold several live bugs for holiday gift giving, complete with genuine stones affixed to each bug's carapace. One model wore it as a brooch. The prices were in the thousands.
If you have a secret Valentine and want to do something really different, how about doing something for wildlife at the same time? The zoo will email the recipient your Valentine greeting and certification of your donation and best wishes.
I think it sounds screwy but why not? As their website points out, flowers wilt and chocolate will melt, but those roaches live five years.
I am not going to post "roaches rock". Even I have scruples....but I have to admit I was tempted to name one after the Gov.
Happy Valentine's Day!
Seniors Rock.
Are Senior Nutrition Sites Closing?
Last summer was a bummer. We had a free-for-all mayoral election that saw less than ten percent of voters electing a new mayor here in Trenton. It only gets worse. We seem to be mired in a muddy outdated path that would bog down a kid's bike.
It somehow comes as no surprise that a rumor is floating around once again that senior centers are closing.
To be sure, Mayor Mack had some problems keeping his promise to get seniors to and from their nutrition sites in the city, but most of that has been solved by this writing. Whatever van service is available is now overshadowed by the current spectre of shutdown because of Governor's Christie's cutbacks.
A reliable source has told me that senior centers are going to be closed on Fridays.
If you presently rely on the nutrition sites as a food source, you will be able to go Monday thru Thursday. The sites are slated to close Friday thru Sunday, re-opening on Monday.
This latest "collateral damage" of the Governor's quest for fiscal credibility among the nation's Republicans, once again comes at the expense of the elderly, our most vulnerable residents.
I am told the cutbacks are slated for this spring.
When the campaigning Governor visited nutrition sites last year, he was shown the most glamorous and nifty ones. Granted they do exist...Hamilton's even has a swimming pool. But residents from out of the Hamilton area are not permitted to enjoy those facilities. In Ewing and some other suburban areas you can find lovely tables and sunny settings that impress politicians.
That is not the case with many inner city sites. In fact, it is not the case with most of the sites which exist for real needs: a decent meal and safe place to play games and watch TV.
I have to point out that such simple things are not available to many shut-ins. Now they are going to be out of reach to many who have been attending on a regular basis.
Granted, attendance at nutrition sites has not been representative of those who are qualified to attend, either by income or age. The critical elements of transportation and site location have to be just right, or else the person is not able to make the trip. Also those elders who volunteer or still go out to work are not in the 11:00am to 1:00pm window for lunch and bingo.
Some transportation funding is linked to services for seniors and the disabled and is reported to be in crisis mode. I wonder if there is a connection here to the nutrition center cutbacks.
Perhaps the cut to senior programs could be a result of the Governor's restructuring Atlantic City Casino revenue. The Casino Revenue Fund is part of the state constitution and was instituted when gambling was approved. Seniors were to get their monies off the top. We have no update on the status of the CRF but if AC revenues are down it would make sense that the CRF would drop proportionately.
I would personally like to be reassured that the Governor did not plan to lap up our monies the way he did to the TV subsidy monies last summer.
Is your stomach growling yet? Just wait. Its a long weekend from Thursday to Monday for no real dinner for those thousands who have come to depend on the centers for help.
Seniors rock...and vote.
Governor Christie blotted out the television subsidies assessed to cable and network providers and took our money for the state's general fund. It is not farfetched to think he could be using our Friday meal money for his own priorities.
Governor Christie, you were not elected to do this to people who trusted you.
I hope that the Governor's outreach and advisors take the time to garner sufficient information to make truly helpful programs once again available in this state. Closing centers is a step in the wrong direction.
Seniors rock.
It somehow comes as no surprise that a rumor is floating around once again that senior centers are closing.
To be sure, Mayor Mack had some problems keeping his promise to get seniors to and from their nutrition sites in the city, but most of that has been solved by this writing. Whatever van service is available is now overshadowed by the current spectre of shutdown because of Governor's Christie's cutbacks.
A reliable source has told me that senior centers are going to be closed on Fridays.
If you presently rely on the nutrition sites as a food source, you will be able to go Monday thru Thursday. The sites are slated to close Friday thru Sunday, re-opening on Monday.
This latest "collateral damage" of the Governor's quest for fiscal credibility among the nation's Republicans, once again comes at the expense of the elderly, our most vulnerable residents.
I am told the cutbacks are slated for this spring.
When the campaigning Governor visited nutrition sites last year, he was shown the most glamorous and nifty ones. Granted they do exist...Hamilton's even has a swimming pool. But residents from out of the Hamilton area are not permitted to enjoy those facilities. In Ewing and some other suburban areas you can find lovely tables and sunny settings that impress politicians.
That is not the case with many inner city sites. In fact, it is not the case with most of the sites which exist for real needs: a decent meal and safe place to play games and watch TV.
I have to point out that such simple things are not available to many shut-ins. Now they are going to be out of reach to many who have been attending on a regular basis.
Granted, attendance at nutrition sites has not been representative of those who are qualified to attend, either by income or age. The critical elements of transportation and site location have to be just right, or else the person is not able to make the trip. Also those elders who volunteer or still go out to work are not in the 11:00am to 1:00pm window for lunch and bingo.
Some transportation funding is linked to services for seniors and the disabled and is reported to be in crisis mode. I wonder if there is a connection here to the nutrition center cutbacks.
Perhaps the cut to senior programs could be a result of the Governor's restructuring Atlantic City Casino revenue. The Casino Revenue Fund is part of the state constitution and was instituted when gambling was approved. Seniors were to get their monies off the top. We have no update on the status of the CRF but if AC revenues are down it would make sense that the CRF would drop proportionately.
I would personally like to be reassured that the Governor did not plan to lap up our monies the way he did to the TV subsidy monies last summer.
Is your stomach growling yet? Just wait. Its a long weekend from Thursday to Monday for no real dinner for those thousands who have come to depend on the centers for help.
Seniors rock...and vote.
Governor Christie blotted out the television subsidies assessed to cable and network providers and took our money for the state's general fund. It is not farfetched to think he could be using our Friday meal money for his own priorities.
Governor Christie, you were not elected to do this to people who trusted you.
I hope that the Governor's outreach and advisors take the time to garner sufficient information to make truly helpful programs once again available in this state. Closing centers is a step in the wrong direction.
Seniors rock.
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Comcast Has No Solution
Cable TV is out of reach for many poor and elderly folks in New Jersey. The New Jersey Legislature's fund, intended to subsidize service for disabled and elderly, found over nine million dollars had been siphoned off for Governor Christie's priorities and did not help seniors.
In my previous blog, a comment by Comcast suggested that there was salvation on the horizon if you went to a certain web site. Don't believe it.
In spite of a little voice that said I shouldn't, I checked it out. I should have known better. Comcast searches for any mention of their company and, if a blog, you are treated to an invitation to visit their site to check out special deals.
Should'a known better. For a short time only, you can get phone, internet, TV for $33 EACH, or roughly $99 a month for 12 months. Oh my heavens. Gasp. Almost a hundred bucks, and I was worried about seventy...
Several years of using cable for both internet and TV left me empty of wallet and waiting for service. I had a tech one Saturday (could not be scheduled for a normal weekday) who was probably a part timer, who actually stood me up for his appointment and turned in his slip declaring the customer (me) wasn't home. I called the customer service rep just to see when he was expected amd she noted that I was calling her three hours before my appointment time. She had no idea why he had turned in his time slip... since I was not due yet... to not be home. I hope you followed that. She wrote him up and I started looking into alternatives.
My eventual solution was to scale down to antenna broadcast TV and Verizon for internet.
So nothing is perfect, but some of us are much less perfect than others...if you know what I mean.
Just wait if they decide that radio should also be digital. Remember how Comcast moved into the opportunity and provided converter boxes...and charged for installation...and charged for the friggin box? Ahem. We are all suckers waiting to let big business interests blot us out.
If you have relatives overseas, whether in Asia, Europe, South America or anywhere else on this globe, most of them use analog technology to communicate. If radio goes the way of our TV, and converts to digital, folks will have to buy new radio receivers that are not compatible with those other countries still on analog technology.
Write to your Congressman and let him know that big business interests should pay taxes, should hire more people like our sons and daughters, and should let the rest of the world stay in contact with us.
Seniors rock.
In my previous blog, a comment by Comcast suggested that there was salvation on the horizon if you went to a certain web site. Don't believe it.
In spite of a little voice that said I shouldn't, I checked it out. I should have known better. Comcast searches for any mention of their company and, if a blog, you are treated to an invitation to visit their site to check out special deals.
Should'a known better. For a short time only, you can get phone, internet, TV for $33 EACH, or roughly $99 a month for 12 months. Oh my heavens. Gasp. Almost a hundred bucks, and I was worried about seventy...
Several years of using cable for both internet and TV left me empty of wallet and waiting for service. I had a tech one Saturday (could not be scheduled for a normal weekday) who was probably a part timer, who actually stood me up for his appointment and turned in his slip declaring the customer (me) wasn't home. I called the customer service rep just to see when he was expected amd she noted that I was calling her three hours before my appointment time. She had no idea why he had turned in his time slip... since I was not due yet... to not be home. I hope you followed that. She wrote him up and I started looking into alternatives.
My eventual solution was to scale down to antenna broadcast TV and Verizon for internet.
So nothing is perfect, but some of us are much less perfect than others...if you know what I mean.
Just wait if they decide that radio should also be digital. Remember how Comcast moved into the opportunity and provided converter boxes...and charged for installation...and charged for the friggin box? Ahem. We are all suckers waiting to let big business interests blot us out.
If you have relatives overseas, whether in Asia, Europe, South America or anywhere else on this globe, most of them use analog technology to communicate. If radio goes the way of our TV, and converts to digital, folks will have to buy new radio receivers that are not compatible with those other countries still on analog technology.
Write to your Congressman and let him know that big business interests should pay taxes, should hire more people like our sons and daughters, and should let the rest of the world stay in contact with us.
Seniors rock.
Monday, February 7, 2011
Fixed Income 101
"Class: Fixed Income 101. 3 credits. Register soon, baby boomers filling class rapidly.
Social Security Lab Book, priceless.
Text: out of print. Updated textbook available prior to next election."
I think we should get college credits for dealing with the complexities of everyday living on a fixed income.
Fixed income is just that. Fixed. No additions, adjustments, amendments or extras.
What you get is all you get. After working all your life, that Social Security number is your bottom line regardless what happens in the ebb and flow of the world around you.
When social security was first initiated, there was considerable controversy. But if you were one of those too aged or infirm to work, it meant being able to buy a pair of reading glasses or bag of coal to keep going.
There are millions of elderly Americans whose only source of income is social security. I was fortunate enough to also qualify for some benefits based on my deceased husband's record. In spite of this, I am living at a poverty level. I appreciate the plight of those who have gone before me and acknowlege the problems that face us in the future.
That said, Congress fixed the amount of social security benefits in 2008. I am trying to budget and stretch my funds to pay for ever increasing rent, food, utility bills and still keep my mind active.
A budget is essential.
Look over the basic costs, rent, utility, phone and compare the increases to last year. The difference is what you have to cut back in other areas because social security has not kept up.
Food is next. Analyze your purchases and see what can be modified. If you eat meat frequently, change your cuts to ground or chopped and buy in large quantities. Freeze in sandwich bags so you can count out how many servings or meals it will make. Look for the manager mark-downs but be careful about damaged produce. Sometimes it makes more sense to buy sealed veggies so you are not exposed to something that could make you sick.
Hey Gov Christie, how about those peanut butter and jelly Thursdays? If I have to, why don't you?
And then there is insurance and gas for the car. Most cars run on regular. Fed Ex plans its deliveries so they only make right hand turns and we can follow their example if we want to save gas. At least combine shopping trips and errands for maximum efficiency.
Next is personal stuff such as haircuts and shampoo, detergents and Bounce sheets, even some really personal hygiene stuff that I won't mention here. I even kept my kitty expenses last year to see if my cat was worth it, just because he caught mice. (He was. I had over 30 mice before he came to live with me. And he gives me hugs.) Look for senior discounts on haircuts. I cut back to once every two months.
And my cable bill? Zilch. I used to have Comcast for my internet but had a stomach ache every time I got their bill because they required basic TV before they would let me have internet, and could not explain how that basic fee was charged twice. Service got slower and slower. When I complained I was advised that my usage was too light and I was at the bottom of a queue.
Now I use our house antenna for broadcast service. Some senior sites do not have antenna and residents must subscribe to cable. That would take another $70 out of my budget. Not acceptable.
Many seniors are incapacitated. That means that stuff does not work. Stuff like arms and legs, sometimes sight and hearing. Four walls of an apartment or bedroom are the total option for a 24 hour day. The rooms are dark to save on electricity and to keep furniture from fading. The only connection to the outside world and its culture and vibrancy is that picture window known as television.
So this Governor doesn't care about this last link with life. This governor would rather jet around at taxpayer expense while many of us who spent our lives building roads, delivering fuel, cooking in school cafeterias, teaching children, even managing businesses, must now sit around in the dark and wait to expire.
All because he does not think we can vote.
Think again.
Seniors rock.
Social Security Lab Book, priceless.
Text: out of print. Updated textbook available prior to next election."
I think we should get college credits for dealing with the complexities of everyday living on a fixed income.
Fixed income is just that. Fixed. No additions, adjustments, amendments or extras.
What you get is all you get. After working all your life, that Social Security number is your bottom line regardless what happens in the ebb and flow of the world around you.
When social security was first initiated, there was considerable controversy. But if you were one of those too aged or infirm to work, it meant being able to buy a pair of reading glasses or bag of coal to keep going.
There are millions of elderly Americans whose only source of income is social security. I was fortunate enough to also qualify for some benefits based on my deceased husband's record. In spite of this, I am living at a poverty level. I appreciate the plight of those who have gone before me and acknowlege the problems that face us in the future.
That said, Congress fixed the amount of social security benefits in 2008. I am trying to budget and stretch my funds to pay for ever increasing rent, food, utility bills and still keep my mind active.
A budget is essential.
Look over the basic costs, rent, utility, phone and compare the increases to last year. The difference is what you have to cut back in other areas because social security has not kept up.
Food is next. Analyze your purchases and see what can be modified. If you eat meat frequently, change your cuts to ground or chopped and buy in large quantities. Freeze in sandwich bags so you can count out how many servings or meals it will make. Look for the manager mark-downs but be careful about damaged produce. Sometimes it makes more sense to buy sealed veggies so you are not exposed to something that could make you sick.
Hey Gov Christie, how about those peanut butter and jelly Thursdays? If I have to, why don't you?
And then there is insurance and gas for the car. Most cars run on regular. Fed Ex plans its deliveries so they only make right hand turns and we can follow their example if we want to save gas. At least combine shopping trips and errands for maximum efficiency.
Next is personal stuff such as haircuts and shampoo, detergents and Bounce sheets, even some really personal hygiene stuff that I won't mention here. I even kept my kitty expenses last year to see if my cat was worth it, just because he caught mice. (He was. I had over 30 mice before he came to live with me. And he gives me hugs.) Look for senior discounts on haircuts. I cut back to once every two months.
And my cable bill? Zilch. I used to have Comcast for my internet but had a stomach ache every time I got their bill because they required basic TV before they would let me have internet, and could not explain how that basic fee was charged twice. Service got slower and slower. When I complained I was advised that my usage was too light and I was at the bottom of a queue.
Now I use our house antenna for broadcast service. Some senior sites do not have antenna and residents must subscribe to cable. That would take another $70 out of my budget. Not acceptable.
Many seniors are incapacitated. That means that stuff does not work. Stuff like arms and legs, sometimes sight and hearing. Four walls of an apartment or bedroom are the total option for a 24 hour day. The rooms are dark to save on electricity and to keep furniture from fading. The only connection to the outside world and its culture and vibrancy is that picture window known as television.
So this Governor doesn't care about this last link with life. This governor would rather jet around at taxpayer expense while many of us who spent our lives building roads, delivering fuel, cooking in school cafeterias, teaching children, even managing businesses, must now sit around in the dark and wait to expire.
All because he does not think we can vote.
Think again.
Seniors rock.
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Another Governor Christie Blow to Seniors
I can't believe it. Just when you think you have heard it all, our Governor does it again.
I had a few minutes to surf the news today. Susan Livio, writing for the Newark Star Ledger and today's NJ.com, reported that Governor Chris Christie scarfed up promised monies that were supposed to help poor people pay their cable bills. He lumped it into the General Fund and used it to help offset last year's budget woes.
This man has raised costs for seniors by cutting back the HEAP supplements. He tried to shut down several institutions that cared for the disabled and elderly. He cut charity care funding to New Jersey hospitals which hit urban areas hardest. Is there no end to the heartless and outrageous things he is doing to us?
Six years ago, New Jersey taxed cable companies with the money going to help pay for cable TV for seniors and the disabled.
What did our outsized Governor do? He grabbed the funds, which had not been distributed yet, and used them to offset New Jersey's deficit!
Is this good business? That $9.2 million means so much to us, and Christie sucked it up.
It is heartless.
Oh, I should mention that one half of one percent of that money was also supposed to go to PAAD, to help pay for senior prescriptions. Remember last summer when Christie VETOED the "millionaire's tax bill" after the Legislature passed it so PAAD could continue?
Oh. Yeah. The funding, such as it was, eventually came from Federal funds. And then there is the Casino Revenue Fund, which was set up to help seniors and the disabled, and those millions that were not accounted for in June. (See my previous blog on this subject). I asked Senator Turner's office about the fund and they were not able to trace it for me.
I do not subscribe to cable because I am fortunate to have a TV that will work on antenna and receives both analog and digital signals. I get about 30 channels and save probably $70.00 a month.
I look around me, and most of my neighbors are using a hefty portion of their income just to keep themselves in touch with the rest of the world.
This governor is out of touch with the plight of senior citizens. His appearances at senior events are photo ops and seem calculated to keep everyone charmed into thinking he is a jolly good fellow.
We are heading for an era when the "baby boomers" will be joining our ranks. Marketing is already geared to the anticipated needs of these folks and their sheer numbers guarantees that they will be heeded. I don't know how many of us can wait. We might not be around to enjoy their new world.
We need help now. It adds insult to injury that this Governor, enthralled with Xanadu and Atlantic City, is ignoring us.
Seniors rock.
I had a few minutes to surf the news today. Susan Livio, writing for the Newark Star Ledger and today's NJ.com, reported that Governor Chris Christie scarfed up promised monies that were supposed to help poor people pay their cable bills. He lumped it into the General Fund and used it to help offset last year's budget woes.
This man has raised costs for seniors by cutting back the HEAP supplements. He tried to shut down several institutions that cared for the disabled and elderly. He cut charity care funding to New Jersey hospitals which hit urban areas hardest. Is there no end to the heartless and outrageous things he is doing to us?
Six years ago, New Jersey taxed cable companies with the money going to help pay for cable TV for seniors and the disabled.
What did our outsized Governor do? He grabbed the funds, which had not been distributed yet, and used them to offset New Jersey's deficit!
Is this good business? That $9.2 million means so much to us, and Christie sucked it up.
It is heartless.
Oh, I should mention that one half of one percent of that money was also supposed to go to PAAD, to help pay for senior prescriptions. Remember last summer when Christie VETOED the "millionaire's tax bill" after the Legislature passed it so PAAD could continue?
Oh. Yeah. The funding, such as it was, eventually came from Federal funds. And then there is the Casino Revenue Fund, which was set up to help seniors and the disabled, and those millions that were not accounted for in June. (See my previous blog on this subject). I asked Senator Turner's office about the fund and they were not able to trace it for me.
I do not subscribe to cable because I am fortunate to have a TV that will work on antenna and receives both analog and digital signals. I get about 30 channels and save probably $70.00 a month.
I look around me, and most of my neighbors are using a hefty portion of their income just to keep themselves in touch with the rest of the world.
This governor is out of touch with the plight of senior citizens. His appearances at senior events are photo ops and seem calculated to keep everyone charmed into thinking he is a jolly good fellow.
We are heading for an era when the "baby boomers" will be joining our ranks. Marketing is already geared to the anticipated needs of these folks and their sheer numbers guarantees that they will be heeded. I don't know how many of us can wait. We might not be around to enjoy their new world.
We need help now. It adds insult to injury that this Governor, enthralled with Xanadu and Atlantic City, is ignoring us.
Seniors rock.
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