HeiressofBickworth
HeiressofBickworth's JournalThe loss of the USPS would mean
that delivery of mail would be in the hands of profit-makers who could abandon routes and entire sections of the country that, due to terrain or other natural barriers (currently served by USPS), make them more expensive to maintain, cutting off people in those areas. This would have a serious affect on local businesses, markets, etc.
As it is now, even when a package originates as UPS or FedEx or one of those, if destined for a remote (expensive to service) area, the last leg of its journey is performed by (are you ready for this) the UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE so that cost is borne by the USPS! UPS or FedEx can maintain their profitability. This proves that Republicans are willing to sacrifice what they hold dear (profits) in order to destroy a government service.
Am I the only one who sees the
connection between the land-grab by Israel and the rockets from Gaza?
I actually have little sympathy for either side and what I see is a continual war between Israel and Palestine which will only be resolved when both sides destroy each other. The seeds of this conflict run so deep that it is impossible to point a finger at who started it -- it's now one act of revenge against another. There are apparently no peace-makers on either side.
This is a conflict that I believe the US should stay out of. It can do us nothing but harm to take a side since (IMHO) neither side has the proverbial "clean hands".
Let's drill down to the actual consumer level
My primary care-giver is a small neighborhood clinic. When I turned 65, I was told that because I was a long-term patient, I would continue to receive care under Medicare but that the clinic is not taking new Medicare patients. Ok, so this worked out for me. But what if I had to move to another location? If ALL doctors refused to take new Medicare patients, I would have no doctor at all just like Medicare patients moving to THIS area will be refused service.
I see the plot developing thusly: Make cuts to providers who then won't see Medicare patients. When the majority of Medicare patients are without doctors or hospitals, complain loudly how Medicare "doesn't work". After proving how Medicare "doesn't work", cancel the entire program. The right-wingers failed to privatize the system and have consistently failed to destroy the system, so they will achieve the same results by cutting the foundation out from under the patients. Rich Republicans will not rest until seniors die and get out of the way. They disgust me to my core.
As I mentioned on a previous thread,
I once worked for a disaster clean-up company. It was a subsidiary of the engineering firm I worked for. One of the engineers came up with an idea that he thought would make money -- cleaning up disaster-struck areas. Clients were cities, counties, states. There was a very involved computer program to track truck loads of debris as this information formed the basis of the billing method. He was right, the enterprise made a fortune and I, low on the totem pole that I was, received the largest bonus I had ever received in my entire working life. The company provided a much-needed service to local communities and, other than management, hired local people to do the dirty work and paid local prevailing wages. So where did the money come from to pay for all of this? The company billed the client and (with the company's assistance) the client billed FEMA. When FEMA paid the client, the client paid the company. What Jeb Bush is planning is to form a company just like the one I described. The Repubs may TALK about defunding FEMA, but when they form their disaster companies, they know that ultimately the money to pay for all of it will come from the Federal Government, because THAT's who has the money. Cash-strapped cities, counties, states or individuals in the midst of disaster do not have the funds to pay for the clean-up and they won't venture into this kind of business without lining up their paying customers in advance. ONLY the Feds have the actual money to pay. What Jeb et al are doing is placing yet ANOTHER corporate layer between the work to be done and the source of the money to do it (FEMA) in order to skim profit off of disasters. So once again, they are spouting ideas that have no bearing on reality -- not that we should be surprised about that. To pacify their small-government libertarian wing of their party, they will talk about defunding FEMA, but with so much money to be made in that industry, they will never actually do it. More bait and switch politics.
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Gender: Do not displayCurrent location: Snohomish County, WA
Member since: Wed May 18, 2011, 02:12 AM
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