Could you live on 133% of the poverty level?

Perry -- our fine governor -- doesn't want to expand Medicaid to cover to 133% of the poverty level

let's look at that -- for a family of 4 -- it's just under 31K


So really -- they make $27,600 after taxes (because yes -- they still have to pay taxes and medicaid eligibility is on your gross wages.

ok

family of 4 -- at 31k - that means that two adults are earning just under $15 an hour for the two of them.

if they both work -- it means that they either have to have a family member watch the kids -- or they have to work different shifts -- or they have to leave the kids alone some of the time -- which happens more than you think.

Rent -- at $600/month (and you can't get an apt in my city for that) -- it's 7200 a year (20.4K left to raise your family)

Utilities -- let's assume they have the bare min -- no cable -- just electric and water -- it about $100/month here on average or $1200/year (19.2K left to raise your family)

Car -- you have to buy gas -- and we'll assume you own the car -- and have no payments -- but you'll have some sort of maintenance to do  -- or repairs plus the gas -- so let's say $150/month for gas (1800/year) plus $200 for repairs (because you'll do some of it yourself)  2K  (17.2 K left to raise your family)

Food -- this is hard to gauge - online most people who have a strict budget would say $350/month -- so let's assume that you don't have kids on formula (which costs $14/can and mine eats 9 cans a month) or teenagers -- so that's $4200/year ($13Kleft to raise your family)

Clothing -- Let's give our little family $200/person per year for clothes -- so that's $800 ($12.2 left to raise your family)

now -- let's remember -- you don't have medicaid -- so you have to pay your medical expenses.

Insurance for a family of 4 is about $200/month if you have insurance through your company (2400/year) plus -- you have to meet your deductible for care -- so let's assume that's another $1000.  Plus any medication your family might need (even at $25/month -- that's $300/year) -- so that brings healthcare costs to $3700 (8.5K left)

oh wait -- car insurance -- $900/year ($75/month) -- (7.6K left)

but we made some big assumptions there --

have childcare costs? -- then you will pay at least $400/month (4800/year)
have a major car repair? -- add $1000
have to buy tires? -- add $400
have to go to the ER -- even once? -- add $500 -- 3000K
have to make a car payment? -- even a cheap payment is $200/month (2400/year)

(heaven forbid all of these things happen -- this leaves you with $1500 at the end of a year or just $125 unbudgeted dollars a month)

oh shit

diapers


and this family is subsisting.

they live in a horrible apartment (because a 2 BR in this town costs closer to $800 even in a bad area).  This family isn't taking care of basic medical issues -- because they can't afford the time away from work.  If they are paying childcare - -it's killing them -- and $400/month is cheap -- if you have a baby it's more like $600 --$800/month  -- if you have 2 kids in daycare it's more like $800/month-- and you're likely to have a baby -- because we didn't budget in your birth control costs (crap)

this family didn't go see one single movie.  they don't have a TV.  they didn't eat at McDonalds even once.  They shop at the thrift store because our clothing budget is unreasonable for a growing family.

this family didn't pay down any debt
they didn't pay child support
they didn't take a trip
and when their kids are on vacation -- they don't have anything for them to do
they bought no christmas presents
they didn't buy their kids a toy or a book.

the reality is
this family decided that their company insurance was too expensive
so they didn't get it
they played chicken with fate
and their kids still got sick

but they went to the ER
and ran up a debt they can't pay.

this family is on the edge
they get poorer every year
they get sicker every year

and they're one accident
away from joblessness
and homelessness

so

Mr. Perry

before you decide that we can't do it
that there's no way

perhaps -- you should live on their budget for a year.

and see what your life is like

I am more than willing to pay more in taxes to care for my brothers and sisters.
the real question is
why aren't you?

Romney - it's a matter of character

I've been reading this morning about Romney's alleged attack on a classmate in school -- holding him down with his friends -- and cutting off his hair


and yes


I call it alleged.


because the family denies it - and a bit of the story was misreported


but it's interesting to me that Romney simply "doesn't recall it"


I recall small slights that I did at that age
I have things I deeply regret


things we said or did
that haunt us


and should haunt us


this is an age when we often do things impulsively
but as our character matures
most of us look back
and cringe


If the report were completely false
completely out of character


I would have denied it


so I ask myself
is such a thing so completely out of character for this man?


he is a practical joker
there are several stories about that
and when I think about practical jokes


they are always
always
mean spirited


I'm not talking about people who mutually engage in a prank war
I remember my ex husband and his brother conducted a several year long confetti war
that culminated in the filling of his brother's car air conditioner with confetti that covered him in a cloud on day one
and would occasionally send a stray flake out years later


but pranks
meant to embarrass
humiliate
humble the victim


now
let's consider that at the time
this was acceptable behavior


let's face it


until not so very long
this was all put aside as "boys will be boys"


and boys can be terrible things


but lest we put this down
to being a prep school joke


and I wish that I thought this was out of character
but the man who puts his dog on the roof
the man who pulls pranks on a visually impaired teacher?
the man who "doesn't recall" if he held a boy down and cut his hair or not?


seems like a sociopath.


sociopath  [( soh -see-uh-path, soh -shee-uh-path)] 

Someone whose social behavior is extremely abnormal.Sociopaths are interested only in their personal needs and desires, without concern for the effects of their behavior on others. 

and I imagine that being a sociopath IS a great ingredient to being successful in business -- in LIFE....because it's all about getting what you want

does he get to be my president?

I would far prefer a man who remembers such a horrible thing

views it with modern eyes

and regrets it

learned from it

changed from it

than someone for whom it was just a Tuesday.

Some sins are bigger than others

I've been reading about the high school coach who just got fired for getting pregnant out of wedlock.

and there are arguments to be made that she's not living the life they wish to exemplify to the girls

that her mere existence erodes the moral fibre of their world.

but I am struck -- by how often women are more punished for their sexuality than men

and for that matter -- how one particular sin (good ole' number 7) seems to be way more important than any other.

So -- yes -- please fire the pregnant girl

also

fire anyone who swears by saying "God" or "Jesus"

fire anyone who mows the lawn on Sunday -- or shops in any store -- or cooks a meal

fire anyone who has ever had a harsh word for his or her parents

fire anyone who takes your pen -- and never brings it back

fire those who envy others -- who has a fantasy about someone else -- or who wishes they had your sports car

fire any person who has sex -- outside of marriage -- man or woman.

and then her firing would be just.

When I read the big 10

it strikes me that God's message is more than a list of rules

it strikes me that God is saying

that we're imperfect

that sin is inevitable.

and that is why grace and forgiveness and humility should be our goal.

We should not shame her

we should be aware

that the rest of us

are breaking a lot of the big 10

all the time.

Are employment benefits a gift? or are they earned?

At the core of the debate about birth control
and whether or not a company
can dictate the medical care choices of their employee
on religious grounds

should be a discussion of the nature of employment benefits.

Are the medical benefits your company offers you

a gift from the employer?
or

are they a part of your compensation.

Did you earn them?

Most companies require employees to pay a portion of the premium.
as well as deductables and co-pays

it's a nominal percentage of the cost of healthcare for the employee
usually 30% or less of the total cost of care.

Mine comes to about $1100 a year for my part
so yes -- my company pays a huge amount of my premium

in addition to that

we are self insured -- which means that if I go to the doctor and services are covered
the company picks it up

but that doesn't answer the question
of

is it a gift
or is it compensation

If it is a gift
I can understand the company wishing to dictate the exact nature of the gift

but as compensation
how does the company dictate how I use it?

the company doesn't ask me for a list of my receipts
and the end of the month
to see how I spend my paycheck

it does not provide me with guidelines
it does not require me to give a percentage of it to charity
or save in my 401k
although it encourages me to do so

So why
do we think it's ok
to remove legitimate heathcare
from the table.

healthcare which is
by the way
universally considered preventative care?

If I earn my benefits
then they should be mine to do wish as I wish

and if I share in the cost of the benefit
then
I should be able to do as I wish with it as well.

companies
even religious ones
do not belong in medical choices

this is a benefit we've earned
once we've earned it
you don't have a say in it.

I'm a liberal - not a libertine

It's an old fashioned word

Libertine

it means to be morally dissolute
to be morally or sexually unrestrained.

and I think the Religious Right Republicans don't quite understand the difference

I can be liberal
and make personal conservative choices

I can be a liberal
and be moral

I can be a liberal
and be fiscally responsible.

being a liberal
doesn't make me morally bankrupt.

the Religious Right want to legislate morality

to make it illegal to sin

which I find interesting.

Does God want me to be obedient to His will because I have to?
or because I want to?

Am I following God's will?
or the will of the state?

Am I a good Christian?
or just a good citizen.

Back in the day
God created a world
where there was no knowledge of Good and Evil

He eliminated it from choice

well to a degree

that darn apple

but once man chose knowledge

then the ability to sin existed

Now -- I don't subscribe to the idea that the earth is 6000 years old
and in that time we all came from one man and one woman
but I do believe in the parable.

Jesus spoke in parables
why not God?

God didn't legislate Good and Evil
he gave us free will to choose what we will.

so here we are 6000 (ahem) years later
trying to legislate morality

trying to

lol

trying to un-eat the apple.

but we cannot.

we live in the world that God intended for us

a world with choices

we can choose
to love our neighbor
or curse him because he is gay

we can choose
to feed the poor
or walk by him and call him lazy

we can choose
to care for the sick
or deny him medicine and medical care

you see

we all make choices
to be godly or not

and being a libertine -- a morally dissolute person
is a choice we were given

just as being a good Christian
one who follows the path of Christ
is a choice

no legislation can un-eat the apple
and it shouldn't try.

An apology

Once upon a time
one of my peers at another office
called me up
and asked me to
send her all of the dates of birth
and social security numbers
for every employee at my site.

To which I said
"why do you need it?"

she said,
"I just need it"

I joked and said,
"I can't just send you confidential information
without a reason"
and
um
I may have made a joke about identity theft.

she didn't give me a reason
I didn't send the information

what she did do
was hang up
and burst into tears
she called the boss-of-us
and told him I was mean.

He called me
and although he agreed with my protection of the data
told me I needed to apologize.

So I called her
and said,

"I'm so sorry that what I said made you cry, but....."
and repeated my original case

I've referred to this as a "Gina-apology" ever since
(and she actually was happy with the apology -- and somehow failed to notice that I never sent the information she requested)

This Mr. Limbaugh
is a bullshit apology

apologies do not include the word "but"
they do not defend our actions
those are called excuses
or defenses

or in your case
"complete crap"

but they are NOT apologies

you did not mean your apology
any more than I meant mine all those years ago

you do not intend to change your ways

because it would be the death knell for your career

you have made a career out of being
shocking
horrifying
and
misogynistic

so I'm so sorry to not accept your apology
but...

Promiscuity and Name Calling

My goodness

we really have entered the playground edition of Decision 2012

haven't we?

all the name-calling really must stop

I understand that the religious right wants to make a case
that sexual promiscuity has toppled American society

that we have brought the country to its knees through
with the power of the vagina

and there can be a case made for that

that children were better off being raised by two parents
that divorce is destroying the family

that civil rights
led to women's rights
led to gay rights

so we should not have tampered with that
because weren't we all better off when everyone knew their place?

that the world was blissfully happy
in the 50's
before we women ruined it all

with our promiscuity
because clearly we're luring men astray with our lascivious ways

we were all better off before
women became more independent
made it more possible for them to exit
horrible marriages
increases the rate of divorce
and therefore the rate of single families

introducing the idea to men
that it's ok to take no responsibility
for their children
and leave their families to fend for themselves

introducing the idea to men
that it's ok
to father children they don't
plan to raise

yes

one can make an argument for it

but we're not making arguments about sociology on the other side of the aisle

are we

no

we're name calling

SLUT

if you believe that I am the cause of the downfall of western civilization

argue your case

BRING IT

I'm happy to debate it with you
civilly

which by the way

was what Sandra Fluke was meant to do
provide another side of the argument

but when you disparage
when you throw mud
when you name call

when you SILENCE us

you demonstrate that you do not have
a logical argument
that you do not have
anything
other

than you loathing
for me
as a woman

so know this

when you call us names
when you drag us through the mud?

I will smile a smug smile

knowing

that you have nothing
else
on your side of the argument.